Over the years I've received many questions regarding the liturgy. While some of these questions may have been driven by some illicit or odd practice that was going on in their parish, the fundamental question of many sincere Catholics can be boiled down to this: What is the laity's role in the liturgy?

In this short post I can't provide a comprehensive answer, but I can point you to some Church teachings that shed considerable light on the subject. 

The Second Vatican Council (1962-65), in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, stressed the laity’s participation at Mass as a primary goal of the Council’s liturgical reforms:

“Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people’ (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. 2:4-5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism.

“In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy, this full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else . . .”

Clearly, then, all men and women are called to a “fully conscious and active participation” at Mass. But this needs to be understood properly.

“Fully conscious and active participation” pertains primarily to our interior disposition. Our minds should not be elsewhere, nor should we be merely passive observers, waiting to be entertained or enlightened. Rather, as members of Christ’s body, we lift up our hearts to God, offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God in union with Christ, our high priest (cf. Rom. 12:1).

For most lay people most of the time, this entails our entering into the movement of the liturgy from our place in the pew.

There are, however, some roles that laity often play in the celebration, such as reader, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, cantor/musician, and server (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1143). When done with appropriate preparation, dignity, and reverence, these roles complement the ministry of the ordained minister (i.e., the priest) and help create a prayerful environment for the celebration of the liturgy.

Two caveats should be offered here. First, “fully conscious and active participation” must not be reduced to having a “part to play” at Mass. The focus should be on Christ, not on the priest or lay ministers. An excessive focus on lay activity during Mass detracts from the essential nature of the liturgy as divine worship, and it distorts the teaching of Vatican II regarding lay participation at Mass.

Second, in recent decades the Church has emphasized the call of the laity to actively participate in the saving mission of the Church. When lay people embrace this call to spread the Gospel, they are engaged is what is known as the “lay apostolate.” The lay apostolate is principally exercised in the world—at home, in neighborhoods, in the workplace, and in the public square. Helping with the readings or distribution of Communion is a good thing, but that’s not really what the Church has in mind when she speaks of an “active laity” or “lay apostolate” or “new evangelization.” Rather, the laity should see the Mass as commissioning them to be witnesses to Christ in the world--to be apostles.

For more on the lay apostolate, see Pope John Paul II's 1988 apostolic exhortation The Lay Members of Christ's Faithful People (Christifidelis Laici). For the mind of the Church regarding "lay ministry" at Mass, see this important Church document. And for just a darn good book, check out Cardinal Ratzinger's (Pope Benedict's) Spirit of the Liturgy.

This tract is taken in large part from School of Faith's treatment of liturgy and sacraments, found in the Faith Foundations course offered by My Catholic Faith Delivered.