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Saint Paul
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Gratitude, prayers after Synod Assembly

Archbishop Bernard Hebda

As I reflect on our recent Synod Assembly, the words that our patron, St. Paul, addressed to the Philippians come to mind: “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God” (Phil. 1:3). I have been overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude each time I think of how God has blessed this local Church through the willingness of so many to be part of our Archdiocesan Synod. The liturgies, presentations, discussions and voting were all manifestations for me of the presence of the Holy Spirit and of the rich blessings that God has bestowed upon us.

While I have been reading with great interest Pope Francis’ theoretical and theological insights into synodality, and have had positive experiences at our Prayer and Listening Events and Parish Consultations, it was still a great blessing to see the way in which synodality would be concretely expressed in this archdiocese.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Archbishop Bernard Hebda

With two representatives from almost every parish in the archdiocese, and with the participation of the members of our presbyteral council, Lay Advisory Board, and Commission for Consecrated Life, the respectful listening to the Holy Spirit and to each other that took place at the Assembly as a prelude to voting was truly a manifestation of both the breadth of this local Church and the openness to seeking and doing God’s will. The diversity among the delegates was breathtaking: there were a number of high school students who ably represented our youth, while a few of the delegates were senior enough to have lived through the last Archdiocesan Synod, more than 80 years ago. I will always be grateful to the delegates, to the architects of the process, and to the hundreds of volunteers who have supported the work of the Synod over these past three years.

I have deep gratitude as well to those of you who have been including the Archdiocesan Synod in your prayer intentions. You were ably represented throughout the weekend by a small prayer team in our makeshift adoration chapel at Cretin-Derham Hall, beseeching our eucharistic Lord at each moment of the Assembly to send out his Spirit upon our Church. I heard from a number of the adorers that they felt that it was a singular blessing to be able to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the presence of the relics of our three “Blessed” intercessors: Capuchin Franciscan Father Solanus Casey, Father Stanley Rother and Christian Brother James Miller.

I am sure hoping that those prayers will continue as we now begin the process of mining the results that we received at the Synod. While it is fairly easy to verify the voting, it will still take us some time to gather and weigh the many written comments that accompanied the votes, placing them in the context of the observations that were randomly shared at the Assembly, as representatives chosen by lot were invited to comment on their perceptions of our three focus areas.

Your prayers will be particularly needed to support my efforts to capture the Synod experience in a pastoral letter that is scheduled to be released on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 22, 2022. I am praying that the Holy Spirit will now guide my efforts, much as he guided the involvement of our Synod participants. To learn more about what transpired at the Assembly and to facilitate your prayer, please be sure to consult The Catholic Spirit and our archdiocesan website for updates in the weeks to come.

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In the meantime, I hope that you will join me in thanksgiving at the 10 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral June 19, the Solemnity of the Lord’s Body and Blood, as we kick off locally the National Eucharistic Revival. Weather permitting, Mass will be concluded with a short eucharistic procession and the traditional Corpus Domini Benediction.

Gratitud, oraciones después de la Asamblea del Sínodo

 


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