CHURCH SOCIAL TIPS
April is the month our country has dedicated to celebrating diversity. Meanwhile, in our Universal Church, there is a four-year process of listening to its members to provide a framework of discussion for the 2024 Synod of Bishops in Rome. The most recent phase of the process, the continental stage, ended on March 31. Following a listening process where 50% of the churches participated, respondents in large numbers called for the need to embrace diversity and foster inclusion in our church.
The Vatican synod document, “Enlarge the Space of our Tent,” is a report on the responses from parishes that shared the fruits of their listening sessions. Isaiah 54:2 inspired the title for the working document for the continental stage. Discourse on the synodality process has introduced fear in some people around its impact on how we worship or interpret the tenets of Catholicity.
“People ask that the church be a refuge for the wounded and broken, not an institution for the perfect,” the document states. “They want the church to meet people wherever they are, to walk with them rather than judge them and to build real relationships through caring and authenticity, not a purpose of superiority.”
While many may not fully understand what synodality means and are accepting of what others are saying, each of us must learn about it for ourselves. The Vatican has established a website to allow us to review the responses and learn about the steps in the process. The site, synod.va, is written in five languages and has a social media complement on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Let us bring the joy of Risen Lord into our everyday lives: through gestures of peace in these days marked by the horrors of war, through acts of reconciliation amid broken relationships, acts of compassion. And above all, through works of love and fraternity.#Synod #EasterJoy pic.twitter.com/rnOT41hIzP
— Synod.va (@Synod_va) April 10, 2023
Synod.va provides great resources to share with your parish, families and friends to explore the impact of this process on our Church. Some archdioceses and dioceses are already addressing issues of inclusion when it comes to race relations. As a member of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Task Force on Racism, I designed the website allmaybeonela.org, which provides resources to help parishes begin listening sessions and learn easy ways to help all members feel seen, heard, accepted and respected.
Bishop David O’Connell, the auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles who was recently murdered, was at the helm of the task force and commissioned a traveling art exhibit of saints that spotlights the universality of the communion of the saints. St. Damien of Molokai is one of the 23 saints profiled in the Journey of the Saints Exhibition. These saints are ambassadors of education and evangelization on diversity as well as the path to sainthood.
The Vatican document “Enlarge the Space of our Tent,” states further, “The vision of a church capable of radical inclusion, shared belonging, and deep hospitality according to the teachings of Jesus is at the heart of the synodal process: Instead of behaving like gatekeepers trying to exclude others from the table, we need to do more to make sure that people know that everyone can find a place and home.”
Here is the prayer “Adsumus Sancte Spiritus” (“We Stand before You, Holy Spirit”), attributed to St. Isidore of Seville (c.560-636), which has been used at councils and synods for hundreds of years, including every session of the Second Vatican Council.
Adsumus Sancte Spiritus
We stand before you, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in your name.
With You alone to guide us, make yourself at home in our hearts; Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions. Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.
All this we ask of you, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever. Amen.
Hayes-Peirce is a Catholic social media consultant based in California.
