By Lavoisier Fernandes –
In the days leading up to the Synodal Assembly, Pope Francis arranged for the participants to enter into a retreat-like atmosphere of prayer, preparation, and reflection. At the invitation of the Holy Father the pre-synodal retreat was led by English Dominican Friar and former Master of the Order of Preachers, Father Timothy Radcliffe, besides being a distinguished speaker, master theologian and author of many books, one of which he received the 2007 Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing for his book What Is the Point of Being a Christian? A terrific book to read.
However, going back to the pre-synodal retreat, here are a few excerpts. I would strongly recommend reading the reflections in its entirety available on the Vatican news site as this article does not do justice to the rich and insightful text presented by Fr. Radcliffe. The meditations of the retreat are divided into six reflections.
Meditation 1: ‘Hope against trust’
Fr. Timothy Radcliffe addresses the fears of the coming synod whilst reflecting on the second reading of the day taken from St Paul’s letter to the Philippians (2:2): ‘Complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing’.
He explains “Some of us are afraid of this journey and of what lies ahead. Some hope that the church will change dramatically, that we shall take radical decisions, for example about the role of women in the church,” Others are afraid of exactly these same changes and fear that they will only lead to division, even schism. ….”
Fr. Timothy addressed the fears of expectation, pressure of achieving through the synodal process.
“During our Synodal journey, we may worry whether we are achieving anything. The media will probably decide that it was all a waste of time, just words. They will look for whether bold decisions are made on about four or five hot-button topics. But the disciples on that first synod walking to Jerusalem, did not appear to achieve anything. They even tried to stop blind Bartimaeus being cured. They seemed useless. When the vast hungry crowd gathers around Jesus, the disciples ask the Lord ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’. Jesus asks them what they have, just seven loaves and a few fish (Mark 8.1 – 10). That is more than enough. If we give generously whatever we have in this Synod, that will be more than enough. The Lord of the harvest will provide.”
He acknowledges the challenges but explains that our Christian hope, is rooted in the “perfect love” of Jesus Christ, who can conquer that fear “Let us begin by praying that the Lord will free our hearts from fear. For some, this is the fear of change. For others, the fear that not much will change.”
Meditation 2: ‘At home in God and God at home in us’
Fr. Radcliffe talks about the tensions and misunderstandings within the life of the church and our different understandings of what we think the Catholic Church should be, but he says God is with us always.
“How are we to live this necessary tension? All theology springs from tension, which bends the bow to shoot the arrow. This tension is at the heart of St. John’s gospel. God makes his home in us: ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’ (14.23) But Jesus also promises us our home in God: ‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14.2).
At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says: ‘Behold I am with you until the end of time.’ If the Lord stays, how could we go? God has made himself at home in us with all our scandalous limitations for ever. God remains in our Church, even with all the corruption and abuse. We must therefore remain. But God is with us to lead us out into the wider open spaces of the Kingdom. We need the Church, our present home for all its weaknesses, but also to breathe the Spirit-filled oxygen of our future home without boundaries.”
Meditation 3: ‘Friendship’
Here Fr Radcliffe speaks about Friendship in relation to our polarised society with different views and biased convictions.
“On the night before he died, Jesus prayed to his Father: ‘May them be one as we are one.’ (John 17.11). But from the beginning, in almost every document of the New Testament, we see the disciples divided, quarrelling, excommunicating each other. We are gathered in this Synod because we too are divided and hope and pray for unity of heart and mind. This should be our precious witness in a world which is torn apart by conflict and inequality. The Body of Christ should embody that peace which Jesus promised and for which the world longs.”
“On the night before he died, Jesus addressed the disciples who were about to betray, deny, and desert him, saying: ‘I call you friends.’ (John 15.15). We are embraced by the healing friendship of God which unlocks the doors of the prisons we create for ourselves. “The invisible God speaks to men and women as friends” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 2). He opened the way into the eternal friendship of the Trinity. This friendship was offered to his disciples, to tax collectors and prostitutes, to lawyers and foreigners. It was the first taste of the Kingdom.”
“Friendship is a creative task. In English we say that we fall in love, but we make friends. Jesus asks the lawyer after the parable of the Good Samaritan, ‘Which of these three people made himself the neighbour of the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ (Luke 10.36). He tells the disciples that they must make friends by the use of unrighteous mammon (Luke 16.9). In the Synod, we have the creative task of making improbable friendships, especially with people with whom we disagree. If you think that I am talking nonsense, come and befriend me!”
Fr Radcliffe concludes this session with words the Spanish priest in the novel might have said if he were a delegate to the synod: “Friendship flourishes when we dare to share our convictions and our doubts and seek the truth together. What’s the point of talking to people who already know everything or completely agree? How are we to do this?”
Meditation 4: ‘Conversation on the way to Emmaus’
Here Fr Radcliffe speaks about the Emmaus journey in relation to our world of today.
“The disciples are running away from the communion of the church, like so many people today. Jesus doesn’t block their way or condemn them. He asks, “What are you talking about?” What are the hopes and disappointments that stir in your hearts? The disciples are speaking angrily. The Greek means literally, “What are these words you are hurling at one other?”
So, Jesus invites them to share their anger. They had hoped Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but they were wrong. He failed. He walks with them and opens himself to their anger and their fear.
“We are mendicants after the truth” would have earned him the gratitude of the synod delegates.”
Meditation 5: ‘Authority’
“There can be no fruitful conversation between us unless we recognize that each of us speaks with authority. We all are baptized into Christ: priest, prophet, and king. The International Theological Commission on the sensus fidei quotes St John: ‘You have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge’, ‘the anointing that you received from [Christ] abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you’, ‘his anointing teaches you about all things’ (1Jn 2:20, 27).”
“Our world has fallen out of love with the Truth: Fake news, wild assertions on the internet, mad conspiracy theories. Yet buried in humanity is an ineradicable instinct for the truth, and when it is spoken, it has some last vestiges of authority. “
“Let me mention just two ways in which this prophetic tradition of truth-telling is needed. First of all, in speaking truthfully of the joys and sufferings of the world.”
“For truth, we also need disciplined scholarship which resists our temptation to use the Word of God and the teachings of the Church for our own purposes. ‘God must be right because he agrees with me!’. Biblical scholars, for example, bring us back to the original texts in their foreignness, their otherness.”
Meditation 6: ‘The spirit of truth’
“Whatever conflicts we have on the way, we are sure of this: The Spirit of truth is leading us into all truth. But this will not be easy. Jesus warns the disciples: ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.’ Peter at Caesarea Philippi could not bear to hear that Jesus must suffer and die. On this last evening before the death of Jesus, Peter could not bear the truth that he would deny Jesus. Being led into the truth means hearing things that are unpalatable.”
“What are the truths we today find it hard to face? It has been deeply painful to face the extent of sexual abuse and corruption in the Church. It has seemed like a nightmare from which one hopes to awake”.
“Western society is afraid to face the truth that we are vulnerable mortal beings, flesh and blood men and women. We flee the truth of our bodily existence, pretending that we can just self-identify as we wish, as if we were just minds.
“If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit of truth, we shall doubtless argue. It will sometimes be painful. There will be truths we would rather not face. But we shall be led a little deeper into the mystery of divine love and we shall know such joy that people will be envious of us for being here and will long attend the next session of the Synod!”
Lavoisier Fernandes, born and raised in Goa, is currently based in West London. His faith is “work in progress”- and a lifelong journey. He has always been fascinated by the Catholic faith, thanks to his Salesian schooling. He’s passionate about podcasting, theology, the papacy, and volunteering. He has hosted ‘Talking Faith’ series for Heavens Road FM, Catholic Radio, connecting with ordinary men and women within the Catholic faith, other faiths and examining issues affecting both the Church and society. He has also been a host on Shalom World Catholic TV for two episodes of the ‘Heart Talk’ series. He presently contributes for the Goa Diocesan magazine Renevacao.