A Synodal Church of Discernment

We know that fewer people are attending church these days, especially the young. This was happening even before the pandemic. We do not know how the pandemic will affect church attendance in the future. When I speak about church, I refer not only to the Roman Catholic church but all churches.

The church is going through a time of transition. We may not want to admit this. We may want the church to maintain the solid foundation that has supported us, particularly older adults, for many years. But all things do change. What is needed for us is our trust that Christ’s Holy Spirit is still with us and with his church, guiding it in new directions.

In the past centuries, it was the hierarchical church that directed people what to believe and how to worship. This may have been appropriate in times of social stability. But in our day, this approach seems not to work for many Christians.

After the pandemic, we will see how many people return to the regular practice of attending Mass on Sunday and their frequenting other Sacraments, such as Reconciliation. We also know that during this time of the pandemic, churches face heavy financial stresses because so many are not regularly supporting the church as in the past. How will all this change the face of the church, the face of the parish, once the pandemic is behind us?

The ritual celebrations of the church, such as Mass and other Sacraments, have not spoken to many younger people who no longer attend weekly services. This does not mean that they are not concerned about their spiritual life and relationship to the Sacred Mystery. Yet they do not find the ancient rituals addressing their spiritual hunger. We could say that if we explained better what the church is doing in its religious rituals, they might find meaning again. But this is not certain.

In the meantime, the church itself must adapt and change. It must more completely respond to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it will not survive as church except as a relic of times gone by.

Pope Francis is not ignorant of the challenges that face the church today. In many ways, he is trying to reform the church. He has made valiant efforts to eradicate clergy misconduct. He has worked to reform the organizational and financial structure of the Vatican. In his encyclical Laudato si’ he has encouraged the church and the world to seriously address climate change and the environment. In his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, he has reminded people that all people are our brothers and sisters, and we need to relate to each other in our common humanity.

Two words that may focus our attention on the agenda of Pope Francis’ pontificate. They are discernment and synod. Pope Francis is a strong believer in the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Risen Christ, among humanity. The Spirit is guiding the church and humanity into the future – if we but listen and respond. The pope passionately believes that the church, which includes all its members, clergy and laity, must become a church of discernment. Discernment, of course, needs to be in harmony with the Gospel. He states in Evangelii Gaudium, 20: “Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out.”

We all need to grow in our ability to recognize and respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit. We must first believe the Spirit desires to guide us. The tradition of the church offers guidance in discernment, such as through the practice of daily examine where we reflect on the day to see where we may have sensed the presence of God. Times of spiritual retreat are another means.

In the early church, we see examples of the apostles and others relying on the guidance of the Spirit. For example, during the Council of Jerusalem, the early church needed to decide whether they were still part of Judaism or were to follow a separate path. They questioned whether new members needed to be circumcised, as was Jewish practice, or not. After much discussion, they decided, with the help of the Holy Spirit, that new members did not need to be circumcised.

Today, Pope Francis emphasizes the process known as the synod. The word synod means “journeying together.” In October 2015, on the 50th anniversary of St. Pope Paul VI’s establishment of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis said: “From the beginning of my ministry as Bishop of Rome, I sought to enhance the status of the Synod, which is one of the most precious legacies of the Second Vatican Council. It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the church in the third millennium.” In 2018, the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, with the approval of Pope Francis, issued a document entitled “Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church.”

During the pope’s pontificate, there have been several synods. He held major synods on the topics of the family (2014), on the youth (2018), and on the church in the Pan-Amazon region (2019). The next world Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in 2022 will have the theme: “For a synodal church: communion, participation, and mission.”

The Holy Spirit is at work not only in the church, but throughout the world, and in the lives of young people who no longer find the church meaningful. As the collective church and individual members become increasingly a church of synodality, a church of listening and discernment, it will hear the voices of the young and the disenfranchised. It will shape the church in accord with what the Spirit suggests through those people and in accord with the Gospel. In doing so, those who no longer feel they belong will now find the church is a true home.

Foundation of the Church

The foundation of the church should not be understood in a legal and juridical sense, as if Christ had delivered to a few men, a doctrine, and a foundational Magna Charta, and kept himself separated from that organization… that is not so. The origin of the church is something much deeper. Christ establishes his church in order to maintain his own presence in human history, precisely through that group of Christians who form his church.

Ignacio Ellacuria

Liturgical year

I was reflecting on the Church’s liturgical year and trying to understand how it fits together. How does one season flow into the next? What is the overall direction of the liturgical year as it guides the people of the Church? Below are some tentative reflections.

1.     Advent is the season when we reflect on the coming of God into our world (the Messiah, the Son of God). We are invited to prepare ourselves to recognize God’s coming – to be sensitive to God’s presence. In fact, God is already with us and around us, but we need to renew our awareness of the reality of the Sacred in our world and in our lives. God has emptied himself of glory and has humbly entered us and creation. Advent encourages us to open our eyes and look around, and try to recognize the hint of God’s presence.

2.     Christmas celebrates the coming of God into humanity – God has become incarnate. We have prepared ourselves to recognize this presence in all creation and the cosmos; now we find God in the human, in the tiny newborn child of Jesus. In fact, we can find God present in all humanity. Mary, who gave birth to God in the humanity of her son Jesus, also carried God in her humanity.

3.     Epiphany is the revealing to all people of the world, not just the Jews, God’s presence in humanity. The magi, these wise men of the Zoroastrian religion of Persia, represented all people of the world. They had found God’s presence in the universe, in the movement of the stars, and most probably found God’s reflection in all creation. Now they were invited to discover God present in humanity, even in the infant Jesus. God, who can be found in creation and in the universe, can now be found in the human.

4.     Ordinary time represents most of human life. John the Baptist calls others (and us) – “There is the Lamb of God.” Jesus asks, “What are you looking for?” We respond, “Where do you live?” And Jesus responds, “Come and see.” God’s Word made flesh invites us to journey with him through the course of our lives. Along the way we discover where he lives, who he is, and how we are to live. This becomes an experiential knowing, not just an intellectual knowing. The liturgical cycle repeats itself year after year, and each year the invitation is renewed – “Come and see.”

a.     During his short life, Jesus dedicated his life to reconcile and bring wholeness to people in Galilee. With love and compassion, he tried to weave a heart connection between people of all classes and cultures. But ultimately his attempts were rejected.

b.     During our lives, as Church people continuing the presence of Christ in the world, we also dedicate ourselves to building heart bridges between people of all different backgrounds. As we do so, we cannot always expect success. Yet we trust God will always be faithful to us and bring new life from our efforts.

5.     Holy Week reflects on Jesus emptying himself out upon the cross in love for people. The way to healing and reconciliation is self-emptying love for others. We, who want to see where he lives and what he is about, follow to experience in our own lives where he lives. We too at times will be invited to walk the “paschal journey” of emptying ourselves out in love for others and for the world. Ultimately, this will happen at the end of our lives.

6.     Easter shows us where Jesus finally lives – he lives in his humanity as the Risen Christ in the eternal embrace of God’s love, present throughout creation. God who has entered the universe, into creation, and into humanity, points out to us our ultimate dwelling. We will be resurrected into oneness with God we call Trinity. We will be joined to the fullness of Christ, as God draws all humanity and the entire universe into God’s very self, accomplishing his dream for creation.

Structured for mission

The Church has a structure which has been formed through the centuries and conditioned by the cultures in which it has existed. The structure has changed slowly over time.

The structure developed from a sense of what was the Church’s mission. It saw its mission to establish communities of followers of Christ who would witness to the world a better way of being human – a way that worshipped God and loved people, especially the weak and vulnerable.

It adopted the Roman system of dioceses and parishes as its structure – a structure which exists today. Bishops who led the broader community of the diocese modeled themselves on Roman senators and Roman emperors.

The Church developed a system of seven sacraments through which it believes the Risen Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is present to the Church.

Over the centuries it developed a system of law called canon law. Law was necessary to keep order in the Church. Much of its early law was based on Roman law. Even as it developed its system of law, it realized law was not a perfect tool for bringing order and justice into the community of the Church. So, it developed other ways to correct the limitations of law and provide justice. It applied concepts of equity, epikiea, and economia as ways to guarantee justice. Equity invoked higher principles and values than the law permits – such as morality. Epikiea,from Aristotle, expected justice to be done, not legalism or the letter of the law. Economia, from Orthodox Christianity, allowed the bishop under the influence of the Holy Spirit to decide what would best redress an injustice and hold the community together.

Through the centuries the Church saw its mission as “salvation of souls.” So much of its effort has been to save souls and to convert people. It taught “outside the Church there is no salvation.” Salvation was understood as being found worthy to enter heaven at the end of one’s life. And this happened by living a good life and avoiding sin. The Church believed if one lived a bad life, one could possibly end up in hell for all eternity. Medieval art graphically portrayed this view. Even canon law indicated that the salvation of souls was the supreme law of the Church (c. 1752).

The Church dedicated much of its missionary effort to the conversion of native populations in the Americas and in other parts of the world. In some situations, people were forced to be baptized so they could be saved.

Today, it seems this old image of the mission of the Church is dissolving. People seem no longer motivated by the fear of hell. They presume all will eventually go to heaven – if there is life after death. Some try to explain away the resurrection of Jesus, and other miracles witnessed through the ages. For many people there is little sense that there is a deeper reality of life beyond which we normally experience.

The salvation of souls may be the supreme law of the Church and the focus of the Church’s mission. But “salvation of souls” needs to be expanded beyond the final achievement of reaching heaven. Originally the Church used the Greek word soterias for salvation. It meant to be in full health, to breathe deeply, to be free, to receive the beneficent force which guides us toward wholeness.

So, how can we express the mission of the Church today? We might look at the Church’s mission of “saving of souls” as the building of “heart bridges” between people. The world is already becoming connected globally through the internet and other technology. People can have almost instantaneous communication – voice and video, emails and texts – with people throughout the world, using their cell phones and computers. Much of the world’s business is handled through instantaneous global networks. Information is available at our fingertips by “googling.” We can purchase almost anything from Amazon, and it will arrive on our doorsteps in a matter of days, if not hours.

Yet there is so much division and polarization among people of the world. We are not whole people full of health. While we are connected in so many wonderful technological ways, we are still divided as people. And this division threatens the survival of human and all life on this planet. We fear other people and see them as enemies. We fail to recognize our common humanity. And we definitely fail to recognize the Sacred presence in one another.

Perhaps the mission of the Church, and the mission of all religions, is to help the world connect on the heart level. This heart connection would help unite all people. But it would also help unite humanity with the world of nature and all living creatures. We would learn to recognize the presence of God in all creation. We would become a whole world! Thus, we would have a deeper respect for all people and all life, especially life that is vulnerable and easily trampled. Then we would work together in collaboration. Then the earth would truly become united. And the salvation of souls in this world would be realized in anticipation of final fulfillment in God.

Church mission

If the mission of the Church is to weave a heart connection among all people of earth, then people of the Church need to be capable and inspired by this vision. Already, the world is being united by technology and the internet. But there is still so much division and mistrust, and even hatred. A world connected by technology must also be connected by love – by concern and compassion for one another and our environment. We cannot be a world simply focused on our own gain and power at the expense of others.

So, this brings us to what the Church calls “repentance.” We need to be motivated to seek out and eradicate within us all that blocks our awareness and response to God’s presence in all people and in all creation – and in ourselves. We need to grow in awareness of how God might be able to reach out through us to help weave that heart connection among people.  We need to become aware of what blocks us from reaching out in love. And we need to commit ourselves to limiting our blocking of God’s presence.

It is not easy to recognize God’s presence in others, or in ourselves, for that matter. The presence of God is often hidden beneath layers of selfishness, pride, ignorance, and brokenness – both within ourselves and others. We find it easy to see the surface of other people – recognizing their limitations and brokenness. We find it easy to overlook our own limitations and brokenness.

If we recognized the presence of God in others and in ourselves, would we not bow down in worship before the presence of God in one another! We recognize Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, but we find it so difficult to recognize God’s presence in one another. We need to grow a “third eye,” an eye that can look deeper, looking through the brokenness of one another to recognizing the Sacred presence within.

Repentance would involve seeking God’s glory and not one’s own glory. It seems we often seek our own recognition and admiration by others, rather than seeking the glory of God.

It seems that to grow in this ability, the practice of contemplative prayer is necessary. This is an ancient form of prayer where one sits quietly, and without words or thoughts, and approaches God simply with love. Then, one is not merely saying prayers and talking to God. One is rather seeking to be quietly in God’s presence deep within oneself. This may be a necessary step to helping oneself become aware of the presence of God in others.

To weave a heart connection among all people of the earth, the people of the Church must be capable of a heart connection. This vision of their mission must inspire them. It would surely happen on a local and personal level. But the Church could also deepen its commitment to dialogue, understanding, and cooperation with all religions – perhaps inspiring other religions with the same dream or vision of a world connected by heart.

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Eucharist

The disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus, “Are you one who is to come? Or shall we look for someone else?” In his answer, Jesus did not point to himself. He responded something like, “The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the poor have the good news preached to them.” In other words, the kingdom of God was happening because of him. Jesus did not answer John’s disciples by pointing to himself. He pointed to what was happening among people. They were becoming more whole, more alive, and more one. The focus was on them, and not on himself. The focus was on the kingdom of God.

Foundational to Jesus’s ministry was his proclamation of the kingdom of God. How we describe that kingdom or reign of God is important. We may speak of it is a kingdom of love, generosity, healing, whole-making.  We may also speak of it is a kingdom of people empowering one another, a kingdom of companionship, community and belonging.

It was not a kingdom of individualism and individual salvation, often at the expense of others. It was not a kingdom of keeping rules and regulations. It was a kingdom where the focus centered on others and on their well-being.

If this is true, this gives us some insight into the Eucharist. When Jesus proclaimed, “This is my body,” he was not looking at himself, or just at a piece of bread, but he was looking at his disciples and the community of people who were growing into the kingdom of God – because Jesus fed them with his own life and gave of himself.

So just as Jesus was not focused on himself but on the enabling of the kingdom of God, so for those of us who participate in Eucharist, the focus is not on us, but on the gradual growth and emerging of the kingdom of God as we give ourselves.

We become body of Christ to the extent that we are one with Christ, mutually empowering one another and becoming community together. In Eucharist, then, we are celebrating the emergence of the Body of Christ identified with the kingdom of God. It is the emerging Body of Christ which is not yet complete, but still becoming.

We might ask ourselves what we are doing when we come to Mass. When we first enter a church, we sense this place is sacred. Just by being in the church building, we sense the presence of Mystery, the presence of the Holy. We may take some moments in silent prayer to address God within this sacred space, or Christ within the Blessed Sacrament.

We may come to the celebration of Eucharist for many reasons. But our primary reason is to symbolize or ritualize our solidarity with one another in Christ, especially those who attend this Mass and call themselves Catholics. We acknowledge our solidarity and responsibility to empower and accompany one another. We desire to become one people as a sign or sacrament of God’s desire for all humanity and creation on earth.

We come to worship and give thanks to God. Our Mass is a time of worship. For one who might not believe in the existence of God, it would seem foolish to participate in the Mass which is intended to worship and thank God. We marvel at how God inspires cooperation and mutual interdependence at all levels of creation. This happens from the tiniest particles of matter, to the earth’s environment, to the gradual mutual interdependence of all humanity.

Early in the Mass, the people pray together, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory.” In the Preface of the Mass the presider prays, “It is truly right and just that we should in all times and places give you thanks, Almighty God.” At the end of the Preface we pray, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory, Hosanna in the highest.”

We come to hear a word of inspiration, a word of rightness, a word of truth. We hope to find some truth, some word, some idea, some story, from the homily or preaching to give us strength during the upcoming week. We listen to the scripture readings, from the Old Testament, from the New Testament, and from the Gospels, to find guidance, healing and hope to strengthen us in our lives. It is a word meant not only for us individually, but a word of truth that fosters and encourages mutual enablement.

We come to Mass as Body of Christ who, with the Risen Christ, once again in this community, gives ourselves back to God as gift, a gift of unselfish love for the good of others. We do not point to ourselves, but we point our lives toward the growth of the kingdom of God. The consecrated bread and wine becomes not only the Risen Christ or Jesus of Nazareth. It becomes us with Christ, focused on the kingdom of God.

At Mass, we look in anticipation for a prayerful experience before God. We hope that the presider will lead us into deeper prayer, into a deeper sense of the sacred. In the solitude of quiet prayer after communion, we find a deep sense of our solidarity with the whole Christ, with one another and the whole of creation.

At the Eucharist, we recommit ourselves to Christ’s mission of enabling the kingdom of God, a work of empowerment, reconciliation, and healing. We commit ourselves to companioning and solidarity with humanity. We are missionaries fulfilling the mission of Christ.  At the end of Mass, we hear the presider command us to go forth to bring the gospel into the world. It is not just a message we bring. It is the work of the kingdom.

In summary, we come to Mass to worship and praise God. The focus is not on ourselves but on the kingdom of God. We come to be inspired by a sacred word of truth that will help sustain us during the upcoming week. We recall that we are one with Christ, invited to share Christ’s work of facilitating the kingdom of God in the world. We accept our mission that reaches out to all creation and does not close itself in upon only ourselves.

Mary

Humanity from ancient times has connected the earth with mother. It was the earth that gave birth to life and nurtured it, as does a mother. The earth is the fruitful womb of life.

Archaeologists have uncovered in Mesopotamia (modern Syria, Turkey, and other Middle East countries) ancient figurines, older than 5000 BCE, representing the earth mother or the feminine goddess. It is surmised that these figurines in some way were tied to religious awareness of the feminine as divine, source of life. Ancient peoples were sensitive to the feminine dimension of nature. They celebrated this in their ancient religious practices such as Dionysian rituals.

As patriarchal peoples from the East migrated or invaded Mediterranean civilizations from about 4000 BCE to 1500 BCE, patriarchal culture gradually replaced matriarchal culture.  Perhaps the psyche of society needed greater structure for progress to be made in building society. In Rome, we see law develop. Dionysian or bacchanalian religious practice was discouraged, and practitioners persecuted.  

In Christianity, the feminine aspect of the divine has been embraced in devotion to the Blessed Mary, although imperfectly. At a deep level in the human psyche there has always been the awareness that God was more than male or masculine. God has also been manifested in the feminine. The Church has recognized Mary, the mother of Jesus as also Mother of God, thus helping to balance the expression of the divine as masculine and feminine.

In a world today of male domination, power, and patriarchy, I find it noteworthy to consider that the Word of God entered humanity through a woman, not through a man, and a teenage girl at that.

When we stop to think about humanity, we realize that a more complete sense of the divine is reflected in men and women together. Although Christians have called God “Father,” they have always been aware of the feminine aspect of God, as is reflected in devotion to Mary.

Traditionally, Mary has been compassionate love. She is Mother of God, Queen of heaven, Mother of Sorrows, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Catholics pray “Salve Regina, mother of mercy.” Throughout her pregnancy she embodied the divine in the child of her womb. She gave birth to the divine in her son Jesus. As mother, she was always willing to embrace us with her comfort and to heal our wounds. In the rosary, we ask Mary, Mother of God, “pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

Throughout my life I have respected Mary as the Mother of Jesus and Mother of God who is ready to help us in our need. But somehow, I found it difficult to closely relate to Mary. My relationship with Mary grew when I reflected on the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which was imprinted on the cloak of Juan Diego.

Somewhere I read that in that image, the Virgin of Guadalupe is shown in a dancing position because of the slight bend of her left knee. As I reflected on “Mary of the bent knee,” Mary was no longer only “mother of mercy.” Mary was one who embodied the feminine. She was one who enjoyed celebrating and dancing. She was an authentic woman in her humanity, in her sexuality, in her passion, in her intimacy, in her nurturing and healing, and in all those qualities which we call feminine. Mary was not only one who was compassionate mercy, but one who invited us to enter without fear into the fullness life. It was this authentic woman whom I could relate to as friend and not only as mother.

I suspect the Church today still has a true, but inadequate and limited sense of Mary as compassionate mother. I understand most Catholics would relate to Mary as compassionate mother. But I wonder if the Church should reflect more deeply on the image of Mary as true woman, a passionate and sexual woman, through whom the divine comes to birth. I wonder if we should reflect more on Mary as mother who pushes us out of our comfortable nest into an ever-evolving world, and into a creative and free response to the gift of life. Perhaps in some way this would help the Church grow beyond its patriarchal culture. Perhaps it might help the Church to better integrate women and men at all levels of Church structure. 

Why are young Catholics absent?

On any given Sunday morning when I celebrate Mass in a parish church, it is obvious that many young people missing. For some reason, the Church is losing contact with younger Catholics. I wonder why. Although I have not scientifically researched this to discover the reasons, I speculate the following may be some of those reasons.

It appears that many young people after they leave home and go off to college or work, leave behind their church practice. One reason they leave behind church practice may be because of family tensions they experienced at home. It is their way of rebelling against their parents and the difficult relationships they had with them. Their leaving church practice behind is not so much being against the church as it is rebelling against their parents.

In some families, the faith of parents may also have been weak, and hence, an appreciation of the beauty and value of faith relationship with God in the Church has not been passed on to their children. Since the children did not see church practice as important, they grew up thinking a relationship with God was not important. The attitudes and values of parents are often passed on to their children.

For other young people, even though they grew up in families practicing their faith, perhaps their religious formation was inadequate, and they never truly internalized their faith. The religious education programs they may have participated in may not have inspired them or motivated them to seek a deeper relationship with God. As a result, they may rationalize their lack of an integrated Catholic spirituality by claiming they are angry with the church or a priest or because of some other reason, rather than acknowledging the weakness of their own spiritual formation. Without having received adequate religious formation, they may not fully understand church practice, such as Mass and other sacraments. Because they don’t understand what is happening in Catholic worship, the liturgies may seem boring and preaching irrelevant to their concerns.

Perhaps they want a more participative role in more exciting and inspiring worship than is offered to them in their parish church. Not finding worship services that address their spiritual hungers, they may find it more comfortable to worship in a Christian worship service of another denomination.

Other young people may feel put off by their understanding of the Church's teaching about sexuality, relationships, divorce and remarriage. Their life experiences with sexuality, sexual identity, premarital sex, and living together seem at odds with the position of the Church. And so, they absent themselves from the church believing they are not accepted or welcome in the Catholic Church. Their understanding of the Church's position may be inadequate. But at the same time many priests and bishops may also reinforce this sense of their not being welcome.

Some young Catholics may have experienced church situations which deeply angered them and turned them away from the Church. A situation involving a priest, a religious, or bishop may have deeply troubled them or angered them. Unable to separate the failures of the person from church, they blame the church and walk away.

For other young Catholics, they may be following the crowd without giving serious reflection to the importance of their Catholic faith. It is more "in vogue" to be a "non-believer," an agnostic or atheist, than to admit to one's friends that one is a churchgoer and growing in one's faith. How many conversations or interviews have I heard where young Catholics have been embarrassed to admit that they are Catholic!

Many young Catholics (and their parents) may not have heard or understood the laity’s mission of bringing transformation of society. Not only does the Church want them to grow in their relationship with God, but the Church wants them to help continue Christ’s mission of bringing the Reign of God or renewal to the contemporary world.

I suspect that many young Catholics, absenting themselves from the Church, still have a hunger for God but do not know where or how to find help for this need. The rich heritage of Christian spirituality in the Church is unknown to them.  The parish church may be too understaffed or unware of this rich spiritual tradition to share it with young Catholics.

If these are some of the reasons why the Catholic Church is losing its young people, then it seems the Church should seriously reflect on these speculated causes to see if they are true and then to develop strategies to address the causes which encourage young Catholics to leave church participation.