My existential (synodal) crisis, part 2

Thursday, March 14, 2024 - On my way to the Synod session, I thought about the Archdiocese of Boston’s Synod Synthesis Report I had read. Strangely, I was somewhat consoled.  It was refreshingly honest in its responses to the two questions posed.  If I had been able to participate all those months ago, I’m not sure I would have had anything to add.  

And I was encouraged by the fact that the Archdiocese of Boston had been unflinching in allowing those directly or indirectly impacted by the clergy abuse crisis an opportunity to be so thoroughly heard.  Give credit where credit is due.  

In the hall, I poured myself a cup of coffee to give myself a chance to look around the room. The hall was filled with about a dozen round tables. I approached one of the tables at random, introduced myself, and settled in.

The facilitator went to the front of the room and began to explain the process for the evening.  Here are the essentials:  

1. The only rule regarding seating was that you should try to sit with people you didn’t know. Well, I had that part down! 

2. In the center of the table were sheets of paper where the two questions for our deliberation were listed, along with pens, and a one-minute hourglass timer.

3. We began with a prayer to the Holy Spirit read at all the Synod gatherings and then prayerfully turned our attention to the first question.

4. As the process began, any person could take possession of the timer and speak uninterrupted for the time allowed. No response from anyone at the table was expected or allowed. We were simply asked to receive the statement from that person.  Period.  

Apparently, this was not going to be a discussion, a dialogue or a debate.  No one could refute your experience, my experience.  No one could say - “I totally agree,” or “I’m sure it wasn’t meant that way,” or “That happened to me once.”  In fact, the facilitator asked us to try to avoid even responding by nodding or frowning.  

As we went through the process a few times, I found it curiously restful.  Since no response was expected or even allowed, I could concentrate on listening to the person. Just that. 

One person spoke about her joy at being able to practice her gifts as a pastoral associate in her parish. Another person spoke of his worries about the consolidation of his parish with two other parishes, and the burden that put on his Pastor. Another person spoke of his concern for the youth in his parish: how could we do more for them? I spoke about my pain about having to go outside my parish to experience the synodal process.  

Round we went until our facilitator called our attention back to the front.  Anyone who wanted to speak, was now able to say what had risen up in their heart as they listened to the others at their table.  What was one thing you wanted to pass on to the bishops and the Synod members for consideration at their next meeting?  That would be written down and sent back to the diocese.

We went through the same process with the next question.  Again, sharing our experience, uninterrupted.  Again, I listened. Again, I examined the feelings that rose up in me.  

I was at a table with four strangers, but we were all people who cared about our Faith and our Church.  We cared about our parishes and our priests, we cared about our neighbors and our families, and especially our children.

It turns out I had just participated in my first “Conversation in the Spirit” - the baseline methodology that underpins the entire synodal process.

Hmmm…. a spirit-led, experience-based, non-confrontational process of listening deeply to others and to the Holy Spirit.  Bearing witness to each other’s joys and pains, hopes and  anxieties, and reflecting on how that might change us, our views, our parish, our Church. Amazing!

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for leading me to this experience and leading me through it!

Maybe, Just Maybe . . . As I left that synodal experience, my first and only synodal experience, I felt strangely optimistic.

Maybe, in my case . . .  it wasn’t too late, for me, for my parish. Maybe, we hadn’t missed out.  Maybe, even though we hadn’t had an opportunity to participate in the original phase of the synodal process, we could still be a synodal parish, part of a synodal Church. 

Maybe, the Synod on Synodality wasn’t just a decision-making event with a beginning and an end, and eventually, a list of results. Maybe, it was also the start of a new way of walking together with each other and the Holy Spirit to be Church differently in the world!

I’ll revisit this later, but for now I want to return to the Synod Process already underway. Next time I’ll examine the Working Document for the Synod on Synodality, the document that would guide the face-to-face gathering in Rome in October of 2023.