TO LAY FAITHFUL: DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE SAINTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 26, 2000 (VIS) - Today in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II presided at a Eucharistic celebration marking the occasion of the World Congress of Catholic Laity. The congress began yesterday in Rome on the theme: "Witnesses of Christ in the Third Millennium."

The Pope indicated that "with Vatican Council II, the hour of the laity in the Church truly arrived and many lay faithful, men and women, came to understand more clearly their own Christian vocation which, by its very nature, is a vocation to the apostolate. Thirty five years after its conclusion, we must return to the Council. We must reconsider the documents of Vatican II in order to rediscover the great wealth of doctrinal and pastoral stimuli."

He continued: "The documents must be especially reconsidered by you, the lay faithful, to whom the Council opened extraordinary prospects for involvement and commitment in the Church's mission."

The Holy Father told the lay faithful that "today more than ever, your apostolate is indispensable in order for the Gospel to become light, salt and leavening of a new humanity. ... The Jubilee invites everyone to a serious examination of conscience and a lasting spiritual renewal for ever more incisive missionary action." He added that, as "witnesses of Christ" the laity are especially called to "bring the light of the Gospel into the vital nerve centers of society."

"For believers, sanctity continues to be the greatest challenge," he highlighted. "We must be grateful to Vatican Council II which reminded us how all Christians are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity. ... Do not be afraid to take up this challenge: be saintly men and women! Do not forget that the fruits of the apostolate depend on the profundity of spiritual life, on the intensity of prayer, on constant formation and on ever more sincere adherence to the Church's directives. ... If you live Christianity without compromise, you can light up the world."

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