Reading the Final Document: Lectio Divina resources

The last stage of the three year Synod journey was the creation of a Final Synod Document called ‘For a Synodal Church, Communion, Participation and Mission'.

The Final Synod Document a rich resource, beautiful but rather technical in places. Much like we might do with scripture, its possible to reflect on individual passages of the Final Document and allowing them to inspire us. These reflections are an opportunity to reflect and respond alone or in groups, and we will be updating this page as we go along.

• REFLECTION ONE: What is Synodality?

  Our first reflection concentrates on the definition of synodality. This passage from the Final Document is taken from 'Part I: The Heart of Synodality' which looks at how we are called by the Holy Spirit to conversion.

  “Oriented towards mission, synodality involves gathering at all levels of the Church for mutual listening, dialogue and community discernment.  It also involves reaching consensus as an expression of Christ rendering himself present... In simple and concise terms, synodality is a path of spiritual renewal and structural reform that enables the Church to be more participatory and missionary so that it can walk with every man and woman, radiating the light of Christ”

  - §28, Final Document

  Questions for reflection:

  • What stands out for you from this passage?  Is there a particular word or phrase that is resonating in you?

  • What are the possibilities for linking "spiritual renewal and structural reform"?

  • What possibilities does it open up for you?

• REFLECTION TWO: Synodality and Spirituality

  “Synodality is primarily a spiritual disposition. A synodal spirituality flows from the action of the Holy Spirit and requires listening to the Word of God, contemplation, silence and conversion of heart... A spirituality of synodality also requires asceticism, humility, patience and a willingness to forgive and be forgiven. No one can progress along the path of authentic spirituality alone; we need support, including formation and spiritual accompaniment, both as individuals and as a community.”
  - §43, Final Document

  Questions for reflection:

  • What does it mean to think about synodality as 'primarily a spiritual disposition'?  What changes does this require for our Catholic life together?

  • In a world that rewards loud voices and polarising opinions, how practically can we cultivate 'humility, patience and a willingness to forgive and be forgiven'?

  • The passage states the need for formation and community.  Who might my companions be on this synodal journey (they might not be the obvious people)?

• REFLECTION THREE: Bearing Witness Together

  “We encounter three disciples on Easter Morning: Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and the disciple whom Jesus loved. Each of them is seeking the Lord in his or her own way; each has his or her own part to play in enabling the light of hope to dawn. Mary Magdalene is so driven by love that she is the first at the tomb. Alerted by her, Peter and the Beloved Disciple make their way to the tomb. The Beloved Disciple races to the tomb with all the strength of youth. He looks intently; he is the first to understand, yet he lets Peter go first, he who is the elder, entrusted with the responsibility of leading. Peter, weighed down by his renunciation of the Lord, has an appointment with mercy, the mercy which he will minister in the Church. Mary remains in the garden. She hears herself called by name. She recognises the Lord. He commissions her to proclaim his Resurrection to the community of disciples. For this reason, the Church recognises her as Apostle of the Apostles. Their dependence on one another embodies the heart of synodality.

  The Church exists to bear witness in the world to the most decisive moment in history: the Resurrection of Jesus. … The Gospels tell us that in order to enter into Easter faith and become witnesses to it, it is necessary to acknowledge our own inner emptiness, the darkness of fear, doubt and sin. Yet those who, in the midst of darkness, find the courage to set out as searchers discover that they themselves are the ones being sought. They are being called by name, offered forgiveness, and, in turn, sent out to their brothers and sisters together.”

  - §13 & 14, Final Document
  

  Questions for Reflection:

  • This is a particularly rich passage.  Which word or phrase stands out most for you?

  • Which of the three disciples do you most identify with?  What does this phrase mean to you: "Their dependence on one another embodies the heart of synodality."

  • These two paragraphs underline the missionary quality of synodality: "The Church exists to bear witness..."  How could synodality help your local community to become more outward looking?

• REFLECTION FOUR: Decision Making & Discernment

  “Ecclesial discernment is not an organisational technique but rather a spiritual practice grounded in a living faith. It calls for interior freedom, humility, prayer, mutual trust, an openness to the new and a surrender to the will of God. It is never just a setting out of one’s own personal or group point of view or a summing up of differing individual opinions. Each person, speaking according to their conscience, is called to open themselves to the others who share according to their conscience. In this sharing, they seek to recognise together “what the Spirit is saying to the Churches” (Rev 2:7). As ecclesial discernment entails the contribution of everyone, it is both the condition and a privileged expression of synodality, in which communion, mission and participation are lived. The more everyone is heard, the richer the discernment. Therefore, it is essential that we promote the broadest participation possible in the discernment process, particularly involving those who are at the margins of the Christian community and society.”

  - §82, Final Document
  

  This section of the document is particularly rich and practical in its description of discernment processes, including in 83, the place of Scripture, and in 84, laying out step by step how such processes can be best conducted. 

  These passages are worthy of close study for anyone involved in pastoral councils, finance committees, school governors, clerical consultation bodies or indeed any group seeking to discern God's will.

  Questions for Reflection:

  • In the Pentecost light of the Church, how do you respond to the first sentence: "Ecclesial discernment is not an organisational technique but rather a spiritual practice grounded in a living faith"?  How does this change how we think about decision-making in the Church?

  • What work is needed for people to develop "interior freedom, humility, prayer, mutual trust, an openness to the new and a surrender to the will of God"?  How can we support this at different levels?

  • "It is essential that we promote the broadest participation possible in the discernment process, particularly involving those who are at the margins of the Christian community and society." 

  • This is challenging. In week 3 of our online bookclub, Manila-based theologian Estela Padilla describes how one diocese in the Philippines paid a day's wages to manual labourers so that they could take part in discernment processes.  What do we need to do in our context to engage all the voices?

• REFLECTION FIVE: Equipped for Mission

  “Each Baptised person responds to missionary needs in the contexts in which they live and work, according to their dispositions and abilities. This demonstrates the freedom of the Spirit in bestowing God’s gifts. Owing to this dynamism in the Spirit, the People of God, listening to the reality in which they live, discover new forms of commitment and new ways to fulfil their mission. Christians, each according to their diverse roles - within the family and other states of life; in the workplace and in their professions; engaged civilly, politically, socially or ecologically; in the development of a culture inspired by the Gospel, including the evangelisation of the digital environment - walk the paths of the world and proclaim the Gospel where they live, sustained by the gifts of the Spirit.”

  - §58, Final Document

  Questions for reflection:

  1. What are the missionary needs in the contexts that you live and work?

  2. What possibilities are there for 'new ways' to fulfil your mission?

  3. Do you think of yourself as engaging 'civilly, politically, socially or ecologically...including the evangelisation of the digital environment'?  What would you need in order to take up your mission in this way?

• REFLECTION SIX: Facing World Challenges

  “Practised with humility, the synodal style enables the Church to be a prophetic voice in today’s world. “A synodal Church is like a standard lifted up among the nations (cf. Is 11:12)” (Francis, Address for the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, 17 October 2015). We live in an age marked by ever-increasing inequalities; growing disillusionment with traditional models of governance, disenchantment with the functioning of democracy, increasing autocratic and dictatorial tendencies and the predominance of the market model without regard for the vulnerability of people and of creation. The temptation can be to resolve conflicts by force rather than by dialogue. Authentic practices of synodality enable Christians to be a critical and prophetic voice over against the prevailing culture. In this way, we can offer a distinctive contribution to the search for answers to many challenges faced by our contemporary societies in building the common good.”

  - §47, Final Document

  Questions for reflection:

  1. At a time when our public discourse is ever more divided, what possibilities do you see for a synodal Church to be ‘a prophetic voice in today’s world’?

  2. How do the synodal practices of listening, courageous speaking and discernment stand against inequalities, disillusionment and the use of force?

  3. What might be our ‘distinctive contribution’ to the many challenges facing our world right now?

• REFLECTION SEVEN: Poor at the Heart of the Church

  “God’s heart has a special place for the poor” (EG 197), the marginalised and the excluded. Therefore, they are at the heart of the Church. The whole Christian community is called to recognise in those made poor the face and flesh of Christ, who, though He was rich, became poor for us so that we might become rich through His poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8: 9). The preferential option for the poor is implicit in Christological faith. The direct knowledge of the suffering Christ (cf. EG 198) possessed by those who are poor makes them heralds of salvation received as a gift and witnesses to the joy of the Gospel. The Church is called to be poor with those who are poor, who often constitute the majority of the faithful, to listen to them, learning together how to recognise the charisms they receive from the Spirit. The Church also needs to learn to recognise them as agents of evangelisation.”

  - §19, Final Document

  Questions for reflection:
  
  This is such a rich and radical passage, it might be helpful to spend more time than usual sitting with the text, asking the Holy Spirit to inspire you.

  1. It feels very counter-cultural to say that the poor ‘are at the heart of the Church’ – rather than, for example, the object of our pity or charity. What would have to change so that the poor, marginalised and excluded are at the centre of our Catholic communities, and not on the peripheries?

  2. How are we ‘called to be poor with those who are poor’?  What kinds of poverty are there in our local community?

  What word or phrase are you taking away from this passage, to illuminate the rest of your day?
  
  For a real-world expression of Church that is oriented to those on the margins, see Avril’s conversation with Estela Padilla, Filipina Theologian and Community Organiser, exploring chapter 3 of the Final Document on the conversion of processes, here »

• REFLECTION EIGHT: Synodal Approaches to Relationships

  “What emerged throughout the entire synodal journey, and in every place and context, was the call for a Church with a greater capacity to nurture relationships: with the Lord, between men and women, in the family, in the local community, among social groups and religions, with all of creation. Many participants were delighted and surprised to be asked to share their thoughts and to be given the opportunity to have their voices heard in the community. Others continued to express the pain of feeling excluded or judged because of their marital status, identity or sexuality… 

  To be a synodal Church, we are required to open ourselves to a genuine relational conversion that redirects each person’s priorities, and we must once again learn from the Gospel that attending to relationships is not merely a strategy or a tool for greater organisational effectiveness. Relationships and bonds are the means by which God the Father has revealed Himself in Jesus and the Spirit. When our relationships, even in their fragility, allow the grace of Christ, the love of the Father, and the communion of the Spirit to shine through, we confess with our lives our faith in God the Trinity.”

  - §50, Final Document

  
  Questions for Reflection:

  1. To what extent do we prioritise relationships in our communities?  What gets in the way of this? 

  2. What would it mean to "open ourselves to a genuine relational conversion that redirects each person’s priorities”?  What would need to change for this to happen?

  3. How do we understand ourselves as in relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?  What becomes richer and deeper about our faith as we experience this more?

• REFLECTION NINE: The changing nature of the Parish

  “The experience of rootedness means grappling with profound socio-cultural changes that are transforming the understanding of place. ‘Place’ can no longer be conceived in purely geographical and spatial terms but evokes, in our time, one’s belonging to a network of relationships and to a culture whose territorial roots are more dynamic and flexible than ever before. Urbanisation is one of the main factors driving this change. Today, for the first time in human history, most of the global population lives in cities. Large cities are often urban masses without a history and identity in which people live an isolated existence. Traditional territorial bonds are being redefined, blurring the borders of dioceses and parishes.

  Living in such contexts, the Church is called to rebuild community life, to put a face to faceless entities and to strengthen relationships in this milieu. To this end, we must not only continue to value still- useful structures; we also need “missionary creativity” to explore new forms of pastoral action and identify concrete processes of care. It remains the case that rural contexts, some of which constitute genuine existential peripheries, must not be neglected and require specific pastoral attention, as do places of marginalisation and exclusion”

  - §111, Final Document

  
  Questions for Reflection:

  This passage is quite dense, which makes it perfect for a Lectio reflection!  Take some time to mull it over, perhaps reflecting particularly:

  1. In what ways do I experience change, both in the world and in my local Catholic community?

  2. The passage describes urbanisation as a significant driver of change, which can lead to isolation. How can Catholic communities be places of gathering and relationship?

  3. What possibilities for “missionary creativity” do you see in your local context?

• REFLECTION TEN: Listen to New Voices

  “We should, therefore, look to the Gospels to outline for us the journey of conversion we are required to undertake, learning little by little to make Jesus' practices our own. The Gospels present to us a Lord who is often “in the act of listening to the people who come to Him along the roads of the Holy Land” (DCS 11). Jesus never sent anyone away without stopping to listen and to speak to them, whether men or women, Jews or pagans, doctors of the law or publicans, righteous men and women or sinners, beggars, the blind, lepers or the sick. By meeting people wherever their history and personal freedom had led them, He revealed to them the face of the Father. By listening to the needs and to the faith of those He met, and by responding through words and gestures, He renewed their lives, opening the path to healed relationships. Jesus is the Messiah who “even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak” (Mk 7: 37). He asks us, His disciples, to do the same and, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, gives us the capacity to do it conforming our hearts to His... When we listen to our sisters and brothers, we are participants in the way that God in Jesus Christ comes to meet each of us.”

  - §51, Final Document

  
  Questions for Reflection:

  1. This passage presents listening as a deeply radical act, leading to conversion.  When in your own life have you experienced listening in this way?

  2. Jesus listened to everyone he encountered, whether religious leaders or beggars.  What opportunities do you have to listen to new voices?

  3. Throughout Lent, can you challenge yourself to slow down each day and offer someone the gift of being truly listened to?

• REFLECTION ELEVEN: Purpose and Calling

  “Gathered from every tribe, language, people and nation and living in different contexts and cultures, the synodal process gave us “the spiritual taste” of what it means to be the People of God... Within the plurality of contexts where the local Churches are rooted, the People of God proclaim and bear witness to the Good News of salvation. Being in the world and for the world, they walk together with all the peoples of the earth, in dialogue with their religions and their cultures, recognising in them the seeds of the Word, journeying towards the Kingdom. Incorporated into the People of God by faith and Baptism, we are sustained and accompanied by the Virgin Mary, “a sign of sure hope and comfort” by the Apostles, by those who bore witness to their faith to the point of giving their lives, and by the saints of every time and place.”

  - §17, Final Document

  
  Questions for Reflection:

  As we come to the final stages of the Easter season, approaching Pentecost and the birthday of the Church, we reflect this month on our purpose and calling.  To put it bluntly, what are we for?

  1. What is the context of your local Catholic community (urban, suburban, rural, etc?).  Who are your neighbours and how do we accompany them?

  2. What does it mean to you to be “in the world and for the world”?  How is this lived out as part of our witness and calling?

  3. As we await the great feast of Pentecost, in the company of the Virgin Mary and the Apostles, what is your prayer to the Holy Spirit for the Church?

• REFLECTION TWELVE: Baptism and Mission

  “The identity of the People of God flows from Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This identity is lived out as a call to holiness and a sending out in mission, inviting all peoples to accept the gift of salvation (cf. Mt 28:18-19). The missionary synodal Church springs from Baptism, in which Christ clothes us with Himself (cf. Gal 3:27) and enables us to be reborn of the Spirit (cf. Jn 3:5-6) as children of God. The whole of Christian existence has its source and horizon in the mystery of the Trinity, which brings forth in us the dynamism of faith, hope and love.”

  - §15, Final Document

  Questions for Reflection:

  1.  We don’t reflect very often on our baptism as the source of our identity.  What does it mean to you to be a baptised Catholic?  

  2. Although baptism is a gift to each of us individually, it makes us part of the People of God.  How do we know ourselves as part of that global community of faith, ‘called to holiness and a sending out in mission’?

  3. Spend a moment giving thanks for those who brought you to be baptised, and who have been important in your faith journey.

• REFLECTION THIRTEEN

  Check back here soon for the next reflection