Sacerdotal Aspects of the Lay Apostolate

Abstract

Notwithstanding that Catholic Action has been already so thoroughly investigated and discussed, it is possible that sufficient attention has not yet been paid to the important question of its sacramental basis and sacerdotal implications. It should hardly need to be said that Catholic Action, as a thing if not as a name, is not something new in the Church; it is, on the contrary, implied in the very notion of membership of the Mystical Body of Christ and is an integral part of Catholic truth.It is important to insist that the Church of God is a hierarchic society in which membership implies also status, a status which derives immediately from oneness with Christ and a sharing in His perfections and powers, and therefore in His sacerdotal character. The nature and the degree of this sharing in the Priesthood of Christ varies considerably in the different grades within the Church; but it is a reality even in the lowest grade and gives an almost unbelievable quality and value to even the most commonplace participation in the liturgical life of the Church; and the source of this sacerdotal power throughout all the hierarchical grades is to be found in the Sacraments. Moreover, as far as Catholic Action in the modern sense is concerned, there is a particularly important source to be recognised in the Sacrament of Confirmation.