BRIGHT LIGHT IN A DARK FUTURE

 If the past is simply prelude to the future, we may be reluctant to face a new year. The  pandemic threatening the world,  the politics dividing our nation, the reorganization of the parishes of our archdiocese all threaten our peace of mind and the comfort zones we once knew.

A poem written a century ago by Minnie Louise Haskins, a British poet and sociologist, was quoted by King George VI in his Christmas Address in 1939 to encourage his people as they faced the unknown consequences of war.

The comfort the poem offered the people of Britain may well provide comfort for us in our uncertain times. May its theme make your Christmas truly Merry, and your New Year surprisingly Happy!

THE GATE OF THE YEAR (aka GOD KNOWS) by Minnie Louise Haskins

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.

And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:

What need our little life

Our human life to know,

If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife

Of things both high and low,

God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will

Is best. The stretch of years

Which wind ahead, so dim

To our imperfect vision,

Are clear to God. Our fears

Are premature; in Him

All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until

God moves to lift the veil

From our impatient eyes,

When, as the sweeter features

Of Life’s stern face we hail,

Fair beyond all surmise

God’s thought around His creatures

Our mind shall fill.

Public Opinion Inside The Church

 Decades ago Pope Pius XII in an address to the international congress of Catholic Press meeting in Rome (see Osservatore Romano, French edition, 2/18/1950) spoke about the need for the free expression of opinion both inside and outside the Church. 

This papal statement and recognition that repressing the expression of opinion is an attack on human rights is to be remembered and honored in the light of Pope Francis' call for a world-wide synod on synodality,.  

For  Pope Francis, synodality is an expression of what the Church is called to be. Synod means "walking together" The term "synod" may be foreign to many but it has a time-honored place in the history of the Church. The Greek  word synodos is often translated into Latin as concilium, or in English as "council."

It is the gathering of people who are commissioned to reflect upon and discuss what the Lord is asking of us as the People of God, the Church. A synod is an occasion to focus on what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. 

This effort to bring to consideration what God wants the Church to be requires reflection and listening as well as expression of opinion. It is not a time for griping or complaining, but it is an occasion for the People of God to gather and exercise discernment, letting go of prejudices and stereotypes, but accepting the reality that some things in our concept of Church may be open to change for the good of the Church's mission.

In his address more than 70 years ago, Pope Pius XII said:

"The free expression of one's opinion is the prerogative of every human society where people, responsible for their personal and social conduct, are intimately committed to the community to which they belong. . .In the eyes of Christians, repressing the expression of opinion or forcing it into silence is an attack upon the natural rights of persons, a violation of the world order that God has established. . .

"We want to add another word concerning public opinion inside the Church itself (naturally with respect to matters open to discussion). This may astonish those who do not really know the church or who only think they know it. The church is a living body, and it would lack an element of its life if the free expression of opinion was lacking --a lack for which both pastors and faithful would be blamed."

The first phase of the synod's free expression of opinion is to be conducted on the diocesan level and in Bishops' Conferences worldwide between October 2021 and April 2022. (The Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops has extended the deadline to August 15, 2022.) The results of these synodal sessions are then to be considered by the Assembly of Bishops in Synod in October of 2023.

This Synod of Bishops has prepared an official handbook for listening and discernment in dioceses. It is expected that the bishops of dioceses will hold synodal consultation meetings., Parish pastors are encouraged to promote synodal experiences in their parishes. Individuals can also contribute their consultation feedback directly to the diocese. 

 ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT SYNOD PROCESS
FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CINCINNATI

The Holy See has initiated Synod 2021-2023, a two-year process of “reflection and sharing of the whole Church.” Archbishop Schnurr has appointed Deacon John Homoelle to lead and coordinate the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s contributions to this initiative.

 From Deacon John:

 “Synodality? What’s that, you may ask. Synodality is synonymous with collegiality. The Holy Father is asking to have a Synod on how the Church can be more collegial in its approach to addressing its mission – to evangelize the world. That Synod is entitled: ‘For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.’

 Consequently, the Holy Father seeks input from all the People of God. That journey began this month with an opening Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains at 11:00 AM on Sunday, Oct. 17, and will culminate in the Synod Meeting in Rome in 2023. Pope Francis wants to hear from the young, the elderly, those in religious orders, young adults, those who have drifted away from the faith, migrants and immigrants, those who live in poverty, lay organizations, the lay faithful, our Christian brothers and sisters, women, etc. In other words, everyone! 

To accomplish this, over the next six months, each diocese throughout the world will convene local meetings to address the questions on how we can be a more synodal – in other words, collegial – Church. For each diocese, the contact person will submit a ten page summary report to the local Ordinary who will in turn forward it to the USCCB for submission to the Synod. 

By virtue of our baptism, as a people of God coming together, we know that the Holy Spirit will lead us in this endeavor. Stay tuned for further details over the next month. If you would like to participate in any way, we welcome you! Please feel free to email Deacon John Homoelle at jhomoelle@catholicaoc.org. God Bless!”

 Contributing to the Synod will be an intensive process in our archdiocese over the next six months. Here are the key milestones:

 • The Deans will each appoint two deanery coordinators (one male, one female) by Fri., Nov. 5.

 • Before Thanksgiving, a web presence for the Synod process will be established on the Archdiocese of Cincinnati website.

 • In November and December, these coordinators will: (1) go through orientation with Deacon John; (2) establish “Town Hall” meeting dates and venues in each deanery; and (3) work to encourage the broad representation of the baptized from whom Pope Francis wants to hear.

 (Go to  communications@catholicaoc.org November 2021 5 to participate in these meetings. The archdiocese Communications staff will also promote participation, and will provide promotional materials to each parish to do so as well.)

 • In January and February, the Town Hall meetings will be held. • In March, the coordinators will submit their summaries to Deacon John. • In April, Deacon John will submit his consolidated report to Archbishop Schnurr and the USCCB.

 Please pray for a fruitful outcome to this important worldwide endeavor

 THE CALL FOR SYNODS

Pope Francis’ call for a Church-wide synod is likely to put fear, even dread, into the hearts and minds of some members of the hierarchy  because it opens the door to raising possible  changes and challenges which have previously been “settled.”

Issues on the local as well as world-wide level (parish, diocese, episcopal conference, bureaus in the Vatican, Canon Law)  are likely to be raised and promoted when the opinions of the faithful at large are invited.

Segments of God’s people will call for the re-instatement of the ordained diaconate for women; some will question and reject Pope John Paul’s 1994 declaration that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful”; still others will humbly suggest that parish congregations should have some input in which priest is assigned as their pastor.

To many a Church-wide synod is opening a can of worms.

Pope Francis, however, in a 2015 speech at the 50^th anniversary commemoration of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, said “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium,” and his praise for the synodal process was not confined to the hierarchy.

As the International Theological Commissions study of synodality in the life and mission of the Church has announced with papal approval, “The entire People of God is challenged by its fundamentally synodal calling” (#72 in the Commission’s document).

The Commission met between 2014 and 2017, and concluded by means of a written vote their approval of the text of their study.

A synod can be described as a Church assembly convoked “to discern, by the light of the Word of God and listening to the Holy Spirit, the doctrinal, liturgical, canonical and pastoral questions that arise as time goes by” (4).

Now it is the admittedly daunting task of diocesan bishops to convoke such assemblies  as “an essential dimension of the Church” (42, 70).

What would you do?

 If your car ran out of gas would you get rid of your car?

If you want to brighten your neighborhood at night would you begin by eliminating street lights?

Priest Shortage

 Many dioceses across the country are facing priest shortages. Diocesan bishops have been told there are programs to deal with the problem.

These programs tend to be based on a business model., even though the Church is a great deal more than a business. Francis of Assisi finally figured out what God meant by "Repair my Church."

The Church exists to build the kingdom of God on earth. The criteria for judging the building of  the kingdom differs from the criteria for building business. 

Without denying the need to deal with the problem, we have to ask, "What is the problem?"

The problem is not "We have too many parishes"  The problem is "We don't have enough priests." It's the priest shortage that needs attention.

Walmart (if you will allow a comparison to business) does not close stores because it doesn't have enough managers. It gets more managers. 

As  Pope Benedict XVI said on December 10, 2006,  "The parish is a beacon that radiates the light of  the faith and thus responds to the deepest and truest desires of the human heart, giving meaning and hope to the lives of individuals and families."

Closing parishes extinguishes beacons that radiate the light of faith. Isn't that counter-productive?