Quote of the Day

“God's kingdom is not of this world. Nothing we can do will change that. But Jesus never absolved us from resisting and healing the evil in the world. He never excused us from solidarity with the poor, the hungry, the unborn child, the immigrant, the broken families and the disabled persons who bear the burden of selfish nations and societies. The Church cannot be silent in public life and be faithful to Jesus Christ at the same time. She needs to be a mustard seed in the public square, transforming every fiber of a nation's political, economic and social life. We need to remember this fundamental democratic fact: Working respectfully and firmly to form the public conscience violates no one's free will. Actively witnessing to our convictions and advancing what we believe about key moral issues in public life is not "coercion." It's honesty. It's truth-telling. It's vital to the health of every democracy. And it's also a duty -- not only of our Catholic faith, but also of our citizenship. Here's my final point: the nature of the lay vocation. In May this year, speaking to a pastoral convention of the Diocese of Rome, Benedict XVI made a comment that many people overlooked. But I think his words have exactly the spirit that needs to guide this conference. He said that the Church needs "a change in mindset, particularly concerning laypeople. They must no longer be viewed as 'collaborators' of the clergy, but truly recognized as 'co-responsible' for the Church's being and action, thereby fostering the consolidation of a mature and committed laity." Christians are in the world, but not of the world. We belong to God, and our home is heaven. But we're here for a reason: to change the world, for the sake of the world, in the name of Jesus Christ. That work belongs to each of us. Nobody will do it for us. And the idea that we can somehow accomplish that work without engaging -- in a hands-on way -- the laws, the structures, the public policies, the habits of mind and the root causes that sustain injustice in our countries, is a delusion. Laypeople are not second-class disciples in this task. They're not second-class members of the Body of Christ. There is no such creature as a "second-class" Christian. Baptism is a sacrament of redemption; but also of equality in God's love. Laypeople have exactly the same dignity as clergy and religious -- and this moment in history cries out for mature, intelligent, zealous and faithful lay leaders in an urgent way. Priests and bishops cannot do the work of laypeople. That's not what Christ called us to do. It's not what the Church formed us to do. Our role as clergy in bringing Jesus Christ to the world, and the world to Jesus Christ, flows through you lay men and women who hear the Word of God; who love the Church for the truth she teaches; and then bring that Catholic witness into society to change it and sanctify it in Christ's name. Every Christian life, and every choice in every Christian life, matter eternally. Laypeople, not clergy, have the task of evangelizing the secular world, and only you can do it as God intended. So never be embarrassed by your baptism. Never be afraid of the consequences of your faith. Take pride in your Catholic identity for the blessing and mandate it is. Act on it. Share it with others. More than any other country in this hemisphere, Mexico and its soil have been made holy by the blood of martyrs. All of us who are Catholic in America, north and south, need to revere that gift. We need to find in it once again the confidence to live and preach our faith -- in everything we do -- without apologies or excuses. And if we do that, then we won't need to ask what the "new evangelization" looks like. We'll know – because we'll be incarnating it in our lives.”

* * *Another day, another ideology-fueled pseudo-narrative out the window.As the Pope continues the arduous process of flushing and reconstituting of the dicasteries of the Curia, Roman Noon this Thursday brought another notable development as Francis named the voice behind the quote above – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia – as a member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.After all the hysteria in some parts these last months, the sudden case of crickets is rather amusing.In any case, after nearly two decades on the national stage, the move gives the 69 year-old Capuchin his first seat at a Curial table – and, in today's batch, the only one given to a non-cardinal.The new intake at Laity was rounded out by several other heavy hitters, including Schönborn, Chito, Joao Braz, Nairobi's John Njue, Rio's Cardinal-designate Orani Tempesta and Reinhard Marx of Munich, the lone European ordinary on Papa Bergoglio's Gang of Eight. According to the council, the new appointments do not represent a full reboot, but are merely added to the pre-existing membership, which from the US already includes Carl Anderson, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, who likewise remains on the lay board overseeing the Vatican Bank.Beyond its broad competence in facilitating and encouraging the ecclesial mission of 99.6 percent of the church's composition, the Laity arm's most prominent responsibility is the organization of Catholicism's "Olympic event," World Youth Day, which saw its second-largest turnout ever as some 3 million converged in Rio last July. Though the JPII-chartered observance is only convoked on a global level every third year – next in Krakow in 2016 – it's actually provided for as an annual moment in the local churches. Accordingly, this morning's reshuffle at Laity was released alongside Francis' message for the 2014 WYD, dedicated to the Beatitudes theme of "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."-30-