the Synod of Bishops from October 29 to September 01. (Photo: Synod. Va)
A Catholic theologian underlined the duty of every faithful to attend to each other’s questions to find renewed ways of being a Church.
“If we have no questions... our faith is dead,” said Fr Timothy Radcliffe in his reflection during the
opening of the Synod retreat on September 30.
The three-day event served as a spiritual primer for the second session of the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops this October.
The former Master of the Dominican Order reflected on how the Synod reminds everyone to seek God in answering the most important and urgent questions about faith.
He turned to the examples of Mary Magdalene, John, and Peter, particularly with how they sought the Risen Christ in his tomb on the first Easter dawn.
“We come to this Synod with many questions… But they cannot be seen as just questions about whether something will be allowed or refused. That would be to remain the same sort of Church. The questions that we face should be more like those in the gospels, which invite us to live the Risen life together more profoundly,” he explained.
“We must dare to bring to this Synod the deepest questions in our hearts, disconcerting questions which invite us to new life,” he also said.
Fr Radcliffe encouraged everyone to listen to each other’s questions with respect and without fear to “find a new way to live in the Spirit.”
Moreover, the Dominican priest urged Synod participants to treasure each other’s names and faces, which are key to mediating God’s presence.
“This Synod will be a moment of grace if we look at each other with compassion, and see people who are like us, searching. Not representatives of parties in the Church… but fellow searchers, who are wounded yet joyful,” he stressed.
Fr Radcliffe emphasized how the Synodal process could help accomplish the pastoral mission of seeking and being with people burdened by failure and sin, as well as reaching out to groups who feel excluded in the Church.
“If we open ourselves to each other’s infinite yearning, we shall launch the boat of mission,” he said.
The retreat ahead of the Synod’s second session was initiated by Pope Francis, who said that “without prayer, there is no Synod.”
Fr Radcliffe offered a total of six reflections during this three-day spiritual affair.
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