Embracing a God-given role.

The second dimension of Christian attitude, one which comes back to back with the first - participation in Christ - is the attitude of 'Christian identity and responsibility'. This attitude is the embracing of one's role in the Church and in the world. It is the role that you have been given by Christ, a role by which He orients humanity towards God.

One's Christian identity and responsibility is one's life as it has been enriched by Christ.  It is not a fixed and unmoving attitude, but is rather an attitude which leads you to make life more human precisely because you are sharing in Christ's mission. The heart of this attitude is the proclamation of Christ by the person through his or her life and witness. It represents a responsibility towards humanity because Christ has transformed me. So now, I will witness to Christ so that others might be transformed by Him also. Indeed, by this attitude, I make my life a witness to Christ, a vehicle for His presence in the world.

In saying this we are aware that the problem today is that we (Catholics) have not formed baptised people in the life of Christ, and that consequently many have gone over to secular living.

It has also been, somewhat mistakenly said or implied, that the Second Vatican Council encouraged this by being over optimistic about the world. The Council, it should be said, was not over optimistic about the world; it was realistic about the world. The Council's optimism was in Christ and the Redemption, and because of this unique opportunity, human flourishing can be genuinely envisaged. 

It is from these first two dimensions of Christian attitude, namely, 'participation in Christ' and 'Christian identity and responsibility', that the new evangelisation flows.