St. Paul Family and Friends,

If you may recall that in October, I shared with you the details of the formal opening of the Synod on Synodality in our Diocese. Briefly, I also explained what a synod means. To refresh you a little bit, the word synod literally means “common road.” The Synod on Synodality will not just be an assembly of bishops. It will be “a journey for all the faithful.” The teaching authority of the Pope and the bishops will seek to dialogue with all the faithful, grounding their pastoral decisions as closely as possible to the will of God and in the living voice of the People of God.

Bishop Alberto Rojas, in his letter, elucidates: “We will talk, listen, pray and discern where God is calling us. It will be a time for us to dream together and to share our hopes for renewal in the Church. It will also call us to confront difficult questions about how power and decision-making take place, how wounds and divisions in our Church are being addressed, about what might be inhibiting the baptized from going out fully in mission.”

Needless to say, the entire people of God are invited to participate in this process. All of us, clergy and laity, Christians and non-Christians, and even those who have left the Church, will have the opportunity to share and listen, and contribute in the discernment of the path that the Lord calls us to thread. Simply put, the goal is to listen to as many voices as possible.

In our parish, we have formed a Listening Team composed of leaders coming from different segments of our community. The team includes our Director of Ministries, Catechetical Ministry Director, a DeaconCouple, Couple-Leader of Marriage Enrichment, Young Adult Minister, CMFP students from our parish, and a number of ministry volunteers and cultural/ethnic leaders. In these months of February and March, they will be conducting listening sessions with individuals, families, ministries, and small communities. In April-June, we will be conducting parish-wide listening sessions, both in person and online. I ask that you please respond positively and generously when you are tapped to be part of any listening session.

The synod is “not a mechanical data-gathering exercise or a series of meetings and debates.” It is a “spiritual process.” It is “oriented towards discernment.” Fundamentally, in order to discern what God is saying to all of us, we are to “listen to each other, to our faith tradition, and to the signs of the times,” and ask: How are we journeying (or not journeying) together as a parish? What steps do we need to take in order to better our “journeying together” as a church?

We are filled with hope that this process becomes a source of renewal for all. Amen.

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