Pascha VI

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 15:1–2, 22–29; Psalm 67:2–3, 5–6, 8; Revelation 21:10–14, 22–23; John 14:23–29

In the Blessed Sacrament Chapel is a painting by Janet Brook-Gerloff entitled Emmaus. It depicts the two disciples walking home after the crucifixion and talking about what had happened. They are filled with questions and concerns, fears and frustrations. Were they deceived in following Jesus? What is to happen to their hopes?  

In the midst of their conversation Luke records that Jesus came up and walked along with them. This is an image for what we mean by “synod”.

The Greek rooted word, “synod” means “walking together”. And Pope Francis desires that we return to this way of governing the Church. He envisions Church leaders and laity, as befits our common baptism, “walking together” and in so doing listen to each other in conversation to hear and discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. This is an act of trust in the final gift Jesus gave to his Church, the Holy Spirit.

I say return because this joint venture by virtue of baptism was present in the Church at the very beginning and regrettably over the centuries a gap was created between hierarchy and laity and came to become quite wide very early on. Pope Francis wants to close this gap that we may experience ourselves as the Body of Christ in which all members are equal in personal dignity albeit with various gifts and vocations as the Spirit wills.

The Anglican Communion, the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches have maintained this way of consulting their members over the centuries.

It is a more cumbersome way of governing than a top down approach which is easier at least for those at the top but it is more true to what Jesus called us to live out.

This return began with the Second Vatican Council’s vision of you and me as the People of God walking together lessens the perceived distinction between clergy and laity, hierarchy and “flock”.  A first step was taken after the Council by Pope Paul VI with the creation of the Synod of Bishops. This representative body of the world’s bishops have met regularly providing an opportunity for Church leaders to discuss various topics and to experience that the Church is not the same worldwide, that there are varying solutions to the same pastoral issues, as well as differing and often contrasting views.

Pope Francis is introducing this process for the entire Church. It is not just a way for the People of God: he calls it the way. Francis sees synodality as “an essential dimension of the Church”.

We see this synodal dimension of the Church in the first reading describing what has come to be called, The Council of Jerusalem. This issue? The preaching of the Gospel had gone beyond the Jewish community to the Gentiles. This caused the religious practices of the Jews to collide with the different spiritual experiences of the Gentiles. Some Jewish Christians felt that a Gentile would have to accept the Mosaic Law as part of their following Jesus. Thus the ritual of circumcision was to be imposed on Gentiles as a sign of the Covenant God made with Abraham. Questions and disputes inevitably arose. This caused dissent within the Christian community. There was factions, strong personalities at play, tensions and disagreements on how to respond to this pastoral issue. Sound familiar?

The issues may be different today but the factions, strong personalities, tensions and disagreements on how to respond are very present in our contemporary Catholic Church.

How did the early community address this internal issue?

They used “synodality” – a model of decision–making that sought out the wisdom of the Holy Spirit working through the community.

Thus when the Jerusalem Church responded to the Church in Antioch their letter is very telling: “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” [Acts 16:28] Right from the start their meeting was convened in the name of the Spirit, the giver of wisdom, peace and unity. Their letter identified that the voice of the council was the voice of the Holy Spirit. As we heard Jesus recently say to us, “My sheep hear my voice…” Who is the voice of the Shepherd? It is the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Removed as we are in time, we can’t begin to image what the discussions must have been like that resulted in those Jewish Christians including Peter, James, Barnabas and Paul, staunch Jews all, who followed the Mosaic Law since they were childhood to put aside for the Gentiles, circumcision, kosher and other aspects of the Mosaic Law. Yet the decision was made in concert together, in prayer, in consultation with the Spirit among the People of God. No one person James or Peter acted alone. While we need to be reminded that the Church is nor a democracy, neither need it be seen as only hierarchical.

Increased lay participation has been occurring in the higher echelons of the Church. I call your attention to Nathalie Becquart, one of two undersecretaries of the Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. She will be the first layperson to have a vote at the next Synod. Raffaella Petrini, the new secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State is the highest-ranking woman in the Vatican. And Alessandra Smerilli, is interim secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and an adviser to the governing office of Vatican City State and a consultant to the Synod of Bishops. You can read more fully of these women on our website.

This form of governance raises questions of leadership, participation and authority; questions we still grapple with today.

We take for granted that the creeds we proclaim at Mass were forged in councils guided by the Spirit. And although divisions continue to happen, the guidance of the Holy Spirit will always steer the Church toward truth, no matter how long that may take.

Tomorrow evening Saint Mary’s will host one of a number of listening sessions at the diocesan level as part of a worldwide synod process initiated by Pope Francis. This is only a beginning but it is a beginning. Please consider attending.

Will there be resistance to this process? More than likely, especially among those who want to continue doing business as usual and keeping alive the clerical establishment. But remember the Spirit made her presence known on Pentecost with a driving wind and fire. When was the last time you saw anyone stop a hurricane or a fire storm? The guidance of the Holy Spirit will always steer the Church toward truth, no matter how long that may take.