Dear TLI family,
Over the past two Wednesdays, we have reflected on what leadership truly is. We have seen that authentic leadership is not defined by power or position, but by service, virtue, and a willingness to take responsibility for the good of others.
Today, I would like to turn our attention to where lay Catholic leadership is meant to be exercised.
The Church teaches clearly that the proper mission territory of the laity is civil society. This includes our workplaces, businesses, professions, neighborhoods, schools, cultural institutions, and public life. It is in these ordinary and often challenging environments that lay men and women are called to lead.
Unlike clergy and religious, whose mission is ordered primarily to the life of the Church itself, lay Catholics are sent into the world. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that the laity are called to seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and ordering them according to God’s will. In other words, the world is not something we escape from, but the very field entrusted to us.
Leadership in civil society does not always look dramatic. It may take the form of ethical decisions made when no one is watching, creating workplaces that respect human dignity, forming cultures of trust and responsibility, mentoring younger professionals, or serving the common good with courage and charity. These acts may seem small, but they are precisely how Christ enters and transforms society.
This is a demanding calling. Civil society is often marked by confusion, fragmentation, and pressure to separate faith from public life. Yet this is exactly why lay Catholic leadership matters so deeply. When faithful Catholics lead with integrity, hope, and love, they become living witnesses that faith is not an obstacle to human flourishing, but its foundation.
As we move through 2026, I invite you to see every meeting, project, decision, and relationship as an opportunity to bring Christ into places where His presence may be hidden or forgotten. An opportunity to sanctify the world from within. An opportunity to lead by serving.
May we not shrink from this mission, but embrace it with confidence, trusting that God has placed each of us exactly where we are for a reason.
Together, let us seize every opportunity to bring Christ to every corner of society.
In Christ and Our Lady of Guadalupe,
P.S. The countdown is on for the 2nd Tepeyac Leadership Gala, secure your tickets today by clicking below!
