Archdiocesan Catholics looking for news on the Synod on the Family in Rome can access updates straight from Cardinal Wuerl by watching Catholic News Service videos posted almost daily on the Archdiocese of Washington YouTube channel and online at adw.org/synod15. As always, check the Catholic Standard in print and online for more in-depth articles from journalists at the scene. Here are some quotes from Cardinal Wuerl in the videos:

October 8 Pray for us!

“Our Holy Father Pope Francis has called together bishops from around the world, along with family members and experts to talk about the family. Your part in all of this is to pray for us. We need your help and most importantly your prayers.”

October 9 Everyday Challenges to Family Life

“The secularism, the individualism, the consumerism, the relativism: all of these very negative forces, but facing all of that we still have God’s grace working in our lives. We should never forget, no matter what we’re struggling with, no matter how difficult the situation might be, God’s love always embraces us. We just have to open ourselves to respond to that love.”

October 12 The Joy of Family Life

“Not every moment of family life is serene and peaceful, but at the heart of who we are, there is a joy of knowing we belong to this community that receives us, cares for us, and loves us. We have to find moments to celebrate family life: anniversaries, birthdays, or accomplishments of a family member. These are quiet but beautiful moments of families realizing we’re individuals but we’re also part of this bedrock reality that embraces each of us. 

October 13 The Role of the Family in the Preparation of Marriage

“The family context is the first teacher on what marriage is all about and what it take to experience a good, successful, happy marriage… The simple experience of parents who are loving, whose self-sacrificing becomes an example for the rest of us, the whole idea of growing up in enduring human love, in the context of family love. In what we would call the immediate preparation we find marriage preparation programs, but prior to all that is the family itself.” 

October 15 How the Synod Functions

“I would like to highlight how open this synod is. The Holy Father Pope Francis has insisted that there be lots of opportunities for the bishops to speak. We have these small groups sessions, divided up according to your language. At the end of the day, when we have taken a topic and worked through it, what you have before you is the result of the input from just about everybody in that hall.” 

October 16 The Ins and Outs

The first task of each of the 270 participants in the synod is to “speak your mind,” said Cardinal Wuerl. Then the small groups discuss, and make sure nothing said is lost. They hope to preserve all of the good conversations and consensus in the final document. After voting on the finished work, it will be presented to Pope Francis to do with as he wishes, said Cardinal Wuerl. “Please continue to pray for all of us,” he said.

October 17 Three Discussion Points

The synod is looking at the many challenges today’s families face, the Church’s perennial teachings – “what the Church says about family life that we need to use as our starting point,” said the cardinal - and finally how to invite and accompany all into the life of the Church while at the same time being faithful to those truths.

October 20

Success of the Synod

“I don't know the outcome of the synod. But the openness with which we have all been invited to enter into the synod process… that’s already a fruit of this synod. The Holy Father has said that there has to be space for all of us to carry on a conversation. Remember, a big part of it is the openness you and I have in sharing our faith with one another and those around us.”

October 21

The Art of Listening

“Listening means more than just hearing. It’s understanding what the person is saying and some of the motivation for what they’re saying. And the only way you can really listen is if you begin to accompany the person in the conversation. This is part of our pastoral tradition. We have to listen to what they’re saying so that we have some idea where they are.”

October 22

Relationship between Truth and Mercy

“How do we affirm all that we believe and at the same time, reach out and work with people who should share that faith and who right now are not with us?”