The post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world, following the 1987 Synod of Bishops. Structured on the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, it presents the lay faithful in the mystery of the Church as sharers by baptism in Christ's priestly, prophetic and kingly office; describes the parish and the associations of the faithful as places of communion; sets out the secular character of the lay vocation as the sanctification of temporal realities; and treats the particular gifts of women, young people, the sick and the elderly, closing with a call to formation.