Our website and our community takes its name from Saint John Paul II’s 1988 apostolic exhortation: “Christifideles Laici,” which is Latin for “The Lay Members of Christ’s Faithful People.” This document emphasizes the vital role that the laity play both inside the Church and to the world outside. In this exhortation, Saint Pope John Paul II emphasized that by virtue of their baptism, the lay faithful share in Christ’s threefold mission as priest, prophet, and king.
The Pope highlighted the unique role that the Laity play in the mission of the Church, given that the lay life is lived out almost entirely within the secular world. Acknowledging this, the Pope emphasized the importance of the call of the lay faithful to Holiness in order to promote Christ’s presence in an increasingly secular and desperate world.
He said, “Men and women saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult circumstances in the Church’s history. Today we have the greatest need of saints whom we must assiduously beg God to raise up. Every Church member shares in the common vocation to holiness and to the perfection of charity. The call to holiness is rooted in Baptism and fed by other Sacraments like the Eucharist. Since Christians are reclothed in Christ Jesus and refreshed by his Spirit, they are “holy” and therefore have the responsibility to bear witness to this holiness in all that they do. The apostle Paul never tires of admonishing all Christians to live “as is fitting among saints” (Eph 5:3)
He said that living life according to the Spirit requires each to “follow and imitate Jesus Christ in multiple ways:
-in embracing the Beatitudes
-in listening and meditating on the Word of God
-in active participation in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church
-in personal prayer
-in family or in community,
-in hunger and thirst for justice
-in practicing love in all circumstances of life
-in service to people, especially the least, the poor and the suffering”
Christs Faithful People are a community of Catholic Laity who seek to answer the call of the Church to fulfill their vital lay role in the Church and in the world. Group members recognize the unique vocation and mission of the lay faithful, and pledge themselves to grow in their knowledge of Christ, their Catholic faith, and in their endeavors to serve Christ, His Church and His people.
Specifically, group members commit to:
1.) Grow in their knowledge of Christ and of their Catholic faith by regular meditation on Sacred Scripture, the Catholic Catechism and Sacred Tradition.
2.) Grow in faith and personal holiness through personal daily prayer and by seeking to live life according to the Spirit by embracing the Beatitudes.
3.) Grow in service to family, community, neighbors and others, especially the lost, the lonely, the hungry, the poor and the suffering, seeking to live out life in the Spirit by exhibiting a vibrant faith in all areas of their daily lives.
4.) Grow in the contribution to the health and vitality of the Church through active participation in it’s liturgical and sacramental life
5) Meet weekly in parish or online with other community members to pray (2 Chronicles 7:14), to discuss key aspects of the Catholic faith, and to support fellow members as all seek to live out their faith in a way that pleases God.
Christs Faithful People seek to be a community that is faithful to God by obeying his commandment to love God above all else and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Join us.
Read the full text of Saint John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Christi Fideles Laici’ here.