A lay apostolate is a lay (as distinguished from a clerical) apostolic work in the service of Christ and the Church. Our apostolates do this through promoting practice of the devotions to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Jesus King of All Nations, Our Lady of America and Saint John Paul II to bring conversions and a culture of life and civilization of love in the new evangelization. The lay apostolate is distinguished from “ministry” which is generally applied to the ministry of ordained ministers, such as preaching and the administration of the sacraments. Vatican Council II issued a Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity which stated:
The apostolate of the laity derives from their Christian vocation and the Church can never be without it. Sacred Scripture clearly shows how spontaneous and fruitful such activity was at the very beginning of the Church (cf. Acts 11:19-21; 18:26; Rom. 16:1-16; Phil. 4:3). (No. 1). . . .
The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ. All activity of the Mystical Body directed to the attainment of this goal is called the apostolate, which the Church carries on in various ways through all her members. . . .
[The laity] exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ and promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.” (No. 2).
We operate two non-profit tax-exempt corporations which promotes our four apostolates. The Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe Inc. promotes devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of America and Saint John Paul II. The Jesus King of All Nation Devotion Inc. promotes devotion to Jesus King of All Nations.
