Lombardi Editorial: Synod and listening

(Vatican Radio) Once again bishops from around the world have been called to Rome by the Pope for a Synod.

Synod: that is, “to walk together”; listening to what the Spirit of the Lord suggests and indicates in moving the Church forward in the right direction.

One does not come to the Synod merely to speak, but to listen; listening with one another to the Word of God, as well as to the voices and experiences of fellow bishops from around the world; to bring about a continued understanding of one another through the weave of many languages, regardless of the profound differences in circumstance and culture. Using a common language to discern what is important for everyone speaks to the universality of the Church: in other words, its “Catholicity.”

By humbly and attentively listening to the other, one takes part in the school of the Holy Spirit. Because this happened in an exceptional way during the Vatican II Council, it can and must happen in a lesser but nonetheless real way during this Synod if it is to represent a true time of collegiality of those bishops who have attentively gathered around the Pope for the mission of the Church

The theme of the Synod – “New Evangelization” – is absolutely fundamental. “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” Saint Paul emphatically says. The next three weeks of the Synod are not simply intended for study. These weeks should be spiritual time that is lived with intensity by those who know what is at stake within the message of salvation, and who understand the role of Jesus in the world both today and tomorrow, so that “when the Son of man comes” he will “find faith on earth." We pray with the bishops as they listen to one another, and to the Spirit.