What Are the Laity Supposed to Be? 

Thank you Bishop Barron for your insight and for your output. It is delightful to hear you in this digital format calling us all to holiness.

Thank you Bishop. early this morning i got a message from a Dominican friar. I was feeling a bit unsettled about the way traditional liturgy was changed after Vatican II, but i was again called to look into whats inside the wrappings of liturgy, Love beyond measure. Thank you.

Thank you Bishop Barron! May God continue to bless your ministry.

Thank you Bishop Barron! May God bless you and keep you active for many years!

Bishop Barron, Great reflection. Alas, many lay people prefer to leave struggling for deep holiness to the ordained and consecrated religious sisters and brothers. Too many of us are comfortable with 45 minutes a week for Mass and the occasional fast and easy Sacrament of Reconciliation.

A short talk that summarizes the essence of our life on this earth... living as Children of God, as sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, and as temples of the Holy Spirit... and still, til eternity with the Holy Trinity and more. Bishop Barron, thank you so much for making understable what we struggle to make sense of... thank you! God bless you Bishop!

As a Protestant Christian, I had no concept or value for personal chastity inside marriage. Having come into the fullness of faith, I have found it deeply nurturing to approach married sexuality from the point of view of chastity, that our sexual lives are holy and can be rightly ordered around unity and procreation. What a gift!

Truly worth reflecting and wishing… just what IF indeed! My mind reflexively sings …”oh, what a wonderful world it would be.” Thank you very much Bishop!

Thanks so much Bishop Baron. Of course you already know it, but this idea of universal vocation to holiness is already in the message that God wanted Saint Josemaria Escriva to spread back in the 1928. Totally new, as well as old, while it is evangelical. Somehow, it was forgotten in the passing of the history of the church. Second Vatican reclaims it. And yet there is a long way to ride until this great news arrives to all. Thank you!

Thank you Bishop, you are giving me hope. To be united with Our Father in Heaven, Christ gave us a map, now we need to follow him from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Listen to the higher call, start with little things. Give a smile to someone, help out your parents, talk to people and pay attention, do not stop and keep moving and the Holy Ghost will show you The Way. Peace be with you ☦️.

Thank you, Bishop Barron. Amen to that! " If we would overcome one fault a year, we would soon be perfect! " - Thomas A Kempis

Listen to the higher voice... the call... the Holy Spirit... and you will change the world! Thank you Bishop Barron

So true. We should pray on that and live like that.

Thank you, Bishop Barron. God bless you and your ministry.

Such such refreshing and plain speaking preaching! God bless you, Bishop Barron! 🙏

Today, I resolve to live in accordance with the Evangelical Counsels. Let the Holy Spirit move us according to His promptings, that He can move the world through us.

Much love and God Bless you all xxx

Yea Yea Bishop...May God bless you!🙂🙏

Would so please pray that my grandson will be baptized? It falls on deaf ears …….. upsets me .thank you. Hi Bishop Barron, love you.

*"God made for things to be much easier than we have made them."* - DOROTHY DAY

So very very true! Thank you Bishop Barron, let's do this, may this be our 2022 New Year resolution! 1🙏❤

Third orders are a great help in trying to live these councils. They give a structure to the whole process and bring friendship and support. I am a 2 nd year novice in the St Francis Third order confraternity of penitents ( CFP). But there are many out there.

I like that comment about potential (when talking about sexuality). I've realized that many things in this life are not good or bad in themselves but have potential for both. Nuclear energy, for example, has a lot of potential and can power a city or destroy one. Things with a lot of potential, like sex, can be turned into good or bad things with our free will and choices. That fact makes marvel so much about life and the universe.

Right on Bishop Barron! Ii Cor. 5:17 says that any one who is truly in Christ is a new person

Thank you Bishop Barron for this insightful message. What a Grace to receive and to listen to it. I wonder if this video could be translated into Spanish so I’ll be able to share it with a lot of people in my Country. God bless you always.

Excellent episode. Thank you!

This video made me think of my favorite quote by St. Catherine of Siena … “Be who you are meant to be and you will set the world ablaze!” I pray all the time for the graces to do that.

Amen. Thank you God bless

Dear Bishop Barron, your words are good, but the Laity also needs examples from courageous leaders. In addition to saying that you wish the Laity did something to be more holy, you should make a video to document to them how you lead your flock to do such things and be more holy. Honestly, the Laity, especially the deeply faithful one, is growing more and more tired of words and wants examples to follow. Jesus didn't just say he was going to die and resurrect. He actually died and resurrect. Examples are more powerful than words.

The cool intros are back. Luv it!!

Wow!! It will be a God's Country!! Alway watching over us!! Thank you Bishop. 😊

This is fantastic

You are so Full of God's Wisdom on the Catholic Religion 🙏

I agree with you. But it's hard without Grace.

great spiritual insight!

Thank you Bishop Barron for explaining to me: a late Catholic what is the true meaning of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience for all the Catholic Laity and Christians!!! I honestly believed that it was only the Ordained that these three great spiritual virtues could be practiced! Obviously I am misinformed!!! Thank the Lord for Dorothy Day who questioned and proposed that the Laity could also apply these great spiritual virtues in our own life!!! Thank you once again Bishop Barron for teaching me things that are new to me and very important!!! Thank You Holy Spirit for Bishop Barron being Your Mouth Piece in this message!!!

I always appreciate your insights, Bishop Baron. But as a Protestant, I must admit, this one surprised me. Let me explain. At a time I was suffering from an undiagnosed sarcoma, God gave what I call my morning SOPs (Standard Operating Prayers). Among them is the following: Who is like unto You, O God, Glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders? Therefore I offer You the most precious of all my possessions: The next 24 hours that You give to me, I offer back to You. I pray that you sanctify them: The good, the bad, Their sorrows and joys, That through them, I may come to learn You better. Be more open to the leading of Your Holy Spirit, And may find a greater will, knowledge and power To obey You Today than yesterday. My surprise (read shock) is discovering that I was praying to follow Roman Catholic Evangelical Councils!

Find a traditional Latin Mass!

yes, change the world indeed

Inspiration for aspiration, if thar makes sense. With 70% of the population claiming to be Christian, it's astonishing that we as a society are so off the rails. I know it became a cliché, but the WWJD concept is solid. As you so eloquently described, if we stop being in-name-only Christians, we truly would change the world. It's something I take very seriously, sometimes to the point of overthinking things. And it saddens me when I see those close to me acting in unchristian ways while dropping Bible verses. Even in the depths of depression, and even when God seems so far away, I still give it my best shot. And right now He seems very far away from me. I know He's not; that's my failure. It will get better...

Obedience is the tricky one. Obedience to God and obedience to church. If you listen to different Christian pastors/priests you may be instructed in many different ways. Even popes can differ in important ways. In political ways for instance. It would be helpful to go into more detail on obedience to God v obedience to church (pastors, priests, etc.). Bring out the microscope on obedience.

Bishop Barron, I love your videos and I've found them very helpful but one point continues to be a struggle for me: we are unable to live up to the vision God has for us due to the Fall (which none of us directly participated in) and even with Baptism we are not perfectly restored to union with God, that is to say we are still inclined to sin. How then ought we to take responsibility for our sin if it is not possible by our own power to avoid it perfectly? Does taking responsibility mean beating ourselves up over every little mistake (something a lot of the saints seem to have done, sometimes literally) or does it mean something else? Thank you.

Amen.

Bishop Barron, I enjoy your commentaries and have used them in the past in RCIA programs. (I was a DRE and Adult Ed Director for 27 years.) My only question on this particular video is why you didn't include homosexuality as wrong in the call to chastity. With the government and schools openly promoting all of these gender issues as mandatory acceptance, our youth are being led down the wrong path and it will now be impossible to reverse. Don't we need to use every opportunity to teach against this corruption of morals?

9:45 "It is not for the Church that we fear, but for the world. We tremble not that God may be dethroned, but that barbarism may reign" ― Fulton J. Sheen (Signs of Our Times)

Bishop, i invite you to consider inviting and gathering Christian leaders from all over the nation to come together because you love them and have a message you think they would be blessed to hear, a vision that would allow us to stand in unity in the need for this witness to our culture.

🙏

Happy new year 2022

Amen. Change the world, not slide down the drain with it.

What would happen if priests and lay people led a life that was honorable to their God and parishioners? What a gift that would be. Unfortunately that did not happen in Boston when I was growing up. Maybe that is why Catholics only make up 25% of Christians in America? Less cover up and more accountability would be appreciated. Thank you.

Yes, it's not only the religious called to celibacy, but all single people. That is somehow rarely mentioned by the Church these days.

Amen!!!!!!!!!!

The end of this world, apocalypse the ending revelation, this world would come to an end.

Embrace chastity and delete Tinder you convenient sinners. Be congruent and live by the principles of God. Overcome the temptation of a having casual sex. Be strong and stop abusing yourself

The market would collapse lol

Proverbs 22:3 “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Take heed to this truth, or if you reject it as "conspiracy" or "craziness" you will suffer the consequences. "Popery Puseyism Jesuitism" By Luigi Desanctis Page 140: At what, then, do the Jesuits aim? According to them, they only seek the greater glory of God; but if you examine the facts you will find that they aim at universal dominion alone. They have rendered themselves indispensable to the Pope, who, without them, could not exist, because Catholicism is identified with them. They have rendered themselves indispensable to governors and hold revolutions in their hands; and in this way, either under one name or another, it is they who rule the world, who have reduced it to such perversion of ideas, that he can neither be a good citizen nor a good Catholic who is not a Jesuit. Page 139: He who thinks he knows the Jesuits by having read all the books that were written in the past century to unmask them, would be grossly deceived. The Jesuitism of that day was an open war against the Gospel and society; the Jesuitism of the present day is a slow but contagious and deadly disease, which secretly insinuates itself; it is a poison taken under the name of medicine. "History of the Jesuits: their origin, progress, doctrines, and designs" 1854 By Nicolini, G. B. (Giovanni Battista) Page 39: take the Jesuit for what he ought or appears to be, and you commit the greatest of blunders. Draw the character after what the Jesuit seems to be in London, and you will not recognize your portrait in the Jesuit of Rome. The Jesuit is the man of circumstances. Despotic in Spain, constitutional in England, republican in Paraguay, bigot in Rome, idolater in India, he shall assume and act out in his own person, with admirable flexibility, all those different features by which men are usually to be distinguished from each other. He will accompany the gay woman of the world to the theatre, and will share in the excesses of the debauchee. With solemn countenance, he will take his place by the side of the religious man at church, and he will revel in the tavern with the glutton and the sot. He dresses, in all garbs, speaks all languages, knows all customs, is present everywhere though nowhere recognized-and all this, it should seem (O monstrous blasphemy!), for the greater glory of God Page 82: [Jesuit] Father Francis Pelhco... candidly confesses that " the many illustrious friends of the Society, prelates, orators, learned and distinguished men of every description, the supporters of the Society, remain occult, and obliged to be silent.'' "The Jesuits in History" by Hector MacPherson Page 148: Danger lies in the fact that since the Vatican Council the interests of both are identical. Jesuitism is the power behind the Papal throne. “The presence of the Jesuits in any country, Romanist or Protestant,” once remarked Lord Palmerston, “ is likely to breed social disturbance.” So hurtful was the Jesuit Order found to be that, up to 1860, it was expelled no fewer than seventy times from countries which has suffered from its machinations... In spite of Continental warnings, England, in the name of a spurious toleration, has become a Jesuit dumping-ground. Those whom other countries have found from sad experience to be enemies, Britain allows to land on her shores, and to carry on unmolested their work of iniquity. We are carrying toleration to excess, and unless there is a change of policy, this nation will one day pay a heavy penalty. If we wish to escape the penalty, we must come to realize that a system which enslaves the individual, fosters superstition, is at war with patriotism and destroys morality, will, if allowed to flourish unchecked, sooner or later destroy society. "The Jesuits in History" 1914 by Hector MacPherson Page 122: In order to clearness of thought in dealing with this subject, it is well to note the distinction between Roman Catholicism and the Papacy. The former has to do mainly with religion. It rests upon the theological doctrines which Protestants believe to be erroneous. There are Roman Catholics who take their religion but not their politics from the Pope. Had the Roman Catholic Church remained a purely religious organisation like any other sect, the world would have been spared centuries of evil. But in the course of its development the Romish Church, through its Popes, entered the civil sphere and aspired to universal monarchy. "The Vatican Against Europe" 1993 by Edmond Paris Page 308: In the future, as in the past, she (The Catholic Church) will inexorably move towards the end she has set herself, without the slightest thought for the ruins and the catastrophes that her unwearying pursuit might be causing. "The end justifies the means". "No political event or circumstance can be evaluated without the knowledge of the Vatican's part in it. And no significant world situation exists in which the Vatican does not play an important explicit or implicit role. "The Secret History Of The Jesuits" 1975 by Edmond Paris Page 7: The public is practically unaware of the overwhelming responsibility carried by the Vatican and its Jesuits in the start of the two world wars-a situation which may be explained in part by the gigantic finances at the disposition of the Vatican and its Jesuits, giving them power in so many spheres, especially since the last conflict. Page -163-164: But let us see, first, how an especially "authorized" personality, Franco, Knight of the Order of Christ, expressly confirmed the collusion between the Vatican and the nazis. According to "Reforme", this is what the press of the Spanish dictator (Franco) published on the 3rd of May 1945, the day of Hitler's death: ... "I learned much from the Order of the Jesuits", said Hitler... "Until now, there has never been anything more grandiose, on the earth, than the hierarchical organisation of the Catholic Church. I transferred much of this organisation into my own party... I am going to let you in on a secret... I am founding an Order... In my "Burgs" of the Order, we will raise up a youth which will make the world tremble... Hitler then stopped, saying that he couldn't say any more.."(108) "Swarms of Locusts: The Jesuit attack on the Faith" 2002 by Michael Bunker Page 12: There is a conspiracy against Christendom.... But who are Satan’s agents in this conspiracy? The “agents” are the Jesuits. Even though the Jesuits exude vast influence and control in the areas of theology, education, recorded history and current media, I am still perplexed that virtually no literature exists exposing the Jesuit’s influence on mainline Protestantism. 👇🙃 ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ꜱᴀᴠᴇᴅ ᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴄʜʀɪꜱᴛɪᴀɴ: ᴛʜᴇ ʙɪʙʟᴇ ꜱᴀʏꜱ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴇᴀʀɴ ꜱᴀʟᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴀ ɢɪꜰᴛ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɢᴏᴅ. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ɪꜱ ᴄᴏɴꜰᴇꜱꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴜʀɴ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴏᴜʀ ꜱɪɴꜱ. ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ʟɪᴠᴇ ʜᴏʟʏ ɪɴ ᴏʙᴇᴅɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴊᴇꜱᴜꜱ (ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ) ꜰᴀɪᴛʜ. ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴊᴇꜱᴜꜱ ᴅɪᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴜʀ ꜱɪɴꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴏꜱᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ 3ʀᴅ ᴅᴀʏ. ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴡᴇ ꜱᴇᴇ ʜᴏᴡ ꜱᴇʀɪᴏᴜꜱ ꜱɪɴ ɪꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴘᴇɴᴛ (ᴛᴜʀɴ) ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɪᴛ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀꜱᴋ ɢᴏᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇʀᴄʏ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏʀɢɪᴠᴇɴᴇꜱꜱ, ɢᴏᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ɢɪᴠᴇ ᴜꜱ ʜɪꜱ ʜᴏʟʏ ꜱᴘɪʀɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴡᴇʟʟ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴜꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴜꜱ ᴏᴠᴇʀᴄᴏᴍᴇ ꜱɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴠᴇ ʜᴏʟʏ. ɴᴏ ʀᴇʟɪɢɪᴏɴ ᴏʀ ᴄʜᴜʀᴄʜ ᴄᴀɴ ꜱᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ

It always now irks me whenever Bishop Barron says laity or talks about laity. I am just so reminded when we were looking to our leaders to help do something about the desecration to our churches and statues...His only response -" It's the laity job" ... smh... sorry your still no Reverend Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and will never be...

I really do love Bishop Baron, but I think he can tend towards not being confrontational enough when it comes to conflict within the church, like for instance a certain unnamed pontiff trying very hard to cause a schism.

Laity are supposed to be involved in the election of Bishops, as per the patristic method. St. Cyprian was clear that the entire community, including the laity, should be involved in selecting Bishops, and this was the way Bishops were selected in the early Church. Of course this does not mean the laity are at all on the same level with the Bishops - you have an indelible mark on your souls and resemble Christ in that unique and beautiful way - but it does reflect the sort of genuine involvement the laity should have in the Church, and is a counterpoint to the type of "involvement" that in reality involves a watering down of the priesthood in order to make all believers into pseudo-priests.

Why can’t the Latin Mass advocates be obedient to the rulings of the Church and accept restrictions now placed on it in the liturgical life of the Church. In our countries English is the norm or ‘ordinary’ as the Church is calling it. We want unity of worship but they seem to want things their own way.

Can't you leave these people in peace? They have jobs and families 6 days a week while you have the whole 6 days to dream up some carrot or stick sermon to make them feel just inadequate enough to have failed. Just give it a rest.

Thank you bishop barron. I m from india and here laity are oppressed and bullied and threatened by the ruling regime. It's been a not so happy Christmas. Please pray for my nation, families and clergy who live in fear. In these times I don't recognize voice of God. Maybe my faith isn't strong.

*Pope Emeritus Benedict VI:* Each of you has a personal vocation which God has given you for your own joy and sanctity. When a person is conquered by the fire of His gaze, no sacrifice seems too great to follow Him and give Him the best of ourselves. This is what the Saints have always done, spreading the light of the Lord ... and transforming the world into a welcoming home for everyone.

May God give you, Bishop Barron, a blessed year 2022. Thank you a lot for your amazing work sharing the message of Jesus. All praise be to the Lord.

Catholic Religion The True Religion 🙏

I don't disagree with the Bishop's final conclusion. But that call wasn't a revolutionary act of Vatican II, that's been the call for every Christian since the dawn of the Church. Jesus called for it in his sermons and Paul stressed it in his letters. I guess I'm trying to figure out if/when that message ever changed?

Your voice is soothing. Your information gives me peace. 🙏🏻

I really love this reflection. I’m gonna preach about this in my church. Thank you, Bishop. Once again, you’re my hero. God bless you

I agree. Poverty, chastity and obedience will help us change the world

😇🎀🕊Thank you Bishop Barron 🎀🕊😇

Thank you Bishop Barron for this words of guidance. God bless you🙏

Love , compassion & forgiveness to all people ⚘💗 Blessings from Dubai 🥰 💗💗💗

a brief, broad and definite message on how to live a christian life - poverty, chastity and obedience. I thank God for your life, B Barron. May God bless you with good health and long life! thank you for this timely reminder.

God bless you Bishop Barron. You continue to give us great insight into what it means to be people of God.

God bless Bishop Barron and Word on Fire ministries. My life has been deeply effected by all of their efforts through this social media platform.

Holiness is amazing. The Heavenly Father wants all of us to live a holy life.

Thank you Bishop for your wonderful talk particularly on a message of chastity. I led a double life of practicing Catholic going through the motions for many years while leading a life of promiscuity. My marriage almost fell apart. The Blessed Mother intervened at the darkest moment of my life to save my marriage 14 years ago during a trip to Medjugorje. I now have an immense love for our Blessed Mother and really commit myself to living that life of chastity. I go to Mass regularly during this pandemic and not being attached to things of this world because I now have a great love and firm conviction in Jesus being fully present in Holy Eucharist. Faith is a grace and I only received this gift of faith after my profound conversion.

Thank you Bishop Barron, you are a great Apostle of Jesus.God Bless you.

Faith is not too difficult when you "get it". Obedience which is still an act of faith. obedience bridges the gap until you do "get it".

Thank you Bishop Barron for the clear language helping me to gain a deeper insight in a Cstholic life.

What a wonderful way of starting the day and the year. Inspired by the mission.

Amen!!!!! I so wish we could change our society!!!

Saint

Jesus taught his disciples, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"... "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its strength, what shall it be salted with? It is no longer of any use but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a measure, but upon the lamp-stand, so as to give light to all in the house. Even so let your light shine before men, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5 : 3, 13-16) John Chrysostom wrote: as the Apostles and priests are, through the example of their virtue, the salt which seasons the people, so are they, by their doctrine, the light which enlightens the ignorant. They are compared to a city situated on a mountain, because they are founded on Jesus Christ, and cannot remain hidden, even though they might want to, because Jesus Christ himself makes them known before the eyes of all men.

As much as the lay person feels that he or she is called to proclaim or to organize the community of God, he or she is called first and foremost to live the life oriented to sanctity, love for others, and above all the love of God as with the rest of the Laity; in obedience, poverty, and chastity. Thanks Bishop Barron, God bless always.

Because of the low expectations of lay people a ton of people told me that due to my striving to live according to the three evangelical goals I'm certainly called to religious life. This caused mayor issues in my relationship with God as I now thought that being very committed to him only brought me further away from my hearts desire: a husband with whom I can do some projects which will be a blessing for society as a whole. I'm glad to finally have a clergy man telling openly that Jesus' standard for every one is actually a lot higher than we are often being told.

Thank you, Bishop Barron, for helping us understand God’s call.

Thank you

You are great.

Every time I listen to you, I feel I'm protected, nurtured, cared for/loved, encouraged, supported, challenged, taught. Your ministry is so important to all of us, but especially to me - I feel it - and I will dedicate 2022 to growing in Christ through your WOF Evangelical Ministry - and of course prayer, Mary & Joseph's help & my Guardian Angel as well. THANK YOU Bp. Barron!

I would be so glad if people would listen to you more. I must say you give me hope

I think the Bishop is right. Weather you are Catholic or protestant (I am protestant) Jesus calls Christians to be his.

Thanks for directing us to work in the right part of God Kingdom . Happy New Year.Bishop Barron.

🙏🙏🙏

The only thing which can save the fading Christianity is what we´ve just heard - radical truth. The more strict bishop gets the more people he will attract. You don´t need to listen to Jesus to be told comforting lies. A very different being spreads them quite effectively.

I thought it was 1%. It sure feels like that. God bless Bishop Barron

Yes, all get more than blessings. The Friendship from all Glory from God Father self

As an Atheist, I completely agree with Bishop Barron that if the Catholic Laity actually commenced to live and follow Catholic Teaching then it would be extremely impressive and it would definitely be evidence for Theism/Catholicism that would cause me to investigate the matter (or even take part as part of a Pascalian Wager). However the fact that many Catholids don't follow the Universal call to Holiness should then be seen as evidence against Theism, specifically that the Church, Holy Spirit, and the Sacraments don't move people in the ways that we'd expect.

Lets start today... because He is the way...

I think that more than Dorothy Day, St. Josemaria Escriva (founder of Opus Dei) should be given credit for spending his life following God’s will in promoting the role of the laity in the evangelization of the world through ordinary life, work, and relationships.