Dear Friends,
I hope your Christmas was filled with love and wonder. The liturgical season of Christmas continues up to the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. So, if your celebration of Christmas has not yet been wonderful, then I hope the next two weeks will change that! I am on a little winter escape myself. Fr. Boes and I are joining a couple friends in San Pedro, Belize for a bit of warmth and sunshine. We left this morning and will return late on the 10th of January. I am sure the pastoral team will take good care of you in my absence.
Since I am not going to be around to write the bulletin letter, I am going to use this opportunity to give you a bit more of the final document of the Synod. You may recall that we had listening sessions here at Cabrini prior to the Synod to give input about issues that were important to us. Pope Francis has encouraged all of us to read their final document and see it as a teaching from the Magisterium. It is 67 pages long, so I do not expect many of you to go online and read the whole thing. I will try to highlight certain sections in days and months ahead.
One initial question might be, what is a “synod” and what is the point of a synod? Here is their answer:
The terms ‘synodality’ and ‘synodal’ derive from the ancient and constant ecclesial practice of meeting in synods. According to the traditions of the Eastern and Western Churches, the word ‘synod’ refers to institutions and events that assumed different forms over time, involving a plurality of agents and participants. This variety notwithstanding, what unites them is gathering together to dialogue, discern and decide. Owing to the experience of recent years, the meaning of these terms has come to be better understood, and what they represent is more vibrantly lived. They have become ever more deeply associated with the desire for a Church that is closer to people and more relational – a Church that is God’s home and family. During the synodal journey, we have witnessed a fruitful convergence regarding the meaning of synodality that forms the basis of this Document. Synodality is the walking together of Christians with Christ and towards God’s Kingdom, in union with all humanity. Orientated towards mission, synodality involves gathering at all levels of the Church for mutual listening, dialogue, and community discernment. It also involves reaching consensus as an expression of Christ rendering Himself present, He who is alive in the Spirit. Furthermore, it consists in reaching decisions according to differentiated co-responsibilities. Along these lines, we can understand better what it means to say that synodality is a constitutive dimension of the Church. In simple and concise terms, synodality is a path of spiritual renewal and structural reform that enables the Church to be more participatory and missionary so that it can walk with every man and woman, radiating the light of Christ…
…with reference to the People of God, the concept of communion expresses the profound substance of the mystery and mission of the Church. This mystery has its source and summit in the celebration of the Eucharist, that is, in union with God the Trinity and in the unity among human persons realized in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Against this background, synodality “is the specific modus vivendi et operandi of the Church, the People of God, which reveals and gives substance to her being as communion when all her members journey together, gather in assembly and take an active part in her evangelizing mission”.
Synodality is not an end in itself. Rather, it serves the mission that Christ entrusted to the Church in the Spirit. To evangelize is “the essential mission of the Church. It is […] the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity”. By being close to all without distinction of persons, preaching and teaching, baptizing, and celebrating the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, all the local Churches and the whole Church respond concretely to the Lord’s command to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. By appreciating all charisms and ministries, synodality enables the People of God to proclaim and witness to the Gospel to women and men of every place and time, making itself a “visible sacrament” of the fellowship and unity in Christ willed by God.
Peace,
Fr. Damian