As I have done for you … Some days the work of ministry is easier than other days. Sometimes what we are called to do and how we’re called to do it seems clear. The path ahead seems certain, straight, and true. Most of the time, though, that’s not the case. We walk on a path shrouded in a mist of options. We know there’s a path and we know we belong on it. We just don’t get to see much more than one step ahead at a time. We struggle with identity and relationships in ministry. What do we call ourselves, what do we call each other, and how do we fit into the grand scheme of discipleship? We grapple with humility always. Eager to serve, we often find it hard to let others minister to us. We fill our days with the busy labor of ministry but so often neglect the quiet time, the retreat time, the just-being-with-God time. We are good at washing feet but not so good at letting others wash our feet. Still, we do the best we can, confident that the Spirit will lead us on. Speaking of the Spirit brings us to the concept of vocation. There are those who say that it is impossible for a layperson to have a vocation in ministry. Others put limits on it; I recall vividly my pastor’s disappointment on being told that he had a new vocation in his parish. It was my vocation to the consecrated life, and that just didn’t “count” against a vocation to ordination. Even the use of the word “minister” in reference to the laity was the object of debate among our bishops not so long ago, when Co-Workers in The Vineyard (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005) was in the approval phase. Perhaps it is not surprising that lay ministers face so many challenges of identity. Many years ago, in what was perhaps a more settled time, bishops spoke definitively about the call to holiness: Because the laity’s call to holiness is a vocation in every sense of the word, it makes demands and poses challenges. Many challenges are embedded in the call to holiness on this eve of a new era, but we have raised up three as particularly apt for our time: (1) to make an explicit connection between holiness and active service, especially to the poor and vulnerable; (2) to recognize that human suffering — so much a part of the laity’s life — can be the catalyst for them to carry forth the Church’s healing ministry in diverse ways; (3) to reappropriate the Church’s tradition of a simple lifestyle in light of the pressing need for justice, as well as preserving the earth for ourselves and for generations to come.    The laity’s call to holiness is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Their response is a gift to the Church and to the world (Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium [USCCB, 1995]). This issue of ML focuses on that call and response. Kathleen Brown and David Orr reflect on the call to holiness and how the vocation of lay ministers is lived out. Kathy is the director of formation for ministry at the Washington Theological Union, bringing her experience into this article; David colors this piece with original poetry. Mary Ann Paulukonis offers principles of leadership in liturgical ministry. Susan S. Jorgensen describes and illustrates a ministry of humility and care. She writes of the grace of everyday life that comes from the shawl-knitting ministry, which she helped established and which continues to grow internationally. All who engage in ministry have a common call to simply do as Christ did. If we follow that call and commit to it with our entire selves, our discipleship will bear much fruit. Ministry is diverse and, at the same time, profoundly relational. This is so because ministry has its source in the triune God and because it takes shape within the Church understood as a communion. Ministerial relationships are grounded first in what all members of Christ’s Body have in common. Through their sacramental initiation all are established in a personal relationship with Christ and in a network of relationships within the communion of the People of God. The personal discipleship of each individual makes possible a community of disciples formed by and for the mission of Christ (Co-Workers in the Vineyard 21). ML SUBSCRIBE NOW! What do YOU Think? Send an e-mail to ML Editor or post an entry on the ML Current Issue Discussion Board. (All submissions become the property of RPI and may be edited for length.)