How can I get involved in the Synod?
- Read and reflect on the materials provided here on the website.
- CONTACT your parish to find out how you can join a Synod Reflection Group. Synodality is all about journeying together. Reflecting with others is the best way to engage with this process.
- GET TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY and form your own group! Invite especially those who no longer feel connected to the Church and those that are interested but may not be Catholic. We really want to hear from them!
How are responses submitted?
- Complete the Online form OR download and complete the Word form and return to diocese. By 2 May 2022
- Emailing [email protected]
- Posting to Mission and Evangelisation, Private Bag 47904, Auckland 1144
- Dropping it in reception at the Pompallier Catholic Centre, 30 New Street, Ponsonby.
- Your listening groups might do their response on a white board / large piece of paper. A photo of this might be taken and sent to [email protected] please put Synod Response in the subject line.
- POSTAL RESPONSE: hand write or type your response to the questions and post it to: Mission and Evangelisation, Private Bag 47904, Auckland 1144.
- Listening groups might be held over zoom/googlehangouts/teams .... the fascilitator could ask that at the stage of preparing the response the meeting is recorded and the link sent to [email protected]
Finally, please share this information widely. The more voices are heard, the better. So please JOIN US and invite others to do the same. If you have any questions, please direct message us. We look forward to hearing from you!
God bless you!
As we move through the process of synod resources for local 'listening' groups will be uploaded.
Synod Logo - download <here>
Participation Booklet including background to the Synod and guidance concerning how it might be implemented.
Outline of the Diocesan Process Theme Questions
“What characterizes a synodal path is the role of the Holy Spirit. We listen, we discuss in groups, but above all we pay attention to what the Spirit has to say to us. That is why I ask everyone to speak frankly and to listen carefully to others because there, too, the Spirit is speaking. Open to changes and new possibilities, the Synod is for everyone an experience of conversion.”
Pope Francis, “Let Us Dream”, 2020
What we are being asked
The Synod poses the following fundamental question:
A synodal Church, in announcing the Gospel, “journeys together:” How is this “journeying together” happening today in your particular Church? What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our “journeying together”?
In order to respond, we are invited to
a) RECALL OUR EXPERIENCES:
Ask ourselves, what experiences in our local Church come to mind when we talk about journeying together?
b) REREAD THESE EXPERIENCES MORE DEEPLY:
What joys did they bring? What difficulties and obstacles have they involved?
What hurts has the journey involved? What insights have emerged?
c) GATHER THE FRUITS TO SHARE:
Where, in these experiences, can the Spirit be heard or seen? What is the Spirit asking of us? What are we doing well? What needs to change? What steps do we need to take? Where do we agree? What paths are opening up for us?
To help us respond to the fundamental question a number of themes have been developed. We are not expected to answer any or all of these questions. The themes and questions presented are to guide and assist.
DISCERNMENT
Whether the response to this invitation to listen to the Spirit is from an individual or a group, it should be the product of prayerful discernment. Discernment is a prayerful process of responding. Pope Francis often talks about discernment:
“Discernment is one of the things that worked inside St. Ignatius. For him it is an instrument of struggle in order to know the Lord and follow him more closely… Discernment is always done in the presence of the Lord, looking at the signs, listening to the things that happen, the feeling of the people, especially the poor.”
Pope Francis, August 2013
Father James Martin SJ explains the essence of discernment:
“At heart, the process begins with the belief that God wants a person, or a group, to make good, healthy and life-giving decisions; and through the ‘discernment of spirits,’ that is, sorting out what is coming from God and what is not, one gains clarity about the best path. God therefore both wants and enables individuals and groups to arrive at good decisions.”
Our relationship with God is at the heart of discernment. God respects our freedom by acting very gently with us. This means that we need to continually fine-tune our listening to God. Listening to God amid the other interior and exterior voices in our lives is discernment.
How do we know that we are listening to God and following the movement of the Spirit within ourselves or in a group? Ask, “Am I at peace with this? Am I at ease now, especially if what I had previously thought was the best course of action is not what I now think? Or am I uneasy or anxious?”
A good discernment process brings clarity and inner peace. If there is unease or anxiety, personal issues are getting in the way.