The conclusion of the Synod on Synodality will mark the opening of the 2025 Holy Year — Pilgrims of Hope.
Francis sees the practice of synodality as a further development in the implementation of the work of Vatican Council II — marking its 60th anniversary in the Jubilee Year.
Synodality has to do with openness to the experience, thoughts, desires, and gifts of others. Francis calls this “encounter”, and sees the mission of the Gospel, entrusted to the Church, only carried out through such “encounters.”
Listening to others with the ear of the heart in one’s faith community, among other religious communities, non-believers and the world, is to be the work of the Synodal Church. The openness to the gift of the Spirit is found in hearing with the ear of the heart.
This encounter and engagement with the world is to see the world and the culture of the time as the field in which the life of the Church and the work of the Gospel must take place — the proclamation of the Kingdom embracing the whole world.
This encounter demands that the Church enter into a respectful dialogue with the culture in which it lives —to embrace the culture in which the treasure is to be found.
44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it .’ (Matthew 13: 44-45)
Very often, the values of the culture are very different from the values of the Gospel and often the Church uses the method of severity and confrontation in addressing these differences — to no avail. Not surprising — culture overcomes logic.
The Council, like the Synod, calls us into listening with the ear of the heart and so to enter into the encounter with the world:
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
1. The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of human beings. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every person. That is why this community (the Church) realizes that it is truly linked with humanity and its history by the deepest of bonds.
The command of the Gospel calls us into an intimate relationship with God and also a dynamic presence in the culture of our world.
Father Stephen Adrian
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