Quoting from Luis Tellez’s “The Catholic Moment Revisited” written on October 24 , 2022.
“There is no reason for the laity’s apostolate to be always a simple participation in the apostolate of the hierarchy. The laity, and especially the children of God in his Work, have a duty to do apostolate because they have a divine call as members of the people of God. And this is so, not because they have received a canonical mission, but because they are part of the Church. They carry out this mission through their profession, their job, their family, their colleagues, their friends” (Josemaria Escriva, ‘The Collected Letters’ : Vol. 1 [Hounslow, Scepter] p.; 167).
:”Throughout St. Josemaría’s writings, he addresses our cultural challenge in a way that should resonate not only with members of Opus Dei, but with all Christians, particularly in terms of the necessity of service to the common good in public and social affairs. Just as Neuhaus insisted that Catholicism is not and cannot be simply a private affair, St. Josemaría is very clear that all Christians are called to play an active role in public life, not on the basis of a canonical command but in virtue of their baptismal vocation. He observes that a loyal and consistent presence in public life “offers immense opportunities to do good and to serve. Catholics cannot abandon this field in the hands of people who do not know or observe God’s law or who are clearly hostile to his holy Church.”[1]
“In this sense, we can see how St. Josemaría’s call for de-clericalization relates to the cultural challenge confronting us today. As he notes, even apparently responsible and virtuous Catholics can easily fall into “the error of thinking that they are obliged only to fulfil their family and religious duties.”[2] This is a function not necessarily of selfishness, but simply a lack of formation. If Catholics do not take part in the life of society and try to solve the problems that affect the whole community—if they subcontract this duty to the hierarchy of the Church—then temporal questions will fall into the hands of those who do not consider natural law, human flourishing, or the common good. Indeed, the story of the past century is that these questions have fallen into the hands of people who are actively hostile to these principles, and who seek to replace them with something along the lines of the Cultural Marxist views I described earlier. As St. Josemaría puts it, without the participation of the laity in public spheres, including educational and political arenas, “there can be no peace, or freedom, or justice in society.”[3]
[1] Ibid, p. 177.
[2] Ibid, p. 181.
[3] Ibid, p. 185.
The Truth Will Make You Free 