When you mention the Synod on Synodality called for by Pope Francis, many people are not clear about what is happening with the three-year process of listening and dialogue that started in October 2021 and concludes in 2024.
Participation, communion and mission are the three principal goals for the synod.
“We are inviting people to greater participation in the life of the Church, and we are fostering a deeper communion with one another, and we are having a greater openness to the mission,” said Angel Barrera, coordinator for the Synodal process and the Eucharistic Revival in the Diocese of Brownsville.
The synodal process involves three phases (diocesan, national and universal) of consultations and discernment. With the first two completed, the next phase takes place in Rome with the Synod of Bishops meeting in October 2023 and again in October 2024. Barrera said the Synod on Synodality has proven fruitful in our local Church.
“I think most people in our diocese are experiencing it as a welcome sign of the work of the spirit in our Church,” he said. “It is articulating what is going on in the Church and bringing to light some of the challenges.”
The 20-page diocesan synthesis is available online at www.cdob.org.
Barrera added, “We can understand the Church in different ways – institutionally (the hierarchy – the pope, the bishops, the parishes), but really the Church as it is talked about most often is the baptized. We need people to respond to one another; to have that openness and sensitivity to recognize the sacredness of one another.”
The Synod on Synodality is a prompt for each Catholic to respond to their call to participate in the mission of the Church.
“People do not need to wait for the October gathering or the document,” Barrera said. “The theme of synodality has more implications for the people in the pews.”
Synodality will not be over at the October gathering next year. The synod as an event may find its end, but synodality will continue.
On a personal level, Barrera sees the Synod on Synodality as an opportunity for personal growth and renewal.
He pointed out that one of the most powerful things Bishop Daniel E. Flores said at the opening of the synod in the diocese was, “When we talk about the Church, we don’t point away from ourselves … When you talk about the Church, you should point to yourself, because as a baptized person I am part of the Church. That responsibility of what the Church should do, is really speaking about my own responsibility as a baptized person.”
Barrera said one of the things he feels is most important and one of the widest applications of synodality “is helping the baptized live up to the missionary discipleship, and to live that in a bold way, and in an intentional way, in a collaborative way.”
“We are part of the solution,” he said. “It is one thing to name a challenge and say, ‘Well, the Church ought to do this.’ But let’s reframe who the Church is. The Church is us.”
In many ways, he said, personal discipleship is formed by a desire to respond. People want to do something. They want to share their gifts in response to the needs they see.
People don’t need to wait for somebody else, or a program, or an event, Barrera pointed out. The themes outlined in the working documents “are only the backdrop of how we live our Christianity,” he said. “There’s this respect; there’s this collaborative spirit, this discernment, this rootedness of prayer. What it gets to is that we have to hurry up and get to work.”
Bishop Flores has talked about the need to help people – young adults – understand what their gifts are because their gifts at the service of the Church become charisms. Barrera said, “when we don’t share our gifts, when we minimize our gifts, when we don’t tend to our gifts, or tend the talents, we are diminishing the effectiveness of the Body of Christ in the world.”
“St. Paul writes about it,” Barrera said, adding, “We all have our different roles. We have to find ways to help each other put our gifts it at the service of the Christian community, so that our gifts can be a charism. This is an important first step regarding baptism. Again, that image of the body of Christ – “We are one, but we are different parts.”
Parishes as evangelizing communities
Each person, Barrera said, is part of a parish community, connected by the Eucharist, and their evangelizing mission is important.
A local parish can be a place of inspiration, creativity and renewal that allows for new things to happen, or things to happen in a different way.
“The Holy Father talks about that. He said parishes are relevant because they have a unique contour of a specific community or an area of the diocese,” Barrera said.
“Service, the mission – that’s what we are about. That’s the dismissal, ‘Go in peace and proclaim the Good News, proclaim the Gospel,’” he said. “How does that sustain us through the week? How are we doing that with our families, with our coworkers … ?
“We need to share our witness story. We need to be able to talk about our faith. We need to be actively inviting people to Mass.”
Barrera said there is an urgency for people to respond together. He pointed to Pope Francis’ theme for the World Youth Day in Lisbon, “Mary arose and went with haste (Lk 1:39).”
There is an urgency, Barrera said, to Mary’s response – to move and we move quickly. “There is a timeliness, and I feel sometimes we are too complacent or indifferent, and not moving with that urgency. It’s that experience of the Annunciation, Barrera notes, that Mary experiences with the Holy Spirit after the encounter with the angel Gabriel. “She goes out with haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. But we also see with the disciples at Emmaus, which is another pivotal scriptural image of the synod, of this accompaniment, walking together. When they recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread, their eyes are opened, and then he’s gone. And then they say, “were not our hearts burning within us.” The story does not end there. They run back the seven miles to Jerusalem.”
The encounter with the Lord is gift and a challenge. Barrera asked, “What do we do with that? How do we move together in a concerted way to respond to that urgency, and not in a way that diminishes or minimizes? Discernment is a natural next step.”
“Again, this encounter with the Lord is not a nicety to say, ‘Oh, that was pleasant. Let’s call it a day,’” Barrera said. “The Lord is calling you, and we must respond.”