Communion, Participation, Mission

"Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as Thou shinest: so to shine as to be a light to others.  The light, O Jesus, will be all from Thee.  None of it will be mine.  No merit to me.  It will be Thou who shinest through me upon others.  O let me thus praise Thee, in the way which Thou dost love best, by shining on all those around me.  Give light to them as well as to me; light them with me, through me.  Teach me to show forth Thy praise, Thy truth, Thy will.  Make me preach Thee without preaching - not by words, but by my example and by the catching force, the sympathetic influence, of what I do - by my visible resemblance to Thy saints, and the evident fulness of the love which my heart hears to Thee."  

         (Cardinal John Henry Newman, 19th Century England)  

This past Sunday, during mass in Rome, Pope Francis opened the two year Synod, named as the Synodal Path, which is directed by three key themes - communion, participation, mission..  Here follows part of Francis' homily.   

"A certain rich man came up to Jesus “as he was setting out on his journey” (Mk 10:17).  The Gospels frequently show us Jesus “on a journey”; he walks alongside people and listens to the questions and concerns lurking in their hearts.  He shows us that God is not found in neat and orderly places, distant from reality, but walks ever at our side.  He meets us where we are, on the often rocky roads of life.  Today, as we begin this synodal process, let us begin by asking ourselves – all of us, Pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity – whether we, the Christian community, embody this “style” of God, who travels the paths of history and shares in the life of humanity.  Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey?  Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual excuses: “It’s useless” or “We’ve always done it this way”?

 Celebrating a Synod means walking on the same road, walking together.  Let us look at Jesus.  First, he encounters the rich man on the road; he then listens to his questions, and finally he helps him discern what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Encounter, listen and discern.  These are the three verbs that characterize the Synod."

Francis is showing us the way.  Maybe John Henry Newman, priest, pastor and intellect of the 19th century church, can also help us find the way, for he actively contributed to the synod of his day - the First Vatican Council.  For all his good work, he was to be later made a Cardinal.  I would recommend his prayer shared here for helping us walk the path of our present Synod.  

Vaya con Dios!