Christmas celebration is over! What remains is, I suppose, not just memories, of what we did or what events we participated in or pictures or photographs of people we met but also the joy of family gatherings with all the fun at these gatherings and the joy of attending religious services or spending some time in prayer before infant Jesus with Joseph and Mary. What should remain is the fruit of the celebrations, namely, a “renewed joy” in Jesus Christ through whom God the Father offers us His unconditional love for the sustenance and upliftment of our life entire: spirit, soul, mind, and body.
We are reminded again…
In the passage from the letter of St. Paul to Titus read at Midnight Mass we are reminded about what is offered in the Incarnate Son of God. The Word of God explains the purpose for which Lord Jesus appeared:
- Grace appeared bringing salvation for all;
- training us (in order to train us) to renounce impiety and worldly passions…to live lives that are self-controlled, upright and godly,
- to redeem us (that he might redeem) from iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
We are reminded that we are blessed in Jesus Christ and we have to become source of blessing for others “by being a people who are God’s own people, purified and blessed” and “who are zealous for good deeds.” As Christian believers we are to be “transformed” and “become instruments for the transformation of others in and around us.” In other words, we receive grace and blessing in Jesus Christ not only for own good but also for the good of others by being zealously involved in good deeds!
We are reminded that we are to be (or become) a “Synodal Church!”
We are soon entering into the New Year, 2023! As members of the Church we have been invited to see that we as the local church be a “synodal church.” This is something that should happen at the local level – in the given Catholic community village or locality, parish, deanery or vicariate, diocese, region, and nation. Synodal Church means “a community journeying together” and “a community where there is among the members, Communion, Participation, and Mission (consciousness).” Question arises, “do we have this situation in our Archdiocese?” We are not able to say with confidence, “yes, we have!” Journeying together where there is a sense that all are given due consideration without some having the feeling being on the “top” and others “below”, is not yet fully there. Our hierarchical structure with the bishops and priests/religious on the top in the given diocese or parishes exercise more authority, in matters spiritual and material, in matters of administration and decision making. We cannot agree with those who might say, “We are not at all a synodal church!” To some extent in most of the parishes there exists communion, participation and awareness about the mission of proclaiming the Gospel. But, our concern should be as to how to increase the sense of “journeying together” where in most are involved in the life of the Church: communion, participation, and mission. So much depends on the pastoral leadership and initiatives of pastors – bishops and priests who are in the responsible position in the local church.
Here, the structures that can facilitate should be promoted: parish councils, committees of elders in the communities, finance committees, encouragement to the members of the pious associations and their activities, activating the various Commissions that promote participation, involvement in different aspects of the life and mission of the Church, and in such other ways.
We are reminded that we are to be a listening Church: to listen to God, listen to the Church and listen to the faithful in the Church:
Thanks be to God that we have in the Church certain “order” of conducting the affairs of the Church and certain prescribed ways of doing things. This calls for listening to the Church that speaks through documents that are periodically published, by listening to the Pope, now it is the Holy Father, Pope Francis, by listening to one another in the local Church, by reading through the directions or guidelines given by national and regional episcopal conferences, CCBI and TCBC, through different Commissions, and of course, by paying attention and follow the directions given in the diocesan newsletters and official communications. All this means that we faithfully remember that we are members of the “One, A Holy Catholic Church” in the given diocese or parish or village/locality. But, at different levels there should be resistance to the temptation or inclination to doing what one wants or like to do rather than doing what one is supposed to do by following the known teachings of the scriptures, especially the commandments, given traditions and general guidelines or directions by the Church disseminated through the diocese or region. One should not or cannot say, “I always did like this and I will do only that way!” But whom or whose directions are you following? While creative powers have to be utilized for doing the best possible refusal to listen to others is not the proper way. We have enough examples to show how refusal to listen and to follow results of the good to be done, neglect and rejection.
In our Telugu region BCC or SCC, Basic/Small Christian Communities was introduced and implemented for about thirty years with the generous support of Missio and other donor partners from Germany. But, all the priests in the given dioceses have not accepted and not all the parish communities were ready to accept or take this model of BCC/SCC because it demanded a new or different way of being the Church. The purpose of becoming “Self-reliant communities” is not achieved. Today, very little fruit of those thirty years of effort is left. The same way, where and by whom Youth apostolate is seen as very important and promoted, the fruits are visible for the good of our youth and for the good of the life of the Church! In the same way “Family apostolate,” especially family visits, is one area that is yet to receive full attention that is required. Forming teams of resource persons and volunteers could be formed. Wherever our laity is taken into consideration and more or greater participation is positively promoted or accepted, there the atmosphere in the given parish or village/locality will be different, with more participation and more involvement of more members in the life of the parish or village/locality community! Synod 2021-2023/4 is calling on different sections of the Church to journey together where there is Communion, Participation, and (urge for) Mission. For this, it is said that we should become more and more be or become a “Listening Church!”
We have to look into the way we think of the Church or about the Catholic Church: Our people coming to Church or going to Church is one tangible reality that is visible. We are happy when more faithful come or go to Church for prayer, for the sacraments, especially for the Holy Mass, Holy Eucharist. In our Telugu region, especially in our archdiocese our faithful come or go in large numbers and participate with great fervor and devotion. It is certain that not all have the same image and understanding of the church! Involvement or participation will depend on one’s image and understanding. Not all the priests function the same way and not all the priests attend to the matters of the community in the same way! In the same way, different sections, men and women religious, the lay faithful – well informed, less or least informed, well-to-do and poor, educated or employed and illiterate low earning, relate with the Church and function according to the image and understanding they have of the Church. It is not an easy task to form the different sections in the proper understanding of the Church. Church as “People of God” is what the Second Vatican Council has put forward but still the image of the Church as a “pyramidical hierarchical institutional structure” is dominantly prevalent. The call for becoming a “Synodal Church” is to attempt a change in the understanding of the image of the Church: “People of God” journeying together “where there is no “high and low, top and below.” Like in the human body, “all have their own legitimate place of importance and assigned place and function. In this attempt to become the “Synodal Church,” the formation of all the different sections of the Church” has to be undertaken. It is a herculean task but a possible task, says, the Synod 2021-2023/24!
Conclusion
To conclude we quote the words of Pope Francis’s address on 17th October 2015: Speaking on Synod and synodality he said, “ Synodality, as a constitutive element of the Church, offers us the most appropriate interpretive framework for understanding the hierarchical ministry itself. If we understand, as Saint John Chrisostom says, that “ Church and Synod are synonymous”, inasmuch as the church is nothing other than the “Journeying together” of God’s flock along the paths of history towards the encounter with Christ the Lord, then we understand too that, within the church, no one can be “ raised up” higher than others. On the contrary, in the Church, it is necessary that each person “lower” himself or herself, so as to serve our brothers and sisters along the way.”