​A journalist once visited the Johnson Space Center in Florida to report on the state of NASA and the American space program. As he walked through the building, he noticed a man mopping the hallway and decided to ask him, somewhat facetiously, “So, what do you do here?” The man didn’t reply, “I’m a janitor.” Instead, he said, “I’m helping launch the next rocket ship to the moon.”

That answer reveals something important about mission and purpose. The janitor understood that he was part of something larger than himself. He was not merely “helping out on the sidelines.” He recognized that every successful mission depends upon many people playing different roles. Some jobs are more visible. Some seem closer to the center of the action. But no great endeavor succeeds without an entire team working together.

And you know you have a healthy organization when everyone involved feels pride and ownership in contributing to the mission. That same principle applies to the Church.

In the Gospel, Jesus calls the Twelve Apostles. They clearly held a unique and central role in the life of the early Church. Yet the mission of Christianity was never meant to rest solely upon those twelve men. The Apostles may have stood at the hub of the wheel, but countless others formed the spokes radiating outward into the world.

Those closest to the hub exercised leadership, but those farther out often had the most direct contact with ordinary people in society. The mission spread because the work belonged not only to apostles, but to the whole community of believers.

Today, the successors of the apostles are the bishops of the Church — roughly 5,600 throughout the world. If you asked a bishop, “What do you do here?” most could easily describe how their ministry connects to the mission of Jesus and the Apostles.

But bishops alone cannot carry the Gospel into every corner of daily life. Most ministry “on the ground,” where the rubber meets the road, happens elsewhere: in parishes, in schools, in hospitals, in food pantries, in homes, in workplaces, and among neighbors and friends. The list goes on…

The Church’s mission moves forward largely through ordinary believers living their faith in ordinary places.

When I was in seminary, there was a high school across the street called Carmel High School. At the time, I remember thinking it was strange to name a school after a piece of candy. Years later, while on pilgrimage in the Holy Land, I finally visited Mount Carmel — the important biblical site from which the Carmelite religious order takes its name. Only then did I learn that “Kerem El” in Hebrew means “Vineyard of the Lord.” Suddenly the name made sense.

In the Gospel, Jesus says, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.” When Jesus speaks about laborers for the harvest, He is not talking about gathering grapes or wheat. He is talking about gathering souls — the fruit growing in the Vineyard of the Lord.

And importantly, Jesus is not saying that we need more apostles or bishops. We’ll always have enough of those. And certainly, we do need more priests and deacons. We are excited, for example, about Deacon Raymond’s upcoming ordination to the priesthood and the beautiful role he will take on as a laborer in the vineyard. Priests, bishops, and deacons do carry visible and important responsibilities in the Church. But the mission belongs to everyone. Every baptized Christian has a role to play. There are no “bit parts” in the Body of Christ.

A phrase that has become increasingly common in Church circles is “co-responsibility.” Years ago, the buzzword was “empowerment.” Today the emphasis is on recognizing that the Church cannot function as a purely top-down organization where ministry is carried out only by clergy while everyone else watches from the sidelines. Our organizational chart is more horizontal than vertical.

Who is responsible for evangelization? We all are. Who is responsible for sustaining parish life? We all are. Who is responsible for works of compassion and justice? We all are. Who is responsible for proclaiming the truth of the Gospel? We all are. The Church flourishes when every member recognizes that he or she has a real share in the mission of Christ.

​Many Catholics still think of themselves as spectators rather than participants. They see the Church as something run by “them” instead of “us.” But the Gospel paints a very different picture. Through Baptism, every Christian is called into the mission. There is no insignificant role in the Vineyard of the Lord.
​

• The person teaching children in religious education.
• The volunteer serving at a food pantry.
• The parishioner greeting people at the church doors.
• The Catholic striving to live with integrity at work.
• The neighbor offering compassion to someone who is suffering.
• The parent teaching children how to pray.

All of it matters. All of it helps build the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps that is the mindset we need to recover in parish life today. Imagine if every Catholic walked out of church each Sunday thinking: “I’m doing the work of Jesus. I’m building the Kingdom of God.”
And if someone ever asks you, “What’s your role at that parish?” Let your answer be simple and immediate: “I’m doing the work of Jesus. I’m building the Kingdom of God.”

-Rev. James F. Hurlbert