I hope you have been enjoying the Christmas season, being together with family and friends, connecting in some way with those who are not geographically close. Those gatherings and phone calls are opportunities to share what is happening in your life, and to hear what has been happening in others’ lives.
Those conversations are similar to what we will be doing in our diocese during the next three months. We will be encountering, listening and accompanying each other in synodality — a process in which Pope Francis is asking Catholics throughout the world to participate together in order that we may provide our input into the World Synod of Bishops that will be held in 2023.
Encountering and accompaniment are foundation blocks for the synod, just as they have been for Pope Francis’ pontificate. We encounter our Lord and one another. In our encounters with our Lord, he invites us to grow in our relationship with him, which is an occasion for grace and mercy to be experienced. That relationship strengthens as we realize that God is always walking with us.
Pilgrimage toward heaven
But it doesn’t end there. God invites us to accompany each other on our journey of faith — a journey marked by sorrows and joys, disappointment and elation, all the multiple circumstances that are part of our lives. Together, as his disciples, we are on a pilgrimage toward heaven.
Throughout this entire process, all of us should discern the calling and presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. During our accompaniment with one another, we can reflect on God’s presence among us as we encounter him in sacraments and prayer. Together, we can discern God’s will for us and how we might be inspired to carry it out.
The synod’s theme of “communion, participation, mission” echoes the “communion and mission” theme of our diocese’s 2020 bicentennial observance. Through our encounter with God in prayer and the Eucharist, we carry the Good News to others, engaging as many people as possible.
Reflect upon issues, challenges
Our diocese and parishes have structures already in place that facilitate encounter. The parish and finance councils, ministry committees and organizations serve our local Church and are asked to reflect upon issues and challenges in the parish, and to discern how the parish community can further the mission of the Church to teach, answer the call to holiness and reach out in charity.
At the same time, Pope Francis again exhorts us to reach out to those on the peripheries, those who might be further away from the heart of Church. We are to invite a wider circle of individuals to encounter the Church and be called to the center of Christ’s love.
Our Holy Father wants us to reflect on synodality, on how we accompany one another. We are called to mutually share burdens, listen to what is in each other’s minds and hearts. Together, we can ask: How are burdens in our lives and in the life of the Church encountered, and how can we move forward in making progress in the Church?
During this process in our diocese and parishes, we will seek your reflections on some of the following questions:
Communion
How would you characterize your Church community – the people who are journeying together? What persons or groups are left on the margins? How is your parish inviting those on the margins into relationship?
Who does our Church currently listen to? Who is not being listened to? Which groups are less likely to be listened to? Who is being left out of the conversation?
Do our liturgies promote the active participation of all the faithful in the liturgy and encourage them to live lives of faith? Does the homily draw from the Word of God and inspire the faithful?
Discussion and dialogue
Under what circumstances and in what ways are Catholics communicating in the world today? How does the prevalence of digital and social media affect communication?
How is the Church dialoguing, collaborating and resolving conflicts among its own members in the Church?
How is the Church dialoguing, collaborating and resolving conflicts with members of other Christian denominations, people of other non-Christian religious traditions, and people with no religious affiliation? What have been the fruits of doing so, and what have been the difficulties?
What areas and issues in the wider society is the Church focused on? Are there areas or issues we need to pay more attention to?
Participation, mission
How is the parish equipping and empowering people to go out and be on mission for Jesus Christ in their regular lives? What obstacles do the faithful face in living and professing their faith publicly? What opportunities is the parish providing to help the faithful face those obstacles? What is still needed?
How are lay leaders given responsibility and to what extent do they have the authority to make decisions?
What opportunities does your parish or community offer to raise people up into leadership positions? How are those in leadership roles formed to make them more capable of journeying together? How do you offer opportunities for those in leadership to listen and engage in dialogue with those they are journeying with?
How are decisions made for the parish or community?
Recognize Christ in our midst
When we complete this phase in March, our Diocesan Evangelization Commission will compile the reflections into a document that will be sent to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. There, the input from all U.S. dioceses will be summarized and will be sent to Rome where the summaries from throughout the world will serve as the basis for the World Synod of Bishops.
Our priority is not so much that we have written a document full of summaries. Rather, what is important is that the process itself is taking place. This is an occasion for us to be with one another, to listen to one another and to reach out to those who might not otherwise be heard.
Synodality is not an event, a project or program to be completed; it is an ongoing process in which we are engaged together. In journeying together, we have the opportunity to be inspired by the Holy Spirt, grow closer to God and to become even more committed to following Jesus and to proclaiming his Gospel in words and charity.
In preparation for this process, I invite you to join me in regularly praying the synod prayer that accompanies this column.
As we begin 2022, may we recognize Christ in our midst, and may our encounter with him strengthen our faith in that experience. May our hearts be enflamed with the desire to spread the Good News to all whom we encounter.
Editor’s note: Additional information about the synod process is available at https://bit.ly/RichmondSynodality and by contacting your pastor.