Our parishioner, Svea Fraser, is in Rome with the Discerning Deacons/CEAMA Pilgrims and will be sending us updates from their journey!
The rain predicted for the day greeted us in the morning.
We gathered at the Migrant Statue Angels Unawares for a Visio Divina, a meditation inviting us to enter the lives and struggles of the 150 different people from different eras and parts of the world who are molded in bronze. It is truly a “visual prayer”: a prayer that is not just about migrants, but about all of us and the future of the human family. The Pope called it a reminder of the challenge of welcoming. Rising out of the center of the statue are two huge wings, a reference from Hebrews: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
The statue sits on a bronze raft. Oh, that the raft could be the “Barque of Peter”! Then we would truly be a welcoming church of the poor!
Convicted of our mission, we processed through St. Peter’s Square, dressed in baptismal white as we carried icons of St. Phoebe and other women saints to the Centro Internazionale Giovanile San Lorenzo where we prepared a “St. Phoebe Prayer for a Synodal Church.”
The ancient chapel resounded with music and prayer, with priests and a deacon who have been accompanying us, we were blessed with holy water. We heard more testimonies of women and the graces of the journey so far. That sacred space was filled with the wind of the Holy Spirit in the testimonies, litanies and prayers.
During the offertory we delivered names and letters from the people we carried with us in our hearts from home. We were Phoebe and they were the letters commissioned to be sent to Rome! A highlight was the blessing of the three Synod delegates who joined us. We prayed over them with gratitude for their work and hopes for their success.
We left the Vatican in high spirits. And hungry!
The day was not over until the evening. We all eagerly anticipated the “Global Prayer Service on Zoom.” It was 8:00pm for us. And then it happened. They say the devil is in the details. Tonight, the devil was in the Zoom. Only 100 participants could log on. And hundreds had registered. Fortunately, it is recorded. But unfortunately, it was a big disappointed not only for each of us, but for all of those whom we had encouraged to be with us.
That disappointment was followed by another: the statement of Cardinal Fernandez report of Group 5.
I go to bed this evening, processing the events of the day. Our WhatsApp chat is alive with responses among ourselves: the resistance towards the idea of ordaining women, while at the same time expressing consensus that the structure of the church has to be transformed fundamentally and that women need to be part of the decision-making is discouraging and confusing.
We are here on the ground in Rome and in the thick of things. For now, we are reminded that things are moving and developing quickly. We will need not be too discouraged by a single day’s headlines. We didn’t expect any concrete action to come out of this October Synod on ordaining women deacons and we were reminded that there is still work to do to ensure that women and the diaconate is not the exception to synodality.
The Holy Spirit must be in the mix. Aren’t the fruits of the Spirit love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness? And didn’t we experience all of that today? “And against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5: 22-23)
We keep walking. St. Phoebe keep walking with us!
Svea
To view all the posts in this series please visit our Synod page.