Prayerful Listening

To Discern the Movements of the Spirit in our Parish

Dear Sisters and Brothers –

In recent weeks, Fr. John has done a wonderful job bringing the Synod back into focus for our parish. He laid out for us the history of synodality, beginning with the early Church, its resurrection and affirmation in Vatican II, its loss of purpose in the last decades of the last century and the first one of this century, and its recovery by Pope Francis to revitalize the work of Vatican II by creating a Church rooted in the People of God. Pope Francis’ recovery of this model of synodality is rooted in his belief in the good will of the faithful and their ability to notice the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in the world around them.

The Pontiff’s desire is to use this consultative model of governance to give not just bishops but women and men religious, lay leaders and young people from across the globe a voice and a vote in the direction of the Church. The role of the Synod is not legislative, but advisory, aiding the Pope in his discernment as he leads the Church.

As Fr. John reminded us, St. Ignatius Parish joined in the preparation process for the first session of the Synod, held last October. Two winters ago, we held a series of meetings in which people shared their experiences of the Church, listened to one another, noticed how their hearts were moved by the stories they heard, and prayed to hear how the Spirit was moving in individuals and, perhaps, in our community. Here are links to Fr. John’s summary, and to the full report submitted by St. Ignatius to the global synodal process.

In the years since our own Synod, the parish staff and parishioner leaders have tried to respond to what emerged from those conversations. In the fall of 2022, St. Ignatius hosted a five-part lecture series on the Second Vatican Council. In an attempt to re-ground us in the spirit of the Council, each session addressed one of the four major Constitutions, documents that guide the Church today (and give great insight into the current papacy). In our efforts to feature traditionally marginalized voices, we have committed ourselves to hearing the Passion of the Lord broken open for us at our Women Preach Good Friday service. St. Ignatius parishioners have joined the USF contingent at the Pride Parade, and an LGBTQ+ ministry is coming into being. 

Partly in response to the sadness we heard from parents who did everything the Church asked of them in raising their children, who no longer attend church, we started a Youth Ministry program to offer our youth meaningful experiences of the Lord, of service, and of community. We have doubled down on our lay governance structure of four commissions, renewing and strengthening them post-Covid, and being intentional about the spiritual formation of the members. Spiritual formation is important because it is requisite to the discernment of the movements of the Holy Spirit in our faith community. 

The Commissions themselves—along with the Parish Council—are places where we can be formed so we can come prayerfully to the second session of the Synod on Synodality this fall, listen well to its results, and actively respond. It is my intention to bring this model of prayerful listening to other groups in the parish—currently existing and yet to be formed—so that we can discern the movements of the Spirit in our parish more broadly.

All of this is in service to our call given to us at Baptism to become disciples of Jesus in community in service to all of creation. In Fr. John’s series he summarizes the Synthesis Report from the first session of the Synod, which notes: 

According to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, the Church is "a people brought together by virtue of the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Lumen Gentium 4). The Father, through the mission of the Son and the gift of the Spirit, involves us in a dynamism of communion and mission that moves us from the ‘I’ to the ‘we’ and places us at the service of the world.

Or, as Fr. John says, “renovating not just the building of our church, but its essence.” This is my hope.

Oremus pro invicem.
Fr. Greg