Living The Worthy Life- The Role Of The Lay People In The Church

Bishop Fulton Sheen predicted that the Church would go through some extremely troubled times.  In fact, he specifically explained that it would be the laypeople who would save the Church. 

“Who’s going to save our Church? It’s not our bishops, it’s not our priests and it is not religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that the priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops and the religious act like religious.” 

Sheen then added, “He’s really saying that the Church is not just the hierarchy. The hierarchy provides the sacramental structure of the Church. But in the future, I really think the laity will have to do more things.” 

Now we can ask is the Church in trouble? 

Answer- yes 

Are we getting strong and correct information from the Church about this? 

Answer- well …... 

Okay, the answers will vary but very few would agree that this information is forthcoming and accurate.  

What is going on here?   

Translated from the Aramaic Bible,  Matthew 28:20: And instruct them to keep everything whatever I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you every day, even unto the end of time. Amen” 

Now you can see a problem here.  Bishop Sheen predicted that the Church would be saved through the help of the laypeople.  Matthew 28:20 promised that Jesus said he would be with us until the end of time.  Therefore, the logical conclusion would be that it would be laypeople who would help to save the Church. If this indeed is correct who would be some of these laypeople and why would God work through them? 

First, let us look at some of the Catholic laypeople today who are working to bring some of these issues within the Church to the people of the Church.  Dr. Marshall Taylor, a convert from the Anglican Church and former Anglican Priest, has written a book on this subject.  

Infiltration: The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within- is a 2019 book published by Sophia Institute Press and written by Dr. Taylor Marshall.  In his book he explained, ¨ It took nearly two millennia for the enemies of the Catholic Church to realize they could not successfully attack the Church from the outside. Indeed, countless nemeses from Nero to Napoleon succeeded only in creating sympathy and martyrs for our Catholic Faith. That all changed in the mid-19th century when clandestine societies populated by Modernists and Marxists hatched a plan to subvert the Catholic Church from within. Their goal: to change Her doctrine, Her liturgy, and Her mission. 

Could this possibly be true? Could this be what Bishop Sheen was talking about and wrote about with the laypeople of the Church? How could have Bishop Sheen so accurately have called this?  Could it be that both Bishop Sheen and Dr. Taylor Marshall were seeing the same things at different times? 

To this end, Dr. Taylor Marshall pulls back the curtain on their nefarious plan, showing how these enemies of Christ strategically infiltrated the seminaries, then the priesthood, then the episcopacy, and eventually the cardinal-electors – all with the eventual goal of electing one of their own as pope. 

You’ll come to see that the seemingly endless scandals plaguing the Church are not the result, as so many thinks, of cultural changes, or of Vatican II, but rather the natural consequences of an orchestrated demonic plot to destroy the Church. 

Does this not sound a great deal like what Bishop Sheen was talking about? 

In these gripping pages, you’ll discover: 

• How popes of the 1800s discovered a plot to infiltrate the Church. 
• How theologians suspected of being Modernists became Vatican powerbrokers. 
• How modifications in Catholic canon law enabled predator priests like Theodore McCarrick to stay in positions of power. 
• How Our Lady of La Salette gave a prophetic warning of the plot to infiltrate the Church. 
• How the chief architect of liturgical reforms was discovered to be a Freemason. 
• Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s role in exposing the Communist infiltration of the priesthood. 
• How the confusing history of the Third Secret of Fatima relates to the infiltration of the Catholic Church. 
• Pope Paul VI explained that Vatican II was not infallible. 
• How Pope Paul VI revoked the voting rights of cardinals over 80, thus guaranteeing that all voting cardinals were appointed by him. 
• How the criteria for sainthood shifted from a person’s historical acts to his personal beliefs. 
• The complex roots of the St. Gallen Mafia and how they plotted to modify Catholic doctrine and elect Pope Francis. 

Look at this list and ask yourself one question- is this true?  Was this the same worry that Bishop Fulton Sheen had more than 70 years ago?  Then look at what is happening in the Church today.     

Applying what was written in the book to the events of December 3, 2019, when the scheduled beatification of Ven. Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen had been postponed after several U.S. bishops asked that the cause be given more time for an examination.  This was a good example of what Dr. Taylor wrote about in his book- How the criteria for sainthood shifted from a person’s historical acts to his personal beliefs.   

Clearly Bishop Fulton Sheen had all of the qualifications to have this honor in the Church save one- he was not politically correct.  He never did things that other clerics would do for political correctness.  He did things for others. He lived a life that touched so many millions of people.  As a young child during his show- I was glued to listening to him every Tuesday night.  He was dynamic and made a difference.  He was exciting and conversational.  For many, he was the face or the voice of the Church for more than 40 years.  His power was to touch the hearts and souls of the people who listened.  The problem was it was the Church during his life and the Church after his life that has not listened.  

Maybe today we should listen to Dr. Marshall and see exactly what is happening within the Church right now.  I am positive that is what Bishop Fulton Sheen meant when he said, “Who’s going to save our Church? It’s not our bishops, it’s not our priests and it is not religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that the priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops and the religious act like religious.” 

Sheen then added, “He’s really saying that the Church is not just the hierarchy. The hierarchy provides the sacramental structure of the Church. But in the future, I really think the laity will have to do more things.”