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Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 208

208 BASIC DUTIES OF LEGIONARIES CHAPTER 33
worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity
consecrate the world itself to God.” (LG 34)
We share in Christ’s prophetic (teaching) mission. He
“proclaimed the kingdom of his Father both by the testimony
of his life and by the power of his word” (LG 34). As lay
faithful, we are given the ability and responsibility to accept
the gospel in faith and proclaim it in word and deed. The
greatest service we can render to people is to speak the truths
of faith - to tell, for example, what God is, what the human
soul is, what the purpose of life is and what follows death.
Above all, about Christ Our Lord who contains all truth. It is
not necessary to be able to argue and give proofs for what we
say, but to know and live these truths and to be aware of the
difference they make, and to talk about them intelligently,
conveying enough of their meaning to arouse interest and
possibly make the person willing to seek fuller information.
Legion membership helps to improve one’s knowledge of
the faith and how to live it. It helps also by strong motivation
and experience to speak about religion to strangers. But
people who have the greatest claim on our apostolic charity
are those we meet habitually at home, school, trade,
profession, social and leisure activities. These will not
normally be part of our Legion assignment, but they are
committed to our care all the same.
We share in Christ’s kingly mission by overcoming in
ourselves the kingdom of sin and by the service of our
fellowmen, for to rule is to serve. Christ said that he came to
serve, not to be served. (Mt 20:28) We share, above all, in this
mission of Christ by doing our work well, whatever it is, in
the home and outside it, out of love for God and as a service
to others. By work well done we continue the work of
creation and help make the world a better and more pleasant
place to live in. It is the privileged task of lay Christians to
permeate and perfect the temporal order, that is, all earthly
affairs, with the spirit of the Gospel.
We pray in the Legion Promise that we may become
instruments of the Holy Spirit’s mighty purposes. Certainly
our actions should always be supernaturally motivated, but
our nature also must provide the Holy Spirit with as perfect
an instrument as possible.