The Solemnity of Jesus Christ, which the Church celebrated on Sunday, was instituted by Pope Pius XI nearly one hundred years ago in order to encourage Christians to spread the kingdom of Jesus Christ in the world.  “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King,” Pope Pius XI wrote in the encyclical Quas Primas, “society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.”

The Church’s fundamental mission is to spread this kingdom of Christ, and you have a role to play in this mission. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out, “All members of the Church share in this mission, though in various ways” (CCC 863).

Perhaps it’s easy to understand how priests and nuns share in this mission of the Church, but it’s more difficult to understand how lay people with secular jobs are called to help “spread the kingdom.” We rightly associate activities like celebrating the sacraments, preaching the Word, teaching the faith, praying for the world, and serving the poor with the mission of the Church, but how do the ordinary lives of lay people like you and me fit into the call to spread the kingdom? Can mundane things like punching the time clock, cleaning the house, filling out reports, changing diapers, paying bills, driving kids to and from activities, or attending meetings be part of spreading the kingdom?

Pope St. John Paul II often emphasized the responsibility of the laity to live out the mission of the Church in every aspect of their lives. He wrote:

Christ's redemptive work, while essentially concerned with the salvation of men, includes also the renewal of the whole temporal order. Hence the mission of the Church is not only to bring the message and grace of Christ to men but also to penetrate and perfect the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel. In fulfilling this mission of the Church, the Christian laity exercise their apostolate both in the Church and in the world, in both the spiritual and the temporal orders (Apostolicam Actuositatem 5).

In other words, the Church is called not only to bring people to salvation in Jesus Christ – this is always the Church’s primary responsibility – but also to make the world a better place. The members of the Church are called to follow and share Jesus Christ not only in “spiritual” places, like our parish ministries, but also in “temporal” places, like the secular workplace. The presence of faithful, joy-filled followers of Jesus is meant to transform every area of society. God places each of us in different spheres of influence – not only our parishes, but also our homes, our offices, and our neighborhoods – to spread his kingdom of truth and charity within those environments.

Where has God placed you? What unique, unrepeatable mission has he entrusted to you that he has entrusted to no other? Ask the Lord in prayer what he is calling you to do to spread his kingdom in your corner of the world.

God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about (St. John Henry Newman).