A Catholic bishop urged lay faithful Saturday to see their vocation as a mission to bring the Church into everyday life, not simply attend Mass.
Bishop Ruperto Santos of Antipolo told more than 300 delegates at the opening Mass of National Laity Week 2026 that Catholics are called to evangelize through their daily lives.
“Your vocation is not simply to come to the Church. Your vocation is to bring the Church into the world,” Santos said in his homily at the Nativity of Our Lady Parish in Marikina City.
He said evangelization extends beyond the pulpit and must be lived out in homes, workplaces, schools and businesses.
“The Church does not evangelize only from the pulpit. The Church evangelizes through your life,” Santos said.
Santos stressed that the lay vocation is not a lesser calling but a missionary vocation that sends Catholics into society as witnesses of Christ.
“That is why the lay vocation is not lesser. It is a missionary vocation. You are sent,” he said.
Albert Loteyro, president of the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, likewise called on lay Catholics to become active partners in the Church’s mission.
“The lay faithful are not mere spectators. We are co-responsible partners in communion, participation, and mission,” Loteyro said.
He urged lay disciples to translate faith into their choices, relationships, civic duties and service to the common good.
National Laity Week 2026 carries the theme, “The Laity United in Prayer as Pilgrims of Hope: That Christ May Be Formed in Us,” from Galatians 4:19.
The theme highlights the formation of lay Catholics as witnesses of Christ in their families, communities and society.
The opening included a pilgrimage to seven Jubilee Churches in the Diocese of Antipolo, marking the 400th anniversary of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje and the centennial of its canonical coronation.
