“Young Catholics are giving the church a valuable lesson in the real meaning of Synodality. They have asked us in a thousand ways to walk alongside them — not behind them or ahead of them, but at their side. Not over them or under them, but on their level.”
-Pope Francis
Over 50 confirmation candidates participated in a Synodal Listening Session as a part of their confirmation retreat this past weekend. They openly shared their joys, questions, and concerns about their experiences of the Church with great courage! The young adults were given the following questions to meditate:
- One good experience I’ve had at church is…
- One thing that is a struggle for me personally with faith is…
- One gift I could bring (or already bring) to the Church is…
- If I could change the Catholic Church in one way it would be… and this is why…
- One thing the Catholic Church could do to make me really hopeful is…
The Confirmandi were asked to share their answers in timed intervals while resisting the temptation to reply or comment. A leader scribe wrote down their anonymous comments to gather the fruits of their wonderful insights.
Our Synod committee meets weekly to grapple with the challenges of gathering the wealth of experiences and learning a lived synodality. We are exploring many ways we can reach people in multifaceted ways to hear the fruits of their own prayer and experience in the Church. We encourage everyone if they haven’t had a chance to read the Synod on Synodality Preparatory Document and Vademecum which are both available on the Synod page of our website, along with a host of additional Synod information and resources.
In the Easter Season we’ll be offering many ways to engage in the process of Synodality at St. John – St. Paul Collaborative.