OBJECTIVES OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

CHAPTER II. OBJECTIVES OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

5. 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 People of God 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 People of God,
the baptized exercise their spiritual leadership both in the Church and in the world,
in both the religious and the temporal orders.

The spiritual leadership of the People of God and of all its members is primarily designed to manifest Christ's message by words and deeds and to communicate His grace to the world It is especially on this level that the leadership of the baptized and the pastoral ministry are mutually complementary.

There are innumerable opportunities open to the baptized for the exercise of their spiritual leadership of evangelization and sanctification. The very testimony of their Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have the power to draw men to belief and to God. However, spiritual leadership of this kind does not consist only in the witness of one's way of life; a true apostle looks for opportunities to announce Christ by words addressed either to non-believers with a view to leading them to faith, or to the faithful with a view to instructing, strengthening, and encouraging them to a more fervent life.

"For the charity of Christ impels us" (2 Cor. 5 :14). The words of the Apostle should echo in all hearts,
"Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor. 9:16).

7. God's plan for the world is that all MANKIND should work together
to renew and constantly perfect the temporal order.

All those things which make up the temporal order, namely, the good things of life and the prosperity of the family, culture, economic matters, the arts and professions, the laws of the political community, international relations, and other matters of this kind, as well as their development and progress, not only aid in the attainment of man's ultimate goal but also possess their own intrinsic value.
In the course of history, the use of temporal things has been marred by serious vices. The whole People of God must work vigorously in order that men may become capable of rectifying the distortion of the temporal order and directing it to God through Christ.
The baptized must take up the renewal of the temporal order as their own special obligation.
As citizens they must cooperate with other citizens with their own particular skill and on their own responsibility.
Everywhere and in all things they must seek the justice of God's kingdom.
The temporal order must be renewed in such a way that, without detriment to its own proper laws, it may be brought into conformity with the higher principles of the Christian life and adapted to the shifting circumstances of time, place, and peoples.

.8. While every exercise of spiritual leadership should be motivated by charity,
some works by their very nature can become specially vivid expressions of this charity.
Christ the Lord wanted these works to be signs of His messianic mission (cf. Matt. 11:4-5).
ln her very early days, the holy People of God added the agape to the Eucharistic supper
and thus showed itself to be wholly united around Christ by the bond of charity.

These charitable enterprises can and should reach out to all persons and all needs

Wherever there are people in need of food and drink, clothing, housing, medicine, employment, education; wherever men lack the facilities necessary for living a truly human life or are afflicted with serious distress or illness or suffer exile or imprisonment, there Christian charity should seek them out and find them, console them with great solicitude, and help them with appropriate relief.
This obligation is imposed above all upon every prosperous nation and person. It is altogether necessary that one should consider in one's neighbor the image of God in which he has been created, and also Christ the Lord to Whom is really offered whatever is given to a needy person.
It is imperative also that the freedom and dignity of the person being helped be respected with the utmost consideration, that the purity of one's charitable intentions be not stained by seeking one's own advantage or by striving for domination,(5) and especially that the demands of justice be satisfied lest the giving of what is due in justice be represented as the offering of a charitable gift.