“Our culture is so addicted to entertainment that people come to church to be entertained. If we come to church only to be entertained, we’re likely to be disappointed,” he said. “But if we have a sense of God and of prayer in our life, then when we come to the liturgy we see it in an entirely different way. Helping people to learn how to pray is where we need to start. Once they pray, then the liturgy will mean something entirely different to them.”

Catholics are called to live their lives with a sense of vocation, he added.

One woman at the event asked, “For those of us who aren’t called into the religious life, what would you recommend for us to do? I look around the room, and I know a lot of us are interested in serving in different ways but are kind of unsure of how that fits into the Church and developing the Church as the body of Christ.”

Every Catholic is called to holiness and to the communal mission of the Church, Cardinal O’Malley responded.

“Even our career choices have to be informed by that desire to serve God and serve the community,” he said. “Every single one of us has a calling in life that we must prayerfully discern and generously and courageously embrace in our lives if we’re going to make a difference.”

The laity is called to engage in public life, transform society with the values of the Gospel and witness to God’s love, he said.

“The problem is that we must be convinced as a people that because you love, you say ‘no,’” he said. “If you always say ‘yes,’ that may be easier, but is that authentic, is that being faithful, is that being life-giving in the long run?”