This year, Pentecost will mark the beginning of the third and final year of our Archdiocesan Synod Process. We invite everyone to join us in invoking the Holy Spirit’s guidance for this third year at an outdoor Mass at St. Bonaventure in Bloomington at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 22. Since the beginning of the Synod process, I have been most excited about the step that will be happening this fall: Parish Consultation with Small Groups.
I am excited about this not only because it is the moment when the most people can be involved in the Synod process, but also because I know the power of small groups. I believe that a small group is an essential part of a strong Christian life.
I have been a member of a faith-sharing small group for more than 30 years. I began in such a group before I entered seminary. I have been meeting with a small group of brothers to share faith, to share my struggles, to receive support, counsel and prayer at least once a month for all these years. I can honestly say it has been one of the most important tools for my spiritual growth. These friends have challenged me to be a better Christian and have supported me in moments of great difficulty. They have held me accountable to the high ideals of our Christian life and inspired me to do better. They have taught me about true love, a love that has met me even in my weakness and sin, and helped me to trust in God’s mercy. I hope I have been able to do the same for them.
I have seen this not only in my own life but also in the life of my sister, who is married with seven children and two grandchildren. She has always done a very similar thing since she was a young adult. Although she has moved around, wherever she has been, she has found other women, sometimes even a small group of couples, who have intentionally met together at least once a month (usually more) to study and share their faith. These women help each other grow and support each other in the difficult work of raising a family in today’s world. They share difficulties and joys, challenges and blessings, all in an atmosphere of faith that helps them grow in deeper relationship with God. In fact, my sister has told me that she thinks faith-sharing groups are the best way to help evangelize. When people are invited into groups to study the faith, where they feel welcomed and loved, it allows them to face the difficult things in their own life that need to change as they seek to follow Christ more fully.
These small groups of women, men or couples are, in my opinion, an essential tool for the Christian life. If you think about it, Jesus himself started with a small group. He had a group of Twelve Apostles whom he was with all the time. They received their formation through watching Jesus and listening to him, but also through learning to love each other and share with each other as they lived together with Jesus. There were also some women who followed Jesus in this way (Lk 8:1-3). It seems to me that much of Jesus’ teaching requires us to be in close, committed relationships with other Christians. “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:12-13). How can we lay down our life for our brothers and sisters if we don’t really know them? How can we support them if we don’t know their struggles? Jesus also says, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples: If you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).
Unless we are living in close, committed relationships with other Christian disciples we will not be able to show that we have true love for each other. If we are living in close, committed relationships, we will witness to the world what the love of Jesus is really like: a love which truly knows the other, supports the other, challenges the other, forgives the other. A love which Jesus himself calls friendship. A love where we truly put the good of the other ahead of ourselves. This is what every human heart is longing for. This is what we must witness to in our Christian communities. I don’t see any other way to do this than forming intentional small groups for walking together in our life of faith.
There are many ways to do these kinds of small groups, and there is no one size that fits all. They should be intentional, meet at least monthly, involve the study and sharing of our Catholic faith and ordered toward deeper friendships. Many examples of this are already happening in our archdiocese.
As part of our Synod process, we wanted to give everyone a taste of this reality. It will only be a small taste for six weeks this fall when Archbishop Bernard Hebda is asking every parish to sponsor a Parish Consultation with Small Groups. Perhaps you have been in a small group for years and can do the consultation through that group. Perhaps you have never been in one, and this will be your first try. I hope this experience will allow us as a local Church to experience what I have experienced in my life: the power of a small faith-sharing group, a place where I can live the deep relationship that Christ has called us to live. I believe it is key to living our faith in today’s world.
