Spirituality

The challenge to develop a unique spirituality for laity in mission is not rooted in a clerical or monastic spirituality. There is a need for a spirituality that builds on the Christian vocation of the laity and promotes a life of active contemplation in the context of the secular world. Too often we see the spirituality of the lay missionary as a "watered down version of religious or clerical spirituality."

This challenge is also true of the community aspect of the missionary vocation of the laity. We expect them to live as priests or religious and we are frequently not prepared for the reality that laity are free to marry and to enter into relationships that might lead to marriage. Lay missionaries are not called to a community life as religious are and they are not bound by the same restrictions that celibates are. They are called to enter into healthy and holy relationships with people of the opposite sex that could lead to marriage as well as friendship. All too frequently we simply take the rules and expectations that are perfectly valid for religious and celibates and apply them to the laity. Tensions and even conflicts arise from different expectations of spirituality and community life.