As we continue to engage locally in our process of pastoral planning, it is interesting to note that the Pope is leading a somewhat similar process throughout the entire Church. Last Sunday, he opened the process for a Synod of Bishops. Interestingly, the topic for this synod is Synodality.
The synodal process, instituted by Pope Francis, aims to reorder the Church’s internal mechanisms for discussion and reflection, and to help shape a new way for the Church to understand and articulate both her internal self-understanding and mission of evangelization. Pope Francis describes it this way: “A synodal Church, in announcing the Gospel, ‘journeys together.” As we engage in pastoral planning, we are also asking: How is this ‘journeying together’ happening here at St. John the Evangelist in Columbia?
Last weekend, the Holy Father asked, “Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey? Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual excuses: ‘It’s useless’ or ‘We’ve always done it this way?” He insisted that we begin the synodal process by asking ourselves — all of us, pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity — whether we, the Christian community, embody this ‘style’ of God.
“Whenever we listen with the heart, people feel that they are being heard, not judged; they feel free to recount their own experiences and their spiritual journey,” he said. Listening to one another “is a slow and perhaps tiring exercise” but it must be done, including listening to “the questions, concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation,” and to the “challenges and changes” that world presents.
Join us in prayer for the Synod process as well as our own pastoral planning.
Fr. Gerry