Assignment No: 4 Sean Justine - Veritas - 27 Aug 2021

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“…The Christian faithful who have become

the people of God through Baptism, are
called to exercise the mission which God has
entrusted to fulfill in the world, in accord
with the condition proper to each one…”
ASSIGNMENT NO: 4
Sean Justine | Veritas | 27th Aug 2021

Baptism
Baptism is the first and foremost sacrament of the Holy Catholic Church. According to
CCC1213, it is the door which gives access to the other sacraments.” CCC1214 says that to
baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse". The "plunge" or “immerse”
into the water symbolizes the death Christ after which he rises up by resurrection.
Baptism is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit".
This is because “it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit
without which no one can enter the kingdom of God” (CCC1215).
According to St. Gregory of Nazianzus, “Baptism is Gods most beautiful and magnificent
gift” (CCC1216). He continues to say that, Baptism is called,
A) Gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own;

B) Grace since it is given even to the guilty;
C) Baptism because sin is buried in the water;
D) Anointing for it is priestly;
E) Royal as are those who are anointed;
F) Enlightenment because it radiates light;
G) Clothing since it veils our shame;
H) Bath because it washes;
I) and Seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship
According to CCC1213, “Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God;
we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her
mission.
Our Lord Jesus Christ & The Mission

Before proceeding any further, let us understand the mission that you & I are part of, the
Church is part of, and Our Lord Jesus Christ is part of. Jesus was a missionary. But what
was the His mission in this world? Luke 4:18-20 says,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all
in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” This was the mission of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, in this world. Before returning to the Father, he sent his disciples (The Holy
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Catholic Church) to continue the mission given him by the Father and empowered her
with his Spirit: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:21).
The Missionary Church

As seen above, Our Lord Jesus Christ is a missionary. So is the Holy Catholic Church that
he has established. Church is a missionary because Jesus Christ is a missionary. Jesus came
to this world to reveal God’s Love. The Israelites did not know God in a perfect way. Even
today, they are bound by the laws, the fulfillment of which can be found in Jesus Christ,
God’s Love. For God so loved the world that he sends his only Son to save the world. Like
God, Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:21).
According to Mathew 28:18-20, And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.”
The mission of Jesus to proclaim the Kingdom of God to all people has been handed onto
the Church and individual believers, guided by the Holy Spirit. [ CITATION Dea13 \l 1033 ]
. The Church carries its mission in for areas mainly.
1. First, there is the Pastoral Mission which is the ongoing work to build up the
members of the Church.
2. Second, there is the Mission to the ends of the earth where the Gospel of Jesus is
shared. This can mean travelling to remote and troubled areas to bring the
Gospel.
3. Third, there is the mission field of transforming the world which means
contributing toward bringing about God’s kingdom in our time.
4. Finally, there is the mission of the new evangelization. This is the attempt to reach
out to those who may have faded from the Church or become separated for any
number of reasons. [ CITATION Dea13 \l 1033 ]
The Laity’s Role in the Mission

According to Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, section 31, the
term Laity refers to all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of
religious life specially approved by the Church. The Sacrament of Baptism introduces
and brings us into the life and mission of Christ. All of us have a calling. Like the church,
who pursues Jesus’ mission of “bringing good news to the poor, liberty to captives,
recovery of sight to the blind, freedom for those who are oppressed and to proclaim a
year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19), all of us, all the Baptized, are “called to share
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the gifts in faith to build up the Body of Christ and to make the name of Jesus known and
loved in our time.” [ CITATION Dea13 \l 1033 ]
How do we answer this calling? How do we carry on this mission? Each of our conditions
are different. Some of us are married, working class, business men, soldiers, politicians
and the list goes on. But are we not priests, prophets and kings? “The Catechism of the
Catholic Church is clear about the priestly office. Baptism makes us members of the Body
of Christ. … “to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5). By Baptism they share in the priesthood
of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission. They are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, God’s own people …” (1 Peter 2:9). Baptism gives a share in the common
priesthood of all believers (CCC, 1267, 1268)”.[ CITATION Pat18 \l 1033 ]
According to Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, section 31, the
laity “are by baptism made one body with Christ and are constituted among the People
of God; they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly
functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole
Christian people in the Church and in the world.” It further continues to say,” What
specifically characterizes the laity is their secular nature. It is true that those in holy
orders can at times be engaged in secular activities, and even have a secular
profession. But they are by reason of their particular vocation especially and
professedly ordained to the sacred ministry. Similarly, by their state in life, religious
give splendid and striking testimony that the world cannot be transformed and offered
to God without the spirit of the beatitudes. But the laity, by their very vocation, seek the
kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to
the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular
professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and
social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by
God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they
may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they
may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in
faith, hope and charity. Therefore, since they are tightly bound up in all types of
temporal affairs it is their special task to order and to throw light upon these affairs in
such a way that they may come into being and then continually increase according to
Christ to the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer.”[CITATION POP64 \l 1033 ]
Conclusion
In this short article, we saw the that Our Lord Jesus Christ, before his assumption to
heaven, asked his disciples to continue the mission given to Him, by God the Father. The
disciples (The Holy Catholic Church), is continuing this mission, even today. The laity are
also part of this mission through Baptism. According to Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church, section 33, the lay apostolate, however, is a participation in
the salvific mission of the Church itself. Through their baptism and confirmation all are
commissioned to that apostolate by the Lord Himself. Now the laity are called in a
special way to make the Church present and operative in those places and
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circumstances where only through them can it become the salt of the earth . Thus,
every layman, in virtue of the very gifts bestowed upon him, is at the same time a
witness and a living instrument of the mission of the Church itself "according to the
measure of Christ's bestowal". [CITATION POP64 \l 1033 ]
Bibliography
(2006). Retrieved from catholicsensibility.wordpress.com:
https://catholicsensibility.wordpress.com/2006/09/15/115750172061332260/
Deacon Mickey Friesen & Eric Simon. (2013). Retrieved from archspm.org:
https://www.archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/catholic-faith/why-is-the-
church-missionary-what-does-mission-mean/
Gohn, P. (2018, Jul 17). Retrieved from catholicdigest.com:

https://www.catholicdigest.com/from-the-magazine/from-the-catechism/priest-
prophet-and-king-who-me/
LUMEN GENTIUM. (1964, November 21). Retrieved from vatican.va:

https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-
ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html
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https://carlossp1.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/matthew-28.1920.

“…The Christian faithful who have become

Sean Justine | Veritas | 27th Aug 2021

A) Gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own;

Our Lord Jesus Christ & The Mission

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

The Missionary Church

The Laity’s Role in the Mission

Gohn, P. (2018, Jul 17). Retrieved from catholicdigest.com:

LUMEN GENTIUM. (1964, November 21). Retrieved from vatican.va:

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