Is it okay if I speak plainly for a moment, the way the Gospel does? We gather this morning to pray together and to reorient ourselves within the Jesuit mission after a demanding year, and some of us find ourselves in a perplexing place. Three Catholic schools in Massachusetts are ending their mission at the close of the year, and St. Thomas Aquinas school in New Hampshire is pivoting towards a conservative tilt while the social justice we teach our youth is under threat of legislative actions in many U.S. states. It seems to me that our commitment to mission is more crucial than ever before, and yet we find the Church in the U.S. is embroiled in culture and liturgy wars that keep people at opposites of thought. People feel deeply hurt that a church they love have made them feel disconnected and disconsolate. COVID has been an interruption in Mass attendance and a few people have found creative ways to find a community that is nourishing. The way we experience Church has been is changing before our eyes. The imperial European model of church of past centuries is receding and giving way to a new way of being church, the style is changing. It seems to me that we have a rare community of faith united under Christ. This is a reason our commitment to mission of faith, of education, and of justice is critically crucial now.
As we find ourselves in the period of prayer that leads to the coming of the Holy Spirit, it is important to notice where the Spirit blows, and for that, we look at the Synod on Synodality. In the Spiritual Exercises, the grace we pray as we enter the Second Movement is not to be deaf to the call of Eternal King, which often translates to paying attention to our resistance to conversion and what is asked of us. Today, let us pray that the Spirit will heal our deafness and to hear anew the call of Christ to discipleship. Since Vatican II, the People of God have been asked to rise from their imposed slumber and to engage with the church and the world as mature, resourceful, critically-discerning, well-equipped adults. The days of “pray, pay, and obey” are behind us and it is incumbent upon us to lead a world starving for answers to the ultimate questions in life.
Bishops across the world and Pope Francis have convoked a Synod, which is an old and new way of addressing challenges that face the church. It goes back to the Disciples on the road to Emmaus, the discussions with Paul and Peter and James, and the First Jerusalem Council. Synod means “an assembly,” and its style is “dialogue and listening.” It is challenging to run a worldwide church with each region having its unique experiences of culture and diversity. The Church does not intend to produce documents, but to encourage a culture of encounter based upon respect and dignity of each individual – without judgment, with compassion and mercy. The Synod is an invitation for the entire Church to reflect upon its life and mission in a process of renewal as we learn to journey together so that the Church and the world are able to live communion, to achieve participation, and to be open to mission.
Who is invited into this process? The Baptized. Now, think about that. It is not saying only Catholics; it is saying all those who have been incorporated into the Body of Christ, even those who are considered “nones” and “dones.” All must hear the voices of other people in their local contexts, including people who have left the practice of the faith, other faith traditions, and people of no religious belief. Special care should be taken to involve those persons who may risk being excluded: women, the handicapped, refugees, migrants, the elderly, people who live in poverty, Catholics who rarely or never practice their faith. Does this sound familiar? These are the Apostolic Preferences that the Pope gave to us, the Jesuit network, to lead.
It is important that the Synod hear all voices, but there was the voice of those who did not speak, because they could not, or did not want to speak. The Synod listens to the silence. It listens to the Empty Chair. The Cardinal who heads the Synod said, “we must understand the reasons why a person did not speak, and it has to create ‘places’ where everyone can speak; places of confrontation, where everyone feels they are heard. Truth in the Church does not depend on the tone and volume of statements, but on the consensus it creates precisely from listening to each other. We must not be afraid to confront each other: it is not our arguments that will convince us, but the Holy Spirit who leads the Church to the whole truth.”
In closing, this is a Church in which I still place my hope and affection. Ascension and Pentecost, as Fr. Quang said, teaches us to raise our eyes, minds, souls, and imagination to see the movements of the Holy Spirit. Human actions can bump astray but cannot divert the Spirit’s initiatives. Our mission is to be faithful to the Spirit, who is begging us to alter our style of relating to one another so that we bring about communion beyond the walls, greater fellowship through compassion and mercy, and the honor that is due to every one of God’s creation. As we pray today, let’s pray that we be attentive to the call of the Holy Spirit, and not be deaf, and to observe the style in which the Spirit relates to us, and to be ready to engage with those areas where we need our resistances to conversion to be liberated. Christ is freeing us from our old conventions and freeing us for something creative, something new. We need your boldness and your voices to lead our way. We need your courage and energy. This is exciting. This is our mission: to be faithful to Spirit of God who is renewing the face of the earth.
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