It’s a rare day when we don’t talk about or experience the division in both our country and our Church. There is much rancor and disagreement between Democrats and Republicans, left and right, liberals and conservatives, and many other labels we could come up with.
Issues fester unresolved because so many of us seem locked into what we see as the right answers for not just ourselves but for everybody in our country and our Church. There isn’t much honest and loving discussion in which we truly listen to one another – not just hear each other but try to understand each other’s viewpoints and experiences.
As Will Rogers once said: “You can’t tell what a man is like or what he is thinking when you are looking at him. You must get around behind him and see what he has been looking at.”
I think this is what Pope Francis hopes to accomplish with the Synod on Synodality currently going on in Rome. About 450 participants have gathered, including priests as well as lay men and women, to listen and discuss important issues that we as a Church – and country – deal with almost every day.
Some fear where all of this might lead because the issues are difficult with widespread disagreement, but I accept the stated purpose that the synod is a time to talk, listen and learn. I believe this is what the Church needs to do in a world where there is much division and even outright destruction of each other’s ideas. Wouldn’t it be better to find ways to listen, talk, share, grow and love?
I also think it’s helpful to hear viewpoints from all over the world. The United States has only about five percent of the world’s Catholics. Sometimes I think we feel we know what’s right for the entire Church right now for the future. We may be right, but we also could be wrong. It pays to listen to others whose experience of Jesus may be different than our own.
It’s also accurate to say that while the Catholic Church in the United States is shrinking in its percentage of the total population, in other places like Latin America and Africa the Catholic population is growing substantially. The Church is taking hold in new places and new ways, and I think it’s healthy to bring together people from all over the world to discuss these issues.
I pray those at the synod – and the rest of us as well – remember that it’s always about Jesus, where he fits in our lives, and how he guides what we do. We should ask ourselves if we are falling behind in our openness to what the Lord wants of us.
One of my favorites quotes I recently discovered comes from theologian and author John (Jack) Shea. He said simply: “The banquet table is open to everyone who is open to everyone.”
Those 12 words say so much. Jesus was and is open to everyone – men and women of different color, background, sexual orientation, education level, career choice, financial well-being and more. In areas where we seem to divide ourselves, Jesus starts with an openness to mercy and compassion toward all we meet.
I don’t know what will happen at the synod or what if anything will come of it. I’m not even hoping for changes, just that we do a better job of talking and listening to each other.
I believe strongly in the Church, its teachings, and the pope as its leader, guided by the Holy Spirit from the time Jesus handed the keys of the kingdom to Peter (Matthew 16:19). I’ve lived through seven popes, all of whom loved and believed in the Church. At the same time, they had different ways of talking about our faith, different ways of sharing it, and different approaches to bringing the message of Jesus to the world.
The Church’s teachings are paramount. At the same time, I think the process of listening, learning, talking and sharing is more valuable than we will ever know. By working together, we can move forward as the people of God, make the Church even better, and grow in ways that bring us all closer to Jesus.
The Church is the people of God, and the people of God are the Church. We are a pilgrim people traveling together toward our heavenly home. We don’t do as well when some of our fellow travelers are left behind, excluded or dismissed as inconsequential.
Jesus himself told us that our journey here on Earth ultimately comes down to two things: Learning to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and learning to love our neighbor as ourselves.
That’s the goal. May the synod help bring the Church closer to what Jesus wants of it and may each of us do our part by better loving God and our neighbor every day.
(Msgr. John Enzler serves as the mission advocate of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a chaplain at his alma mater, St. John’s College High School in Washington. He writes the Faith in Action column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)
