Catholic Laity In The Mission Of The Church

Russell Shaw is not only the foremost Catholic journalist of his generation, he is also more than an amateur theologian. His insights in his new book help the reader not only to understand the role of "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" but also the role of the laity in evangelizing the culture. Shaw has uncovered for all to see the central message of the Second Vatican Council was radically misunderstood since 1965, i.e. the universal call to holiness. Flowing from understanding that key teaching, Shaw underlines that God has a particular calling or vocation for each one of us: lay, religious, or priest, married or single, and the meaning of our family life, work, friendships, and involvement in the secular world all depends on the proper discernment of our personal vocation through prayer and the sacramental life, and proper spiritual guidance. Only in that way can we begin to carry out the late John Paul the Second's call for a "New Evangelization" in our country.

Russell Shaw knows that the task assigned to the Catholic laity at the Second Vatican Council was "the renewal of the temporal order". Thus the faithful laity need to be looking beyond participation in the new ministries that have proliferated in the post-conciliar era. These are worthy activities but they are not enough. Mr. Shaw understands that every Christian has a vocation, or call from God. The task of all of us is to discern the vocation to which God has called us and then to carry it out.

—Kenneth D. Whitehead, author of One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic: The Early Church was the Catholic Church

Russell Shaw knows whereof he speaks. As a Catholic layman he has served the Church for decades as a spokesman and journalist. He brings to his topic the wisdom that only scholarship can provide and the prudential judgment that rests on years of experience and thoughtful reflection. One may approach this book as one might read a papal encyclical or as a manual to be placed in the hands of the young who ponder their future. Its quiet magisterial tone has the mark of a classic.

—Jude P. Dougherty, Dean Emeritus, School of Philosophy, Catholic University of America