“Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Lk 2:10). The announcement of the birth of a Savior was a “great joy” to a people who had long awaited this “good news.” This week we celebrate the publication of Archbishop Hebda’s post-synodal pastoral letter. I can think of no better words to describe what this means for our local Church than those of the angelic messenger: “good news of great joy”!
When we consider that the letter is the fruit of three years of praying, listening, healing and, finally, voting, we can say that it too has been long awaited. At the historic Synod Assembly this past June, Synod members expressed their hopes for the future of this archdiocese by voting on the concrete priorities that emerged from the consultative phase of the Synod process. This resulted in a body of “inspired data” that the archbishop has been “reflecting on in (his) heart” (Lk 2:19) these past five months. The fruit of that reflection is the document many of you now have in your hands, “You Shall Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent from the Upper Room. “
But what is a post-synodal pastoral letter (besides a mouthful)? We might say that it is a hinge document which moves us from preparation to action; from talking about the needs of the Church to doing something to meet those needs. A post-synodal document asks the million-dollar question first asked by disciples of John the Baptist, “What then should we do” (Lk 3:10)?
That is exactly the question that Archbishop Hebda addresses in “You Shall be My Witnesses.” Our shepherd, who has patiently listened to us all these past years, now speaks, and he does so with unique pastoral authority. The Second Vatican Council taught “that bishops by divine institution have succeeded to the place of the apostles, as shepherds of the Church, and he who hears them, hears Christ” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church “Lumen Gentium,” 20). What does this mean? It means that we will be able to hear the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in the words that our shepherd, Bernand Hebda, speaks to all of us in “You Shall be My Witnesses.”
Those who have already had the opportunity to read the pastoral letter have sensed their hearts enkindled by its contents, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus who asked themselves, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the way” (Lk 24:32)? I have no doubt that it is the fire of the Spirit they are feeling, for those who pick up the pastoral letter will soon find themselves spiritually in the Upper Room of Jerusalem. This holy of holy places, which hosted the washing of the feet and the breaking of the bread at the Last Supper, as well as the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, is where the archbishop wants to gather the whole local Church, because this is where he finds the intersection of all our Synod hopes.
As you will read, however, Archbishop Hebda does not want us to stay in the Upper Room. Rather, as the title implies, he wants to send us from the Upper Room to the ends of the archdiocese to be Jesus’ witnesses (Acts 1:8). He trusts the Holy Spirit to do this. He also trusts each one of us. As the angel of the Lord revealed to the shepherds, the “good news” was for “all the people.” The archbishop’s pastoral letter is for all the women, men, youth and young adults of this archdiocese. In the archbishop’s vision, all of us will be protagonists in the Synod implementation because all of us have been uniquely gifted in our baptism and confirmation.
My dear brothers and sisters, I could not more strongly encourage you to read “You Will be My Witnesses.” It is really “good news” for our beloved Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, but it will only bring the “great joy” of a renewed and growing local Church if all of us do our part. Let each of us, then, take to heart the first words of the angel of the Lord to the shepherds who were keeping watch of their flocks by night, “Do not be afraid.” I would like to conclude by echoing those words: Do not be afraid to read the archbishop’s pastoral letter. Do not be afraid to let its contents challenge and transform you. Do not be afraid of the missionary discipleship to which you have been called since the day of your baptism!
