Editorial

Following in the footsteps of Jesus on a journey of joy

The second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops, which will be held in Rome next month, effectively concludes the three-year “synod on synodality” which began in 2021.

According to the instrumentum laboris (working document) that was issued to help participants prepare for this gathering, “At the heart of Synod 2021-2024, For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission is a call to joy and to the renewal of the people of God in following the Lord and in their commitment to serving God’s mission.”

Much has been written about the uncertainty caused by the term “synodality,” but there is no question that synods have been an integral part of the way our Church operates since the days of the Apostles. We understand ourselves to be a pilgrim people traveling together toward a common destination. While the road is not always clearly marked, we are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. It is he who leads us. Our task as pilgrims is to discern the right ways to go and then to help each other on the journey.

When it comes to discerning the right paths to follow, we Catholics are blessed with the clear teaching of sacred Scripture and the magisterium. We have had great teachers, many of them saints, who have shown us by their words and example the paths we should follow. As individuals, and as a community, our primary task is to open our hearts and minds, to listen attentively, to what God’s “still, small voice” is saying to us in the word of God and through the teaching of our Church.

Pope Francis has repeatedly said that the purpose of the synod is not to change Church teaching. Rather, the Holy Father insists, it’s about the way we live, learn and work together as missionary disciples called to proclaim the joy of the Gospel to the ends of the Earth. In a recent address to lay leaders, Pope Francis said:

This has been a long journey. Think about the fact that the first person who saw the need for synodality in the Latin Church was St. Paul VI when, following the Second Vatican Council, he established the Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops. The Eastern Churches had preserved synodality, yet the Latin Church had lost it. St. Paul VI opened this path. Today, almost sixty years later, we can say that synodality has entered into the Church’s way of acting. The most important element of the Synod on synodality is not so much the treatment of this or that problem. The most important element is the parochial, diocesan and universal journey we make together in synodality.

Synodality is about the journey. More specifically, it is about the way we treat one another along the way. Are most of us blind followers, or are we co-responsible leaders? Do we look down on those fellow travelers who are not as strong or as smart as we think we are? Do we listen to those we disagree with, or do we simply shout out the truth as we understand it? Do we care for one another—especially the most vulnerable among us—or do we adopt the position that the only ones who will reach the final destination are those who take care of themselves first and foremost?

How we travel together on this synodal journey is the question that the participants in next month’s gathering must address. Pope Francis has made it clear where he stands:

My hope is that following this Synod, synodality may endure as a permanent mode of working within the Church, at all levels, permeating the hearts of all, pastors and faithful alike, until it becomes a shared “ecclesial style.” However, achieving this demands that a change must occur within each of us, a true “conversion.”

As always, the conversion that must take place requires a dramatic change of perspective from the closed-minded insistence that we already know the way and, therefore, do not need to listen to the word of God or to one another. It also requires a commitment to open our hearts and work together to discern the right roads.

Synodality does not call for new teachings. It simply asks us to let the Holy Spirit guide us as, together, we let God’s word instruct us and show us the way.

Let’s pray for the success of this three-year process of attentive listening and prayerful discernment. May the Synod participants, and all of us, hear the voice of God and respond generously to the call to travel together on this “parochial, diocesan and universal journey.”

—Daniel Conway