Today, the Church finds itself tested in many ways, not the least of which is by a kind of secularism that would make the Church seem unnecessary at the very least, and even a hindrance to so-called social progress.

Such thinking fails to recognise the true nature of the Church, which – through the good news it proclaims – sets its sight on nothing less than renewing the human race.

But there is another problem that Pope Paul VI identified thirty years ago in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelisation in the Modern World). It arises out of the great number of people who have been baptised and remain “on the fringe” of the Church without formally renouncing their membership of it.

The Pope noted further that “Christians associate a great deal with non-believers and are constantly being influenced by those who have no religion.” He described the problem as one of a people “without roots”, which is a “characteristic of our time”. In 2006 these problems have grown much worse.

The present dilemma demands that Catholics come to a clear understanding of what the Church's mission is and the best ways to fulfil it.

To speak of Church is to speak, in the first instance, of mission, of having been sent. The followers of Jesus have been sent to evangelise, which is, in essence, to proclaim good news.

They have been sent to heal, to offer hope, to serve, to bring freedom. The business world has attempted to appropriate the word when it speaks of a company's “mission” and of a “mission statement”. But mission is of the nature of the Church.

It also means, as Thomas Cardinal Williams, Archbishop of Wellington, said recently, that “to be a Catholic is in no way a matter of being a consumer of religious goods and services.”

Salt of the earth

Vatican Council II emphasised four decades ago how important the laity was in this. Bishop Gabriel Malzaire was drawing upon the Council's documents, at the CCR Conference last weekend, when he told participants “it is only through the laity that we become the salt of the earth.”

The present circumstances in which we live, including the decline of ordinations to the ministerial priesthood in the Western world, have served to bring to the fore the Council documents and to remind the Church of the common priesthood of its members and the vital role of the laity.

Archbishop Edward Gilbert, at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Congress last October, gave notice that for the next two years two points of focus for the local Church would be the strengthening of the Catholic culture, with particular attention to the Catholic school system and the deepening of vocational discernment, which he sees first of all as a matter of each person asking the question: “Do I want to be a Catholic believer?”

He has more recently pointed to the importance of adult catechesis and the natural role and responsibility of each Catholic as an educator within the family.

Mission is a matter for each individual Catholic. In the opening chapter of John's Gospel, an eager Andrew tells his brother Simon: “ We have found the Messiah ” (John 1:41 ).

Reflection on mission today must lead each Catholic to ask: “Am I sharing my faith in Christ as well as I might and if not, why not?”