Catholic bishops dedicate 2019 as Year of Laity

By Wewak Diocese Archbishop
JOZEF ROSZYNSKI
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And look, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt 28:19-20).
As disciples of Jesus, the Bishops of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have dedicated 2019 as a Year of the Laity, a time to think of those members of the church who are active in the world and are called to witness to their Christian faith in their families and workplaces in a variety of ways – lay people.
Lay people not ordained or members of a religious congregation but they are essential members of the church.
They are called from baptism to make present the priestly, prophetic and kingly work of Christ in the ordinary events, needs and longings of everyday life.
In PNG and the Solomon Islands, we can be very grateful for the strides we have taken in empowering the laity since the Second Vatican Council.
In the two countries, primary evangelisation and first and ongoing catechesis was, and is still, carried out by lay catechists.
Lay people are now very active in the administration and the mission of the Catholic Church to make our church truly alive in Christ.
The Year of the Laity is therefore a special time for the lay faithful to discover and live out their unique vocation, to make the Good News present in their communities.
We are given another year, it is a gift of time and blessing, may we use it the way God wants us to use it, to “be holy as our Father in Heaven is holy”.