A synodal Church is a Church of listening, in the awareness that listening is more than hearing. It is a mutual listening in which everyone has something to learn.
AT THE THRESHOLD OF A HOPE-FILLED EVENT
“Synodality is the way of being the Church today according to the will of God, in a dynamic of discerning and listening together to the voice of the Holy Spirit. A synodal Church is a Church which listens. Listening before talking will help to better ‘discern’ what the Holy Spirit is asking of the Church today,” Pope Francis said, pointing out that mutual listening has been the goal of much of the Church’s renewal since Vatican II.
We are living a grace-filled, fascinating and most important moment in the history of the Church since Vatican II – the celebration of the first session of the Synod on Synodality, which has just commenced. All of us are called to be part of this very vital process and we cannot afford to be indifferent. We need to be open to the Spirit’s guidance in prayer and adoration and be committed for a deeper missionary option that is capable of a qualitative reform of the Church. It is a deeply prophetic process, a possibility for growth, a focused look to the future. In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis has given us the dream of a Church that is not afraid to get its hands dirty by involving itself in the wounds of humanity, a Church that walks in listening to and serving the poor in the peripheries.
THE SHOOTS BORN FROM THE SYNODAL JOURNEY
Synod on Synodality is a Kairos, the opportune and decisive moment of God’s visitation, it is a Pentecostal event and the Epiphany of the Holy Spirit. The INSTRUMENTUM LABORIS (Working Document), product of a long process of listening at different levels, offers us the experiences of the Church around the world, and opens new horizons of hope for the fulfilment of the Church’s mission. It is the fruit of the faith experience of the people of God. It does not suggest answers, but invites a deeper reflection for the work of the Synod, leading the Church to a synodal conversion, a process that must continue as an ongoing process in the years to come. The real protagonist of this process is the Holy Spirit, who has accompanied and guided the journey and infused hope and confidence to move forward, so that, we can grow as a Missionary Synodal Church proclaiming the Gospel, in fidelity to the task entrusted to the Church by the Lord.
Sr. Celine D’Cunha FMA
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