XVI Ordinary Synod

Fr. Chuck shares this prayer from the Association of U. S. Catholic Priests. He asks that you join him in it ~

A Prayer for the Synod on Synodality

We Stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather 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.
 

Recently the three permanent deacons in our parish, Dcn. Billy Atkins, Dcn. Dan Wright, and Dcn. John de la Garza, preached on the permanent diaconate. They all did a fine job, and all three are important parts of the clergy here at St. Austin Church. But we can always use more deacons. It takes several years of training and formation to become a deacon, and so if there are any men in the parish interested in learning about the permanent diaconate I urge you to speak to one of our deacons or one of the priests.
 
Interestingly, two of the deacons in their preaching about the diaconate mentioned our statue of St. Phoebe, whom St. Paul refers to in his letter to the Romans as a leader in her church of Cenchreae, and calls her a “helper” or deacon in Greek. (Romans 16:1-2)

Pope Francis has just commissioned a study of the possibility of ordaining women as permanent deacons.   There is an interesting video on YouTube by a woman who is hopeful that Pope Francis’ commission will recommend ordaining women deacons.

That speaker mentions the Synod on Synodality that has just been initiated by Pope Francis, and was opened in our diocese at St Mary’s Cathedral on October 21st.  So we are now officially in this synod process.  It involves you because this is not so much a synod of Bishops about a particular pastoral topic, but rather a process of the whole church (including all of us) about how to be church, especially in light of the documents of Vatican Council II. 

In a recent interview, the retired Cardinal of Pakistan, Cardinal Joseph Coutts of Karachi, talked about the synod and its meaning.   He stated: “Because this is the first time of course, and therefore there are a lot of questions, a lot of doubts, a lot of criticisms. But I think the very concept is very important. Because what I think Pope Francis is doing is he’s breaking away from that pyramidal Church structure, and this thing of getting all the faithful involved. And therefore, this is not called a Synod of Bishops. … And now this is just referred to as the Synod. Is the Synod for all the baptized? Of course, you know, practically, how do we do this? That difficulty will remain.   …  And I was a little confused in the beginning regarding what the topic of the Synod was, but then I understood Pope Francis’s idea of making synodality the way for the Church going forward. He wants to bring the whole Church into a new way of being Church.”  Here is a link to the full interview.

For the Holy Spirit to guide and lead the Church at this time I believe we all have to participate, first by praying for the Synod, secondly by learning about it, and thirdly by actively and honestly sharing our observations and concerns in the Synod process.  You will be hearing more about this in coming weeks.  There is an awful lot on our plates at this time of year, but the Holy Spirit will guide us through if we remain prayerful and open. 

God bless,