Synodality is the way forward

The document on synodality, needless to say, affirms in clear terms (see chapter 3) that “the entire People of God is challenged by its fundamentally synodal calling” (n.72).

Jan 17, 2020

JOHOR BAHRU: In commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod, His Holiness made a pragmatic commitment to the Synod when he affirmed: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of his Church in the third millennium … It is an essential dimension of the Church,” said Msgr Marco Sprizzi, the Chargé d’Affairs in his opening talk to the Bishops of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei during their meeting from Jan 6-10, at Majodi.

The document on synodality, needless to say, affirms in clear terms (see chapter 3) that “the entire People of God is challenged by its fundamentally synodal calling” (n.72). This calling to participate actively in the entire life of the Church, including its moments of discernment and decision-making, is based in our common baptism.

The Document of the Second Vatican Council on the laity teaches: “through Baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, they are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself” (Decree on the Laity, AA, 3) (and therefore) “the laity share in the priestly, prophetic and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole people of God in the Church and in the world” (AA, 2).  How often have we heard this teaching; how often have we quoted this line from the Council, but have we moved to promote its practical consequences?

The document firmly anchors the role  of the laity on two fundamental aspects of the Church, the sacraments and communion. On the sacramental level, the vocation and mission of the laity, founded in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation as these two sacraments would serve as ‘ecclesiastical stamp’ that commissions the lay faithful, grafts them to the vine which is Christ himself. No one can ever erase the indelible sign engraved in our very persons coming from Baptism and ratified in Confirmation.  To say that the Church IS the People of God is not a cliché but a theological expression that represents the very nature of our sacramental life. On the level of these sacraments, every member of the Church is equal in grace and identity as sons and daughters of the Father.

Here, my dear Bishops, we discover a profound link between the clergy and the laity: our common call to holiness. In the order of grace we are equal, and we share in the very same divine life, which put us in union with God. 

In his letter to the Latin American Churches, Pope Francis put it in this way: that the fundamental consecration of every member of the Church is Baptism.  We all entered the Church as lay people, and then he writes: “No one has been baptised a priest or a bishop.”

Our shared sacramental life or our baptismal dignity has profound consequences.  It means that through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit received in Baptism and Confirmation, everyone in the Church is endowed with a true and authentic “sensus fidei”, which is the  basis for all discernment and decisionmaking within the community. It leads to co-responsibility and demands of all the need to listen to the Holy Spirit. To bring forth within us what we possess.

Permit me to sidetrack for a moment.  As pastors, we experience the anxiety that, after Confirmation, we never see many of our young people anymore and that fact has led to the policy that reception of Confirmation is to be postponed for as long as possible. My question would be that, in light of their Baptism and Confirmation, have those who were confirmed ever been invited to participate in the life of the Church and not just liturgical functions, but leadership, ministerial activities and the apostolate? If not, Confirmation will not be a rite of passage but a passage to oblivion and detachment from the Body of Christ.

The sacramental dimension grafts us to Christ and to the Body of Christ, the Church, in a deep communion, what many theologians describe as an organic communion, which signifies an inseparable union of every baptized person. Consequently, in this light it is insufficient to speak of our people as being “members” of the Church, as if the Church were a club to which one becomes a member through certain initiation rites but there is no real relation. The communion of every baptised creates and manifests the communion of the entire People of God.  In other words, the Church is not the sum of individuals. The Church as communion, along with mission, defines WHO we are.

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