Ministry
The laity as well as the ordained participate in the threefold office of Christ the prophet, priest, and king.
Following the Second Vatican Council there has been a rediscovery in Catholic theology of baptism as the foundational sacrament of ministry, and a clearer recognition that ministry is not just for the ordained. The council related the baptismal call, the ministry of the baptized, and the office of the ordained to the mystery of Christ and found in each a reflection of the threefold office of Christ as prophet, priest, and king. Every vocation in the Church and every ministry is rooted in the same reality of Christ and his presence by the Spirit in the Church. The Christian vocation is rooted in the Church as a sacrament of Christ in the communion of the Holy Spirit. All ministry, be it the ministry of the baptized or of the ordained, is to be understood in relation to the community of the Church which expresses and receives its identity as the Body of Christ in Word and Sacrament. All ministry is for the service of the Church and the wider world, a participation in the ministry of Christ the Servant who, after washing the feet of his disciples urges them, and us, one and all: "As I have done for you, you should do also" (John 13: 15).
The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, calls us to an awareness of the one priesthood of Christ into which we are initiated through baptism. Both ordained and baptismal priesthoods share in this one priesthood. The laity as well as the ordained participate in the threefold office of Christ the prophet, priest, and king. What emerges from the Second Vatican Council is a clear theology of the laity rooted in an understanding of the Church as the People of God, in the universal call to holiness, and in an appreciation of the diversity of the nature of the Church both hierarchical and charismatic (Lumen gentium 4). The common priesthood of the faithful and the ordained priesthood are of different kinds. But because the ordained priesthood and the priesthood of the faithful are none the less interrelated (Lumen gentium 10), it is altogether clear that lay people share in the Church’s saving mission through baptism, confirmation, and the ongoing celebration of the Eucharist. Thus with the Second Vatican Council there is a restoration of the baptismal dignity of the laity, an emerging recognition of baptism as the basis and foundation of all ministry, and a fuller realization that ministry is not exercised only by the ordained. Ministry is rooted in the charisms given by the Spirit in baptism:
There are different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. (1 Corinthians 12: 4-7)
As I Have Done for You, A Pastoral Letter on Ministry
