In his first pastoral letter, after the first synod in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in roughly 80 years, Archbishop Bernard Hebda invites all the faithful in prayer to visit the Upper Room — and then go forth together as witnesses to Christ, with the faith, courage and humility of the Apostles.
The Upper Room holds the mysteries of Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet, instituting the Eucharist and Holy Orders of the priesthood and the Holy Spirit’s descent on the Apostles at Pentecost, the archbishop writes. It all happened in the Upper Room, believed to have been on a hill in Jerusalem that is the site of pilgrimages still today.
“My dear brothers and sisters, let us then ascend to the Upper Room to learn how these lessons of faith, service, love and power will guide us in the fulfillment of our Synod dreams,” the archbishop says.
Titled “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent from the Upper Room,” Archbishop Hebda’s post-synodal pastoral letter was released Nov. 19-20, on the feast of Christ the King. It can be read now at archspm.org/synodletter.
The archbishop dives deeply into the mysteries of the Upper Room, such as this excerpt from the washing of feet:
“At the Last Supper, on the brink of Jesus’s Passover offering of his very self, he rises from the table and lowers himself to wash the feet of his disciples,” the archbishop writes. “This reveals the mystery of the Incarnation in an especially poignant way: Jesus has descended — from heaven as well as from the table — to serve us.”
And this paragraph on the Eucharist:
“When we ‘take and eat’ in the Holy Mass, the love of God — substantially present in Christ — passes in mystery into us. In the Eucharist, Jesus has given what he commanded. Now, what he has done for us, we can do for others because it will be his love in us.”
The letter is born of discernment through the Holy Spirit, the archbishop writes, of three years of praying, listening and talking with thousands of parishioners across the archdiocese, while sharing the teachings of the Church. That activity culminated in June at a three-day Archdiocesan Synod Assembly of nearly 500 men and women from across the archdiocese gathered in St. Paul.
Those gathered voted on 40 propositions, which were categorized into three Synod focus areas: 1) Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization, 2) Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call and 3) Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.
Based on those votes, and discernment by the archbishop in prayer and consultation, the letter points the way forward for the next three years. It also promises support in concrete ways from the archdiocese, a yearly guide to implementing each Synod priority, openness to new developments and continued listening. And it promises a one-day synodal gathering June 7, 2025, the Vigil of Pentecost, to address the question of priorities for years four and five.
The nearly 60-page letter, with an appendix, sets out priorities for the next three years. Section and paragraph headings provide easy entry and re-entry points. The letter can be prayed with and studied. It is grounded and footnoted by Scripture, papal documents and homilies, Church teaching and history.
In the letter, Archbishop Hebda urges all people of the archdiocese to recognize and live out their gifts as witnesses of Christ, evangelists of the faith — laity, clergy and those in consecrated life.
It doesn’t have to be hard, the archbishop writes.
“If there is fear of the word “evangelization” in many parts of the world today — and maybe even in our own hearts — it may be because we have a very narrow image of evangelization,” the archbishop writes. “Perhaps we have the misconception that the universal call of witness requires us all to knock on doors and preach on street corners. Some of us may be called and gifted to do this, but not all. St. Paul explains, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone” (1 Cor 12:4-6).
“How good to know that we do not each need to have all the gifts,” the archbishop writes. “How good to know we belong to a body with many members, who can supply in works of evangelization what we are lacking.”
‘What then should we do?’
Noting the question posed by the disciples of St. John the Baptist — “what then should we do?” — as the saint proclaimed a new chapter of sacred history with the coming of Jesus, Archbishop Hebda writes that the same question can be asked now in the local Church.
“Having experienced the power and the promise of a historic Synod Assembly, we too find ourselves on the threshold of a new chapter in the sacred history of this Archdiocese,” the archbishop writes, “and we cannot help but ask, ‘What then should we do?’ That is, in fact, the great question of this pastoral letter.”
“I propose that we begin by following Jesus,” the archbishop writes. “With religious imagination let us walk with him from town to town in Galilee and witness him ‘teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom and curing every disease and illness’” (Mt 9:35).
The archbishop asks readers to imagine Christ’s distress at seeing so many people “like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). But Jesus also sees that the harvest is abundant. The same is true today, Archbishop Hebda writes: The harvest is abundant but “the laborers are few” (Mt 9:37).
To help meet that challenge — and to assist priests who already have a great deal on their plates — the archbishop is calling on each parish to form Synod Evangelization Teams. Made up of about 12 people, modeling Christ’s call of the 12 Apostles as his companions, the teams will be at the service of evangelization. Team members will be formed to the task through a seven-week School of Discipleship experience beginning early next year offered by the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute in St. Paul.
Implementing Synod priorities
Parish teams will help pastors walk with parishioners and spur evangelization as the archdiocese moves from Synod as an event to steady accompaniment often referred to as synodality, the letter states. One of the teams’ first tasks, and the priority for year one of Synod implementation (July 2023-June 2024) will be forming and gathering with small groups of parishioners.
Small groups, the archbishop writes, can foster the experience in the Upper Room of “washing of the feet” through personal relationships, building community, and supplying formation that will help parishioners grow as missionary disciples of Christ.
Special attention at the parish also can be given to the small group found in each home: the family, Archbishop Hebda suggests. “The family is the place where each of us first encounters love, where the mother’s smile first evangelizes the infant held close and affirms the child’s goodness.”
Some small groups might reach out to the marginalized and poor, others serve as a vehicle for teaching about the beauty, form and meaning of the Eucharist and the Mass, others offer a prayer ministry for those in need, and still others might go forth in the Spirit at the service of evangelization, the archbishop suggests.
Year Two
The second year of implementing the Synod priorities will emphasize the Mass, with special attention to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, as well as enhancing liturgies, the letter states.
“In fact, Synod Proposition 9 (Education for the Mass: Educate God’s people on the beauty, form and meaning of the Mass, with special emphasis on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist) received the third highest number of votes in the Synod Assembly, and I have committed to make this our Synod Priority for Year 2 (July 2024-June 2025),” the archbishop writes.
“And how could I commit to anything less, given the launch of the National Eucharistic Revival this past June on the Feast of Corpus Christi? Many of you know that the Revival will take place from 2022 to 2025, thus coinciding with the first two years of our Synod implementation,” the archbishop continues. “Why a Eucharistic Revival now? The bishops themselves, under the leadership of Bishop Andrew Cozzens, our former Auxiliary Bishop, explain:
‘Scandal, division, disease, doubt. The Church has withstood each of these throughout our very human history. But today we confront all of them, all at once. Our response in this moment is pivotal.
‘In the midst of these roaring waves, Jesus is present, reminding us that he is more powerful than the storm. He desires to heal, renew, and unify the Church and the world. How will he do it? By uniting us once again around the source and summit of our faith — the Holy Eucharist.’”
Year Three
A primary goal of the third year of Synod priorities will be forming and inspiring parents “to understand and fulfill their responsibilities as the first teachers of their children in the ways of the faith.”
That will include equipping parents with resources to teach the faith at home, and helping them prepare together for the Sunday Eucharist while reclaiming Sunday as a day of worship, fruitful leisure and solidarity with others, the letter states.
Parents will be taught ways to make their home a “school of prayer,” with special attention to the gifts of the Holy Spirit in each child. Parents also will be encouraged and assisted in finding ways to involve their children in sharing the faith with others, the letter states.
Archdiocesan support
“In order to bring to life this bold vision, the Archdiocese has already undertaken or will undertake the following actions to support parishes in their implementation of the Synod Priorities,” the letter states.
Actions include the recently established Office of Synod Evangelization, new appointments of Vicars of Evangelization and a Vicar of Charisms and establishing an Office for Youth and Young Adults. An implementation plan for the first year accompanying the pastoral letter encourages clergy, those in consecrated life, lay ministers, families, young people, the homebound and elderly and each Catholic school to pray with the letter, take evangelization to heart, join or create small groups.
The archbishop also pledges to reconstitute an Archdiocesan Worship Commission, establish a Blue-Ribbon Commission to present recommendations on forming parents as primary educators and provide regular training on consultation at the parish level through parish pastoral and finance councils and parish trustees.
In addition, an Archdiocesan Pastoral Council will be established to facilitate ongoing synodality.
“I could not imagine asking pastors to choose the synodal path of evangelization if I were not willing to walk that “same path” (synodos) myself,” Archbishop Hebda writes. “Indeed, I am committed to continuing the work of consultation with the Presbyteral Council, the College of Consultors, and the Lay Advisory Board, and I am in the process of choosing my own “twelve” — clergy, religious and laity — who will “walk with me” and advise me as we seek to implement the Synod.”
Holy Spirit you are welcome here
In the letter, Archbishop Hebda writes about his intuition that fruits of the Archdiocesan Synod would have to come through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He also credits Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams with encouraging him in the days of writing the pastoral letter to reread a book titled “Meeting God in the Upper Room,” by Msgr. Peter Vaghi, a lawyer and prominent pastor in the Archdiocese of Washington.
“Monsignor Vaghi insightfully calls the Upper Room ‘the most important room in all of Christendom’ because of the significance of the actions that tradition tells us occurred there,” the archbishop writes.
“I soon found myself wondering with him (Bishop Williams) if the image of the Upper Room and the mysteries celebrated therein could give us a key to interpreting the Synod Assembly data,” the archbishop writes. “The longer I pondered the Synod data through the lens of the Upper Room, the more this seemed to be the case.”
Closing the main body of his letter, Archbishop Hebda notes the resources of many local organizations and movements “who in this Archdiocese carry the fire of the Spirit at the heart of their apostolates,” and he names more than a dozen, such as the Archdiocesan Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office and its many affiliated prayer groups, NET Ministries of St. Paul and its national outreach to high school students and St. Paul’s Outreach and its national apostolate to university students and young adults.
Many parishes are already collaborating with these groups, the archbishop writes. “I would encourage all parishes to make friends with these friends of the Holy Spirit! If the fire of the Spirit were to become an ordinary part of the life of each parish, what would be the effect? I think Pope Francis paints a vivid picture for us:
‘The parish is not an outdated institution: precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community … It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a center of constant missionary outreach.’
“‘A center of missionary outreach,’” the archbishop continues. “… what an inspiring and ambitious vision for our Catholic parishes! Would we be lamenting the decline of our beloved Church if every Catholic parish in this Archdiocese adopted this vision? Some would say this is too bold; I would say this is precisely what our Synod has been all about!”
EXCERPTS FROM THE PASTORAL LETTER
An experience of unprecedented difficulty meriting an apology
“When I arrived seven and a half years ago as the temporary Apostolic Administrator, our local Church was undergoing a tremendous trial, due principally to the scourge of clergy sexual abuse. I am grateful that we now find ourselves in a very different place, due to the dedication, sacrifices, courage, prayers, and collaboration of so many survivors of abuse and other members of the laity, clergy and Archdiocesan staff. Yet I also realize that for some, despite the good work that has occurred, these days are still difficult due to the long-term effects of abuse.
“For those experiencing the deep burdens of having been abused or of having a loved one suffer abuse, and for those scandalized as a result of the failure of the Archdiocese to protect the vulnerable, I am sorry for the actions and inactions that caused so much pain and ask for your forgiveness. I pledge that our efforts to protect the young and vulnerable and to support those who have been wounded will continue, even as we now expand our focus to include other aspects of renewal.”
Principles that shaped the Synod process
“It became clear with time that an effective Synod process would need to discern and establish clear pastoral priorities in a way that would both promote greater unity and lead us to a more vigorous proclamation of Jesus’ good news. Furthermore, it seemed that the Synod process would need to be grounded in parish life. For most Catholics, the parish is the primary encounter with the Church. If we are going to be healthy and credible as an Archdiocese, we need to have thriving parishes. These foundational understandings shaped the design of our Synod process.”
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do
“Our credibility as witnesses to Jesus depends on how we manifest our commitment to taking seriously the first of the charges that the Apostles received in the Upper Room on Holy Thursday: ‘If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done, you should also do.’ (Jn 13:14-15).
“Throughout the Synod process, we heard the pain expressed by so many family members and neighbors who no longer join us at Mass. How often we heard about youth and young adults who no longer believe what our Church believes or who have drifted away from the practice of the faith. I wonder if they may have been impacted by their perception of our tepid response from the Lord’s command to wash one another’s feet, to follow his example.”
The Acts of the Apostles: A growing Church
“And what is the result of his (Peter’s) witness? The fire of faith spreads: ‘Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that’ (Acts 2:41). This becomes a theme for Luke as he writes the first history of the Church:
“‘And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved’ (Acts 2:47).
“‘Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them’ (Acts 5:14).
“See the contrast between the Church of the Acts of the Apostles and the Church of today: a Church where more than six times as many adults are leaving the Church in the United States than those who are entering. Only a culture of witness can turn the tide of decline that we are seeing in many areas of the Church today. But this bold witness is not a power that we can give ourselves. It can only be received when the Holy Spirit comes to us.”
Plans for a future of hope
“The experience of being your shepherd these past years has deepened my confidence that Christ Our King has wonderful plans in mind for us in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, plans to give us a ‘future of hope’ (Jer 29:11).
“I trust that the Holy Spirit has spoken through you, the faithful of this local Church, throughout the Synod process, and that the vision outlined in this pastoral letter is an important first piece of the Spirit’s plan for us at this juncture in our history to fulfill the Great Commission that is emblazoned on the front of our Cathedral: ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations’ (Mt 28:19). I am excited to imagine the abundant fruitfulness that will result when our parishes intentionally integrate all three mysteries of the Upper Room.
“For those of you who had been hoping that other priorities would have been discerned and chosen for these first three years, please be assured of a special remembrance in my prayers. I will be asking the Master of the Harvest to bless you with both patience and perseverance rather than discouragement and desolation. As reflected at the Synod Assembly, the needs of our Church are vast. This pastoral letter calls us to take a few important steps together toward addressing some of these needs. My hope is that our efforts together in the Upper Room will in time give us the common experience and tools that will be necessary for addressing the remaining needs, while remaining docile to the Holy Spirit.
“Sisters and brothers, the health of this local Church depends upon your willingness to share in humility the gifts with which you have been so richly blessed. Please join me in asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to each one of us how we are uniquely equipped to serve the renewal of our Archdiocese in a time such as this. If you are being asked to embrace new ministries or new challenges, do not be afraid. The Lord is never outdone in generosity.
“Only God knows the great surprises he has in store for us as we continue to walk together, pray together, listen together, discern together, and now respond together to the commission that Jesus first gave his Apostles: ‘You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)! Through the intercession of Our Lady of the Cenacle, and full of the hope that resides in her Immaculate Heart, let us call upon the Holy Spirit to send us forth:
“Holy Spirit,
renew your wonders in our time, as though in a new Pentecost,
and grant that this Archdiocese,
united in prayer around Mary, the Mother of Jesus,
and guided by St. Peter,
may spread the Kingdom of the divine Savior,
a Kingdom of truth, of justice, of love, and of peace.
Amen.
Saint Paul, our great missionary patron, pray for us!”
“From the Cathedral of Saint Paul on the Solemnity of Christ the King, 20 November 2022
The Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda
Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis”
