Sharing the ‘The Joy of Synodality’with Plymouth Diocese
‘The Joy of Synodality’ was the theme of Avril Baigent’s speech at the Dioceseof Plymouth’s annual event, held this year in February 2024.
‘GATHER 2024: Joy in the Presence of God’ brought together over 150 people across the diocese for “a feast of faith, friendship, song, prayer, contemplation and love.”
(The below excerpt was originally published on the Plymouth Diocese’s website here >>)
“Avril delivered an enthusiastic presentation on The Synodal Way. She reminded us that this was an ancient practice of the Church for discerning and decision making. Avril explained that it flows out from the Second Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium) enabling us to live as the Pilgrim People of God, through living, discerning and acting as Church in different ways: to dream about what it means to be the Church we are called to be – a journey of growing authentically towards the communion and mission that God calls the Church to live out in the Third Millennium.
In The Joy of the Gospel (EG83), Pope Francis explains why the Church needs to be changed from a kind of “tomb psychology”, allowing ourselves to be robbed of the joy of evangelisation, to sense the challenge of living together and supporting one another, which, albeit somewhat chaotic, can be “an experience of fraternity, a sacred pilgrimage”. (EG 87).
Avril reminded us that this is rooted in our common Baptism, encouraging us to listen to the sign of the times, using gracious listening and gracious speaking to create safe spaces where each one can be heard, being open to the Holy Spirit and moving to action (Instrumentum Laboris – the basis for discussion for the October 2023 Rome Synod meeting).
We then become:
Open to the Holy Spirit
Able to listen to all voices
A new way of being community
Exercising co-responsibility
Moving to action
How do we move from grey pragmatism to a caravan of solidarity?
Through habits and practice e.g. start each meeting with Lectio Divina
Using conversation in the Spirit (gracious listening/ speaking)
Transforming our decision making
Re-imagine parish structures (e.g. for finance committee)
Think about marginal voices
Becoming a synodal community
What is our charism?
Learn from early Church (encounter, listen, discern, act)”