The second session of the Synod on Synodality is the final assembly in a multi-year journey aimed at deepening inclusivity within the Church. All photos courtesy Jesuits.Global
SHOWING THE WAY TO GOD
By Fr Quyen Vu SJ, Australian Provincial
(The second session of the Synod on Synodality is currently taking place in Rome and will conclude on Sunday 27 October.)
I am delighted to reach out to you as partners in Ignatian spirituality and to offer some thoughts about the synodal movement within our Church – “The people of God on the way”, and how it applies to our ongoing dialogue and ministry. In fact, synodality for our Church surely means shared dialogue in all aspects, that it might become a more prayerful, humble, listening and journeying Church.
At this time, we seek to animate our ministries through the synodal way. The term “synodal” has come to emphasise the way in which we walk together as the people of God, as collaborators in a shared mission.
Combining clergy, consecrated people and laity alike, the format is once again following the “conversation in the Spirit” approach, with participants divided into linguistic groups of about 10 people at each round table.
Last year the Jesuit Superior General, Fr Arturo Sosa, released the De Statu Societatis Jesu, a reflection on the state of the world and the Society of Jesus. In it he reflected that Jesuits “have been sent to collaborate with others in a mission of reconciliation and justice through the four Universal Apostolic Preferences.
Strikingly, Fr General writes that for Jesuits, “Collaboration is a dimension of our identity. We are collaborators, we do not ‘have’ collaborators.” Our call is to ‘collaborate, together with many other human beings, in the one mission of the Lord that is entrusted to the Church’.”
Recognising ourselves, all of the baptised, as collaborators in a shared mission is essential to the synodal way. We collaborate in a retreat house, school or parish or on a project, not as ends in themselves but in the service of Christ’s mission of reconciliation.
Each of us brings our own gifts, in the context of our vocational call, and we place them at the service of Christ’s mission. We strive to do so freely, allowing our collaboration with one another to be an experience of ongoing conversion, reconciling ever more with God, others and creation.
Adapted from the original version on the JISA website
Jesuit and Ignatian Spirituality (JISA) can support and accompany groups interested in synodality.
To enquire about becoming a Jesuit in Australia, contact vocations@sjasl.org.au and for more info, visit our Vocations page.