SYNODAL CONVERSATIONS AND THE CHURCH AS SACRAMENT

Fr Billy Swan

In preparation for a National Synod next year, Irish dioceses recently engaged in spiritual conversations to propose priority themes. There themes were taken from seventeen topics related to the life of the Church that emerged from previous conversations in the Spirit and were summarized in the National synthesis document: ‘Synthesis of the Consultation in Ireland for the Diocesan Stage of the Universal Synod 2021 – 2023’. These themes included Liturgy, Youth, Co-Responsibility, LGBTQI+, Adult Faith Formation, etc.

I participated in the conversation in my own diocese about these themes, how they are related and what themes should have priority in advance of next year’s National Synod. In our break-out group, one person observed: ‘I consider all these themes to be like branches of a tree and all of them need to be attached to the same trunk. This attachment to the trunk is what unites them all and gives them life’.

The point struck me as being profoundly wise, timely and indeed Scriptural. In John 15, Jesus employs the image of the vine and the branches to teach about the communion of all people in himself. There is a fundamental unity between the vine and the branches that we must always keep in view and consider as one. This seems particularly true in terms of the Church’s relationship with the world and her mission to the world. It takes us back to a basic principle of ecclesiology that emerged from the Second Vatican Council whereby the Church understands itself as ‘a kind of sacrament or sign of intimate union with God and of the unity of all humankind. She is also an instrument for the achievement of such union and unity’ (Lumen Gentium, 1).

This means that the Church community is called to be a sign of the unity she signifies but also an instrument in bringing that unity about. Although God’s saving power is not limited to the visible Church, his grace is somehow mediated through the Church’s contact and communion with all peoples.

Returning to our reflection on the specific synodal themes, just as a trunk and the branches make up a singular tree, once we keep all the themes in view and their connection with the mystery of Christ, then we begin to see mission in a new and unified way.

And so, for example, when it comes to belonging, we declare that each life belongs to God who has grafted us onto Himself. How can we as Church help people believe they belong to God by helping them feel they belong to our faith communities? For the youth, how can we direct them to their vocation in life?; what are the best ways we can accompany them, offer them hope, engage their gifts and encourage them to live their faith with us?  For our brothers and sisters who are gay, when we accept them with love and understanding, we make it easier for them to believe that God accepts them and understands them too. In this way their communion with the Church heals old wounds and helps us all grow in holiness.

In St Bonaventure’s classic work ‘The Tree of Life’, he unifies the dimensions of Christ’s life, death and glorification into a single whole. I believe that the image of the tree as a unified trunk and branches also contains great promise for the National Synod next year. It expresses the unity between all the themes, how all of them find their unity in the mystery of Christ and how all of them are transformed by his life-giving Spirit and power. As the Church, we are his Body, the sign and instrument of his saving will in the world.