Walking together in the wisdom of the Spirit

Synod means walking together. It is the Spirit of the Risen Lord that resets us on our way, as he did with the Emmaus Disciples. After recognising the Lord, they understood that their mission could only be completely fulfilled by walking towards others, and in the community.

It is the Spirit that builds the kingdom of God in history and makes us all disciples, at Jesus’ feet, to listen to Him, to live His Word and to bring His proclamation of mercy to all.

It is the Spirit that makes us walk together towards the experience of communion, of  welcoming and of inclusion.

The synodal journey never ends. The Holy Spirit will continue to drive us towards the  fullness of our life and of our mission. Mary, the woman inhabited by the Spirit, the woman of listening, teaches it to us. She, our model in the journey of faith, is “blessed” because “she believed in the fulfilment of what the Lord told her” (Luke 1:45). She walked humbly with her God, letting herself be led by the breath of the Spirit, who realised in her the first masterpiece of redemption.

Mary’s Pilgrim Journey with the Spirit
Sr. Shalini Mulackal, PBVM
“Mary is what we are to become,” says George Maloney. This is a great challenge placed  before us as consecrated persons in the Church. First and foremost, Mary invites us to  become conscious of the indwelling Spirit within us. At Baptism and Confirmation, we have been given the outpouring of the Spirit into our hearts. Our religious consecration is nothing but living our baptismal consecration in a better and deeper way. Consecrated life is a life lived in the companionship of the Spirit. Like Mary, we are called to make the Spirit our soul companion and soul mate. It is a call to be in deep union with God. This was the primary goal and purpose of this form of life from the very beginning when it started in the desert - an intense seeking for God. 

Walking in the Wisdom of the Spirit
Dr. Jessie Rogers 
To be fully human is to be mutually dependent and to experience shared vulnerability. As  creatures within the community of the Spirit, we are created to be open and responsive to others. The community of the Spirit is a place of ‘narrative hospitality’ where we step beyond the isolation of our own ego to listen to the stories of others told in their own  voice. We are drawn into solidarity because ’once we attend to another, we make their lives and their story part of our story.’ Similarly, as we speak honestly and courageously, we become part of their story.

The Spirituality of Inclusion
Nurya Martínez-Gayol, ACI
In the synodal journey it is not “simply a question of walking together” but rather that this  journey is free and mindful, allowing to listen to the Spirit speaking from above and from  the intercessions - not only the institutional ones, but also through the Spirit’s presence in every “other” who is also inhabited by the same Spirit-, dialogue (thinking, talking  together) among those who journey together, in order to discern the message of the Spirit and move towards a “communion” which is the ultimate goal of this process and journey. I would like to draw the attention, in the first place, on the fact that this listening, dialogue, discernment and communion will not be true, if not inclusive, if not capable of generating an ever greater and more fraternal “we”.

How to accompany our religious families in a synodal way towards becoming more inter-congregational in focus.
Sr. Patricia Murray, IBVM
In the various synodal consultations, the difficulty of creating concrete possibilities for living communion, participation and mission through structures and institutions, involving people who are properly formed and sustained by a living spirituality, have emerged. Therefore there is a need to review institutional and governance structures and processes in order to enable a synodal dynamic to grow across the whole church. When we look at consecrated life, we see that each congregation has developed its own mission and ministries often without reference to other religious congregations. 
In fact there has sometimes been intense competition between congregations rather than cooperation. Many tensions have arisen when encountering diversity both within a  congregation and across religious life. There is a great need to develop a spirituality that  welcomes differences and promotes harmony. 

Embracing Our Vulnerability. A gesture of humility or call to transformation?
Dr. Ted Dunn 
Religious are not immune to brokenness. Communities, like any longstanding group, accumulate baggage, years of unresolved wounds and conflicts. Working through these conflicts, reconciling relationships, and healing the wounds of community is the heartwork of transformation. It is also the Achilles’ heel for communities as none will succeed without proper training and assistance. It is painful personal and interpersonal work which most communities avoid. Without this work of reconciliation and conversion, though, there will be no transformation. Members will become more emotionally distanced and the collective whole will become increasingly fragmented.

UISG Bulletin 182/2023