Memories

I am giving notice that I plan to remove the blog Muskegon Memories (muskegonmemories) within the next few weeks. It was the blog of my husband, Thomas Carlson. He loved the history of Muskegon and posted many, many pictures and stories of this Michigan city. Tom passed away in 2017 and his last post in the blog was over 10 years ago. I had left it up for persons interested in Muskegon history. I believe they referred to it for some time.

Tom had helped the Lakeshore Museum Center to scan historical pictures of Muskegon, and now their archive center is the place to go for information and photos on this subject. Their website starts with this paragraph:

The Muskegon County Archive & Collection of the Lakeshore Museum Center contains around 58,000 items pertinent to the natural and cultural history of Muskegon County. Our changing exhibits cover a variety of themes and we welcome research inquiries on Muskegon history topics.

The link to the Archive Center is HERE. I know Tom would be happy to have you take a look at their collection.

Thanks for the wonderful memories, Tom!

Kay Carlson

Synod Synthesis 2023

I am pleased to say that the Synthesis Report of the Vatican Bishops’ Synod on Synodality is available at the Synod website HERE. The meetings were officially the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, First Session.

The report is the culmination of many meetings initiated by Pope Francis, from local to world levels, to determine how the Catholic Church can best unite to do the mission assigned by our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The report lists existing convergences and problems, and gives proposals for moving forward. After a full year of further reflection and some experimentation of how these proposals play out, the synod will reconvene for the second session in 2024 for more analysis.

Synod at Vatican News

I have found that ongoing news of the current Bishops’ Vatican Synod on Synodality is as well found on the Vatican News website (link HERE) as the Synod website. Vatican News is "the news portal 9f the Holy See," and you can read more about it HERE. The main page of the Vatican News is a collection of many happenings, but streaming is possible for live synod events from there. For articles, using the same website, go to the heading of “Vatican” for the synod (although that also has other news). You can move from page to page at the bottom to catch up with what has been going on since the Bishops' Synod on Synodality opening on Oct. 4. The link for the "Vatican" page of Vatican News is HERE.

The news is mostly in the form of briefings given by Paolo Ruffini, President of the Commission for Information of the Synodal Assembly, although sometimes he is accompanied by other participants. Pope Francis had said before the synod began that he wanted an atmosphere of prayer during the proceedings which he felt would not be maintained if the press were physically present.

Still, Catholic websites for news and blogs have been watching the synod, as I have, and making comments along the way. A Google search for “Synod on Synodality” brings many results, as probably would other browsers. A variety of opinions about the meetings come from various worldviews.

At one of the synod’s briefings, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, president of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (Secam), was asked about “so-called LGBT” issues (article HERE). I liked his answer: “On the LGBT issue, the Lord Himself through collective discernment will show us the direction.”

Though the Catholic Church has had a long, ongoing journey, Cardinal Besungu expresses the idea the pope is trying to get across concerning all the current issues with which Christians are grappling. The present walk of synodality is an attempt to include all Catholic Church members in seeking direction from the Holy Spirit, the Lord, for where we go from here.

Pope Quote, Theologians

 At a mass celebrating the Holy Spirit's approach to mankind after Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, Pentecost on May 28, 2023, Pope Francis related that event to the upcoming Bishops' Synod on Synodality (link HERE to the article, and first reference at bottom of post):

The Catholic Church's current Synod of Bishops should not be a "parliament for demanding rights," but a journey in accordance with the Spirit.

He emphasized, "the Holy Spirit is the heart of synodality and the driving force of evangelization."

But from the same homily, Francis warned, "We often hear so many so-called thinkers and theologians who give us cold doctrines that seem mathematical because they lack the Spirit."

The Pope covers at least three themes in his statements: the Holy Spirit; Church synods; and "cold" (assuming bad) doctrines of theologians. I'd like to address the third in my last post on these quotes. 

First, I don’t know if Pope Francis meant the doctrines or the theologians “lack the Spirit,” but I will not speculate directly on whether a specific individual has the Spirit or not.

Simply put, Catholic doctrines are defined as all Church teaching in matters of faith and morals. Heresies are ideas contrary to accepted, approved religious beliefs. Theologians study God and write about their findings and their thoughts can be very complex.  Many of us don’t understand them and thus lies one of the problems. We trust in our educated Church leadership, many themselves theologians, to sort through the opinions of others through the ages and then tell the rest of us what we need to know. 

Popes and bishops sometimes need to actively oppose false doctrines, as we saw in the Arian heresy (described in my last post HERE), where our Nicaean Creed was drawn, so that all Catholics can know the clear beliefs of the Church. Yet, as we saw in the same Arian heresy, many leaders were misled for a long time. So much so, that St. Jerome at one point said the world “awoke with a groan to find itself Arian.”

Some theologians resist what the pope and magisterium teach. At times, popes have required Catholic professors to sign pledges to teach orthodoxy (Church approved beliefs). That does not always stop their resistance, however. And, to be fair, the Church does change for the better sometimes due to new realizations, such as the injustice of slavery.

The Holy Father didn't name any theologians and neither will I, but I will mention two extremes of intellectual thought that, if not at this point can even be called Christian theology, have influenced theology and therefore culture in general. I’m not an expert and I’m defining these theories very broadly, so anyone out there who reads this and can add or correct, feel free. But I think these labels will fit well enough to be recognized and cover some of what is going on in minds both inside and outside the Church.

One theory is called “Naturalistic Modernism” (or some form of the term), where all of existence is from natural laws and material substance. The other theological theory is the “Supernatural Existential,” where all people who in some sense know they are human are infused supernaturally and ultimately called by God to the Divine Nature so that pretty much every person, no matter what they believe about God or have even heard of Him, end up with Him in Heaven.

Naturalistic Modernism started centuries ago and involved so-called intellectuals denying miracles, mostly because, I think, of the increase of understanding of nature and scientific method. They wanted to look at Christ in the sense of a simple human teacher but transformed in stories by what his disciples thought of Him. The theory led to the elimination of all supernatural phenomena, including God Himself. And, of course, this is where many people stand.

Concerning the Supernatural Existential, as I understand it, individuals, even avowed atheists, do not have to believe in Christ in order to be Christian. If they accept their own essence as human beings, with an innate transcendent consciousness open to God as the Other, they are Christian even if they don’t know it. As far as I can tell, if the theory is right, no one would be eliminated from Heaven. There is more to this than I can describe here or fully understand, so I refer you to a book by Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, linked below, called, Gethsemane: The Origins and Rise of the Intellectual Revolution in the Church.

Cardinal Siri did not flinch in denouncing this theory. Another negative analysis came from none other than Pope Emeritus Benedict, previously Pope Benedict XVI, also known as a brilliant theologian. In an interview HERE (reference below), the Pope Emeritus pointed out that simply accepting oneself as human does not explain the “drama of change and renewal that is central to Christianity.”

And this theory is not what is laid out in the Bible. In the first book of Romans, a letter by the Apostle Paul to citizens of that city, Paul first describes those faults of Gentiles which Jews point out. But in the second chapter, he accuses the Jews of the very same faults. In the third chapter he spells out, with verses marked under the Bible’s New International Version (Romans 3, NIV): 

9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 

10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11

    there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 

All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”

Paul continues after naming more human faults:

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith…

Though all have sinned and are justified by the grace that comes through Christ’s sacrifice, this redemption is only received by faith.

Unfortunately, the Supernatural Existential thinking has permeated the Catholic Church, leaders and laity, to the point where evangelization is damaged. Why exert yourself if everyone is saved anyway? Evangelization can be very challenging.

Are people saved who never heard of Christ? It is up to God if He wants to make exceptions for His own reasons. It is our job to make sure all persons in our day hear the Gospels loudly and clearly. Are atheists or persons from other religions saved who have heard the Word and strongly deny either that God exists or that Christ is God and has atoned for our sins as long as we believe in Him? I very much don’t think so unless they change, no matter how much they accept themselves as human or transcendently spiritual they feel. 

Most of us are familiar with the verse, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16). This is stated by Jesus Christ Himself. But the next two verses, especially 18, are not as familiar in our culture: 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son (NIV). (Though the wording “they have not believed” may imply “at any time in our lives,” I think that as long as we are alive, we can realize and accept the truth of Christ and subsequently be saved.) 

Only Christ leads to God, which He distinctly told us, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). We consider the Bible to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, and although the Bible itself can be challenging for the laity, it is not impenetrable. We also have faith that the Holy Spirit lives within Christians and leads us to Truth. 

The “cold doctrines” Pope Francis mentions are those that lead us away from Truth, from understanding and therefore from a right relationship with God. There are intellectual and theological ideas floating around right now which openly and obviously counter to what we seek in prayer, hear in our consciences, read in the Bible, and of what Christ Himself taught. These can be analyzed by sincere believers, theology professionals or not, in our reason and our hearts, and should be called out for the "cold doctrines" that they are.

I hope all Catholics will be willing to seek the Lord's will together, throughout the Bishops' Synod on Synodality and its aftermath.

References

Justin McClellen, "Pope on Pentecost: Synod is a journey in the Spirit, not 'a parliament,'" Catholic News Service, May 28, 2023.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/pope-pentecost-synod-journey-spirit-not-parliament

Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Gethsemane: The Origins and Rise of the Intellectual Revolution in the Church (Franciscan Herald Press, 1981). (This book is again available in a reprint by Sophia Institute Press, 2022.)

Fr. Jacques Servais, SJ, “Faith is Not an Idea but Life: 2016 Interview with Pope Emeritus Benedict,” Catholic Culture website, Proceedings of the residency of Gesu on Justification by Faith, accessed Sept. 9, 2023.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=11197

Pope Quote, Synod

In my previous post (HERE), I commented on Pope Francis's quotes at a mass celebrating the Holy Spirit's approach to mankind after Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, Pentecost. On May 28, 2023, the Pope related that event to the upcoming Bishops' Synod on Synodality (link HERE with reference at bottom of post):

The Catholic Church's current Synod of Bishops should not be a "parliament for demanding rights," but a journey in accordance with the Spirit. 

He emphasized, "the Holy Spirit is the heart of synodality and the driving force of evangelization."

But from the same homily, Francis warned, "We often hear so many so-called thinkers and theologians who give us cold doctrines that seem mathematical because they lack the Spirit."

I mentioned that the Holy Father's comments brought out three major themes: the Holy Spirit; Church synods; and certain theologians.

Though these themes are interwoven, in my second post, I'll address Church synods, along with a closely related subject, Catholic Church councils.

Since it began around 2000 years ago, the Catholic Church has had 21 official ecumenical (worldwide) councils, listed in Catholic Answers Website HERE. The Pope doesn't have to attend these meetings of bishops but has to approve their concluding documents.

In addition, there are other meetings of bishops that are known as synods. They can be restricted to a certain geographical location. Also, a synod can be a meeting of bishops called by a pope to discuss a topic of theological or pastoral significance in order to prepare a document of advice or counsel to him. In an effort to keep the spirit of Vatican II (concluded in 1965) alive, Pope Paul VI enacted regularly spaced bishops' synods since then.

Though we might expect all meetings of Catholic bishops, many of whom have advanced to cardinals at this stage, to be smooth going, history shows this was not the case. Two particular situations were especially contentious for long periods of time.

One was the Arian heresy. It started when a man named Arius claimed that Jesus Christ was not a Person of God but rather made by God to be somewhere between God and humans as a mediator.

For a very in-depth report of that controversy, you can refer to a book, entirely online, by John Henry Cardinal Newman called, Arians of the Fourth Century (link HERE). You can also read a shorter summary under “Arian controversy” at Wikipedia HERE.

There were many synods between the two Councils that are considered the ones that officially condemned Arianism (which were Nicaea in 325 AD and Constantinople I in 381 AD). A list of the intervening meetings is found in Note 6 of Cardinal Newman's book (link HERE). These sometimes pronounced in favor of Arianism. There were various locations of all the synods due to various factors, even prevailing illnesses, so the events can be hard to follow. But in one of these Catholic Church synods the Arian heresy was supported even by a pope's signature (Pope Liberius at the Synod of Sirmium in 357 AD).

In those days, emperors got involved with religion, so some of the divisions were due to their interference. However, there were genuine disagreements between leaders of the Church, especially along what were considered geographical lines of East (Constantinople) and West (Rome). 

It is relevant to the current synod to say that the laity were intimately aware of the Arian heresy over these years and actively fighting it. Cardinal Newman felt free to give his view (Note 5 HERE) in Arians of the Fourth Century: 

The episcopate, whose action was so prompt and concordant at Nicæa on the rise of Arianism, did not, as a class or order of men, play a good part in the troubles consequent upon the Council; and the laity did. The Catholic people, in the length and breadth of Christendom, were the obstinate champions of Catholic truth, and the bishops were not.

 After mentioning exceptions on both sides, such as Athanasius, he adds to the above quote:

This is a very remarkable fact: but there is a moral in it. Perhaps it was permitted, in order to impress upon the Church at that very time passing out of her state of persecution to...her long temporal ascendancy, the great evangelical lesson, that, not the wise and powerful, but the obscure, the unlearned, and the weak constitute her real strength. It was mainly by the faithful people that Paganism was overthrown; it was by the faithful people, under the lead of Athanasius and the Egyptian bishops, and in some places supported by their Bishops or priests, that the worst of heresies was withstood and stamped out of the sacred territory.

Another example of Councils that did not bring immediate solutions were those of Pisa in 1409 and Constance in 1414 to 1418. In 1309, the geographical center of the Catholic Church had been moved from Rome to Avignon, France, largely due to political interactions with the pope and the king of France at the time (info HERE). In 1377, it returned to Rome, led by Pope Gregory XI. When he died and a new pope, Urban VI, was elected, he was critical of the cardinals who had lived in luxury in France. Some of them then returned to France in 1378 and elected an anti-pope, Clement VII. About 30 years later, some of the leadership got the Church into even more of a bind when they attempted to replace 2 popes at a meeting in Pisa in 1409, when they elected a new Pope. However, instead of the desired result of a total of one pope, the election was contested and the Church now had 3 popes.

At Constance (info HERE), the participants eventually emerged with one pope. However, they claimed supremacy of Church councils over the pope in certain cases, and pronounced that councils should be held every 10 years. This is known as conciliarism and was declared heretical by Pope Pius II  in 1460.

I hope you have seen it can take time to work out where the Holy Spirit is truly leading us when it comes to Catholic Church councils and synods.

References

Justin McClellen, "Pope on Pentecost: Synod is a journey in the Spirit, not 'a parliament,'" Catholic News Service, May 28, 2023. https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/pope-pentecost-synod-journey-spirit-not-parliament

Karl Keating, "The 21 Ecumenical Councils," Catholic Answers, 6/1/1993. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-21-ecumenical-councils

John Henry Newman, Arians of the Fourth Century, (Longmans, Green and Co., 1908). https://www.newmanreader.org/works/arians/index.html

“Arian controversy,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified March 1, 2023, 12:41 (UTC). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arian_controversy

“Council of Constance,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified July 12, 2023, 05:28. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Constance

Pope Quote, Holy Spirit

At a mass celebrating the Holy Spirit's approach to mankind after Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, called Pentecost, on May 28, 2023, Pope Francis related that event to the upcoming Bishops' Synod on Synodality (link HERE, the article is first reference at bottom of post):

The Catholic Church's current Synod of Bishops should not be a "parliament for demanding rights," but a journey in accordance with the Spirit.

He emphasized, "the Holy Spirit is the heart of synodality and the driving force of evangelization."

But from the same homily, Francis warned, "We often hear so many so-called thinkers and theologians who give us cold doctrines that seem mathematical because they lack the Spirit."

I'd like to comment on the Pope's statements in a very abbreviated way. As Francis often does, I'll point out three themes. Though the subjects are intertwined, it is perhaps easier to think about them distinctly: the Holy Spirit; Church synods; and certain theologians.

To learn about God, we use the Bible, which has records of Christ's life on Earth and early Church development. All Christians should read the Bible, with studies available through Church, schools, and other sources.  (This separate link to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website Bible, the New American Bible, Revised Edition, NABRE HERE, can be used for Bible verses given below and further reading).

That said, God is a Trinity of one essence and three Persons: the Father; Jesus Christ the Son; and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is one Person with two natures, human and divine. Though He is God, He came to Earth and took on flesh in order to live a perfect life and die in atonement for our sins, so that a just God would accept us into His presence in Heaven (to read more, click HERE).

To learn about the Holy Spirit, we can see what Christ said about Him. In the Bible's book of John, chapter 14, Jesus was talking with His disciples. He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you (John 14:15-17, NABRE).

This is an exciting promise since the Holy Spirit is God Himself! It should make us pay close attention to what Christ means.

What are Christ's commandments? One is to love one another, as He tells the same disciples in the previous chapter (John 13:34).

But this is not all, as some seem to think. The other major commandment is to believe in Jesus Christ Himself. Again in the book of John at an earlier time, Christ answers a question in an exchange with a crowd following Him: "So they said to him, 'What can we do to accomplish the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent'” (John 6:28-29). He was referring to Himself as both God and Son of God.

Most of us are familiar with John 3:16, where Christ tells a Jewish leader that "God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Belief is crucial.

Throughout the Old Testament, God had a special relationship with the Jewish people. However, He insisted they worship Him, the True God, and no false conceptions of other gods. They often failed and eventually were exiled by God to foreign lands.

Too often today even Christians don't take belief in the Trinity, including Christ, seriously enough. But it is a fundamental element of our relationship with God. He wants us to know Him, be devoted to Him and worship only Him as the Lord. Jesus Christ came to Earth, lived a perfect life and died in atonement for our sins, and our attention should be focused on what this means.

There are more verses about this subject that could be quoted. But for now, I want to address the other themes I mentioned, namely Church Synods and certain theologians.

References:

Justin McClellen, "Pope on Pentecost: Synod is a journey in the Spirit, not 'a parliament,'" Catholic News Service, May 28, 2023. https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/pope-pentecost-synod-journey-spirit-not-parliament

“Good News – The Gospel!” Womanatwell Website, March 9, 2023. https://womanatwell.blogspot.com/2023/03/good-news-gospel.html

Synod Press

 The list of participants for the first session of the Catholic Bishops’ Synod on Synodality 2021-2024 has appeared, but it is only in Italian. The organizers have been promising the list in English, but it is not yet available at this writing. The list in Italian is HERE and I imagine the English one will be found from that link when it finally is completed. The list of North American Delegates for the Synod is HERE.

I’ve been reading the Instrumentum Laboris (the working document) for this general assembly and it is impressive, displaying large amounts of prayerfulness, thoughtfulness, and hard work of many people.

Recently Vatican News reported (link HERE) that Pope Francis received an award from Italian journalists for persons who “have shaped the narrative of current affairs in Italy with objectivity, professionalism and creativity.” In the article, the Holy Father discusses problems with the press concerning disinformation and efforts to steer public opinion. He asked for help from journalists to report on this upcoming Synod on Synodality. Quoting the Vatican News article: 

Reiterating that synod participants want to contribute together to building a Church where everyone feels at home, where no one is excluded, Pope Francis reiterated his request “to the masters of journalism” for help to “tell this process for what it really is, leaving behind the logic of slogans and pre-packaged stories.”

World Youth Day

 This year's World Youth Day, a Catholic celebration with and for young persons, starts August 1, 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. For more information, you can go to their website HERE. 

Synod IL

 The Instrumentum Laboris (IL, Latin for Working Document) for the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Oct. 4-29, 2023) is now available. Links to the IL are at a Synod webpage HERE.

This document is a culmination of input of thousands of Catholics, from laity to leaders, from local to Rome. As Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod said, "The IL is not a document of the Holy See, but of the whole Church” (link to IL Introduction webpage HERE).

The IL synthesizes certain themes that have emerged from all the work, and provides worksheets for the participants of the Synod to contemplate.

Since I have not read the whole thing yet and am still catching up with other reading, I won’t make more comments now. I just wanted to get the links into my blog now that they are available.

"About" the Synod 21-24

As often happens when writing, our topics can change direction from what we originally plan, at least for a while. I was puzzled myself about why I continue to focus upon the upcoming Bishops’ Synod on Synodality, to be convened in Oct. 2023 and Oct. 2024, when other Synods of Bishops have had important topics but did not take my long-lasting attention. (It is also called Synod 21-24, and my posts about it can be brought up in reverse order by clicking the label “Synod” at the bottom of any of them).

When I thought about this Synod, I realized several things about it run close to my own interests. I looked up the “About” page on the Synod’s website (found HERE), which describes its goals. “Synodality” is not a commonly used word, so I’ll quote the first paragraph on the page:

Synodality denotes the particular style that qualifies the life and mission of the Church, expressing her nature as the People of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel. Synodality ought to be expressed in the Church’s ordinary way of living and working.

I am very interested in evangelization, and the above paragraph expresses the need for proclaiming the Gospel. I am very interested in faith, and “People of God… summoned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit” denotes those who believe in the Trinitarian God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The webpage then states the aim of the Synod:

This Synod is intended as a Synodal Process. The aim of this synodal process is not to provide a temporary or one-time experience of synodality, but rather to provide an opportunity for the entire People of God to discern together how to move forward on the path towards being a more synodal Church in the long-term.

I am very interested in discernment, and the aim of the Synod obviously includes this concept.

Three themes are listed at the bottom of the “About” page of the Synod website. They are Communion, Participation and Mission. They are short paragraphs, worth reading at the link given above.

A writer shouldn’t repeat phrases except for poetic emphasis, I suppose, so to repeat “I am very interested” is perhaps tiresome to a reader. But it conveys a feeling of clarity for me of why I have taken this particular Synod of Bishops so seriously.

Another thing happened to help me connect the dots. I don’t even remember how I spotted Pope Francis' General Audiences (probably through a search engine), but two subjects Francis has been talking about lately are discernment (starting Aug. 31, 2022) and evangelization (starting Jan. 11, 2023), which you can find from his Audience links pages starting HERE.

The 10:00 am Wednesday General Audiences are presented by the pope to crowds at the Vatican, either from a window at St. Peter’s Square or inside in inclement weather. According to Bing AI, they began in 1975 with Pope Paul VI and have been continued by his successors.

I was aware of General Audiences of popes but had not followed them. However, I had read some of Pope Francis’ homilies from the beginning of his pontificate over 10 years ago and found him to be a powerful speaker. His General Audiences through the years have various subjects, including old age, works of mercy, and meditations on St. Joseph. Since 2020, the listings are labeled not only by date but by subject, obviously making it easier to navigate (a few were labeled in previous years but were not consistent).

I noticed that around the time of the 2014-2015 General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, some of the General Audiences were about the family. Pope Francis has been talking recently not only in Audiences but in homilies and meetings about how we should seek the Holy Spirit to lead us to walk together as a Church, especially in relation to the upcoming Synod of Bishops on Synodality. 

I also found the present Holy Father continued the series on the subject of faith by Pope Benedict XVI, who had previously declared a Year of Faith for the Catholic Church, starting October 11, 2012. Pope Benedict was giving General Audiences about faith when he resigned as pope in February 2013 (the series started at the link HERE).

Pope Francis’ first General Audience was March 27, 2013, two weeks after he was elected. It was in the middle of Holy Week, and he urged Catholics to get out of their comfort zones for the sake of following Jesus Christ’s example and speaking on behalf of Him (link HERE). Then he resumed the “faith series” the next week (link HERE).

Christians need the Holy Spirit to refine our faith and help us evangelize. But though we may attempt to hear what the Holy Spirit says, do we really know how to do it? For one thing, I believe it can take time, as in past Church crises for example, where Church leaders fought over their opinions. I also think it is very important to try to understand.

I have read the Holy Father’s General Audiences on discernment and am following his series on evangelization. Though Pope Francis may not have all the answers, I think these Audiences, each of which does not take long to read, may be worth contemplating in learning to discern the Holy Spirit.

Synod Heads to Vatican

The Continental Stage of the ongoing Bishops’ Synod on Synodality is completed. The final stages will meet at the Vatican: the first on October 4-29, 2023; the second in October 2024. In the Continental Stage, groups of Catholics, including laity, religious, priests and bishops, met in small groups, either in person or virtually. They continued the line of discussions which were started at local levels. The North American Continental Document, with choice of languages, is available at the USCCB website at the link HERE.

At the Vatican News website, the April 20, 2023 article, "Synod Continental Stage: ‘Most innovative aspect of synodal process'" can be found HERE.

As you may tell from my repeated links to the continued activities of this Synod, I have been quite interested in it. Part of the reason is that it is the first in which not only the opinions and concerns of the average Catholic are directly expressed and included in forming the points of discussion of a Bishops Synod, there will be laity and religious who will be able to vote (comments from laity were sought for the Synod of the Family in 2014, related post HERE). Of course, many of the problems discussed by the Catholic Magisterium throughout history were to guide and protect all Catholics about spiritual matters. But somehow, as one bishop mentioned in the continental document, the organization that the Church has become seems to have separated the leadership from their very people. From page 17 of the document:

Indeed, the listening sessions in the local Churches caused bishops to reflect on the structural challenges that make it difficult to sustain this style in a consistent way. “Has the Church been so organized that it becomes difficult to speak to it? The Church has organizationally isolated itself from the people of God” (Session III Group 17).

Many have felt there is no turning back from the Synodal way. However, even when all are asked to participate, much depends on leadership, for there can be resistance to change. I pray for Pope Francis to be able to continue his efforts to help us walk with the Holy Spirit.

More Synod Links

Here are a few more links to information about the upcoming Bishops Synod on Synodality (Synod 21-24). Of course, with my blog’s less than systematic posts, I won’t be covering the Synod like a reporter would. I do follow some of the coverage, though, and would like to comment on it occasionally. Perhaps the links I provide will help someone less familiar with the proceedings to get connected.

An article which reports that the Working Document for the Synod on Synodality is approved is HERE.

A website that lists the participants of the General Secretariat of the Synod is HERE.

Content on the Synod website is HERE.

And, again, the main Synod on Synodality website is HERE.

The Vatican website has general information on the Synod of Bishops. Under "The Synod of Bishops: An Introduction," the first paragraph reads:

The Synod of Bishops is a permanent institution established by Pope Paul VI, 15 September 1965, in response to the desire of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council to keep alive the positive spirit engendered by the conciliar experience.

The link to this webpage is HERE.

Inclusive Synod

The biological facts of Creationism have been a big part of my blog, along with other subjects as listed in the right column of the original format. I’m grateful that I’ve felt free to write facts and opinions, and even some personal journaling, in the Womanatwell mix. I am still reading some things about the theology of Creationism but would like to get on with some other topics I’ve just touched upon or not addressed at all. 

I also want to keep an eye on the ongoing Catholic Synod on Synodality, as I have done in some of the past few posts. Another major announcement has been made about the Synod, to which I will link below.

First, I would like to point out that the logo for the Synod is changed slightly, from 2021-2023 to 2021-2024. This is because there will now be two Vatican Bishops’ meetings concerning this work in the Catholic Church, one each in 2023 and 2024. I’m putting the new logo here with a link to information about it on the Synod website. Click on the logo for the link.

The latest news is about the participants that will be attending and for the first time able to vote in a Bishops’ Synod.

From the Catholic News Agency article, “Vatican announces laypeople, including women, will vote in Synod on Synodality assembly,” dated April 26, 2023 (link HERE):

The biggest change announced Wednesday was the removal of the “auditor” role. In past synods, auditors included priests, religious, and laypeople, who did not have the right to vote in synod deliberations.

Now, these 70 members, who may be priests, consecrated women, deacons, and laypeople, will be able to vote. They will be chosen by the pope from among a list of 140 people selected by the leadership of this year’s continental synod meetings.

According to the synod leadership, it is requested that “50% of [the selected people] be women and that the presence of young people also be emphasized.”

I am pleased about women becoming more a part of the voice and leadership of the Church.

Women are not just physical companions to men but intellectual and psychological colleagues as well, and that includes single and married women. This is despite the prevailing philosophy, already in Aristotle's time, that said women are incomplete or deficient men. Thomas Aquinas stated that women had little intellect and were only good for generation (reproduction). Supposedly our inferior sexual status was sometimes brought about by moist south winds at the time of our conception (Summa Theologica, Part I, Q. 92, Art. 1). Science has changed, and although Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas were both geniuses, that doesn't mean they were always right. When women are kept from education, they may seem less brilliant than these men, but fortunately we now have that opportunity.

A large part of this Synod is to give voice to all Catholics, not just those who have been in power in the past and present. Many of the faithful have felt marginalized, and that has included women, the disabled, young persons and immigrants. Of course, other groups are important, and, for example, bishops from small countries that were not previously represented will have at least one voting member included in the Synod.

And we must remember the ultimate goal for us all: Catholics need to carry out the real purpose of evangelization, which is telling others about God the Father, Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ, Who suffered atonement for our sins, rose from the dead. and is our only way to Heaven.

GOOD NEWS -- THE GOSPEL!

 Does everyone know the good news of Jesus Christ, which is called the Gospel?

Though I have referred to the Gospel previously in this blog, I want to give a condensed timeline of it in this post which will be linked to my home page. To clarify, the word “Gospels” can also refer to the first four books of the Holy Bible New Testament, which describe the life of Jesus.

The links to Bible references in this post are to the BibleGateway website, since they have the approved version of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB): the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE). The Bible references are from NABRE unless otherwise noted. For your information, the Vatican Archives have the New American Bible in five languages HERE and the USSCB books to the Bible webpage is HERE. You can probably find Bibles in paper copies almost everywhere. There are many other resources about theology, but the Bible is the best and most available start, and the New Testament Gospels get right into the life of Christ.

The reader may have questions arising from the events that took place concerning Jesus Christ. The mysteries surrounding Him have been debated by persons ever since He appeared on Earth in present-day Israel over 2000 years ago. Sometimes Church leaders had to meet in councils over periods of time to make sure they were understanding God correctly. But first, every person needs to hear about Him. Then I hope you will seek Him by going to a church and speaking with a Christian professional.

The Gospel Timeline:

First, God, Whom we also call the LORD, has always existed (many verses in the Bible express this, an example being Romans 1:19-20). God consists of One Essence and Three Persons. These Persons are the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.

God created the Heavens and the Earth and all the types of living inhabitants of the Earth, and all that He created was good (Genesis 1).

God created humans in His likeness, meaning we have ability to think and reason more than other earthly animals, and we can make choices in what we do. God created us as companions (although He did not have to), and He allows us to choose because He did not want robot-like friends but those who would be capable of these features of thought, reason, and choice. He wanted relationship with us as intellectual creatures. However, with these abilities also came the inevitable link to free will. If humans are to choose, they must be free to choose right or wrong.

In the beginning, God made two humans, Adam and Eve, and they lived perfectly for a while, but then they both made a choice to disobey a command God had given them (Genesis 3). This was an act against God, which is known as sin, and because of the bad choice they made, all humans came under that burden of sin: “Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

Later, God gave laws to the Jewish people, including the Ten Commandments, described in the Old Testament of the Bible (starting at Exodus 19, through Exodus 24). He told them if they kept these laws, they would flourish, but if they didn’t, they would suffer severe consequences (Deuteronomy 29). Unfortunately, time and again they failed to follow the rules.

So even though humans were made good, we can and do make some bad choices. Because of this, we are incapable of living a perfect life with a perfect God in Heaven, which is truly a forever home. Included in God’s perfection is justice, and as we do with criminals in our surroundings, He applies justice as deserved. Unfortunately, all humans (except for Christ) sin and deserve judgment.

That is why Jesus Christ came to Earth. He took on human nature in all but sin, also keeping divine nature (one Person, two natures). He lived a perfect life and pleased God the Father. As God and Son, He could live a perfect life in Heaven forever. But He came down to save us from the punishment we deserve. Jesus Himself said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16).

In God’s love for us, Jesus took on punishment in our place by dying on a cross. God the Father accepted this act as a sacrifice in atonement for our sins (Romans 3:21-26, NIV). But not only did He die, but He rose from the dead and eventually ascended into Heaven (Matthew 28). He showed us that He is the hope for life with God after death.

Jesus Christ, as already quoted above in John 3:16, tells us that we are to believe in Him in order to benefit from His redemptive (saving) act. We are to believe He is God (a Person of the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), that He died for our sins and then rose from the dead.

This is called the New Covenant. Since humans failed with the old one, God has supplied the new one. On our part, God requires us to believe in Him. It is the least we can do, to give credence for Who Jesus is and credit for what He has done for us.

Synod 21-24 Continental

My last two posts (starting Oct. 27, 2022) concerned the upcoming Bishops’ Synod on Synodality called by Pope Francis, which now Church media often names a catchier “Synod 21-24.” The official website is HERE.

 The Synod started with local groups of any interested persons gathered to pray and discuss their experiences in and concerns about the Catholic Church. The comments were recorded and summarized as well as possible and handed on to levels which represent larger areas; diocese, country and now (early 2023) continent. Links are provided at the end of the post for articles with some details about particular continental meetings. 

 Bishop Daniel Flores is in charge of the US Synodality process and from the North American Continental writing retreat expressed his experiences so far in an interesting article from Vatican News. Among many things, he said the local churches have done a good job and should continue with synodality. 

 In my second post on Synod 21-24, I wrote about my own local Diocese summary, which reported confusion about the mission of the Church itself. Many thought it was to carry out works of mercy, where others said we should get back to the basics of declaring the Gospel. As I reflected on this outcome, I thought of the situation described in the Bible in the Book of Acts, where members of the young Church were living together. It starts in Acts 6 (NABRE): 

 1 At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. 3 Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, 4 whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit… [goes on to name others].

 The Twelve in verse 2 were 11 original apostles plus Matthias, added after Judas died. Some call this scene the beginning of the Diaconate, but in any case, the passage shows a distinction between designation of activities in the community. And yet, it did not take long for Stephen to show his wisdom in the things he said, and when questioned by authorities, went into a long discourse which ended in describing Christ as the “righteous one” proclaimed by the prophets (Acts 6:8-7:53). He was immediately killed but is now revered as the first Christian martyr. 

 The apostles, on their part, told people everything they could about Jesus Christ but also did healings and other “signs,” as described in Acts. The apostles healed persons “outside” the Christian Church, Jews and Gentiles who had never heard of Christ. Many who experienced and / or saw the signs became Christians, not just because of the miracles but because of hearing the truth of Who Christ is and what He did. 

 What is my point? Though individuals may have certain gifts and bring them to an organized group, the primary purpose of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel, to evangelize. Even those who “serve at table” are called to also “say the Word.” Though helping others is a necessary part of Church activity, it is no excuse to avoid proclaiming the Messiah. And evangelizing does not stop those with that gift from helping others when circumstances call for it. 

 As they should, the Continental reports are reflecting what has been already expressed from local on up. Women feel they do a lot for the Church and yet have little voice, the disabled and minorities feel left out, many divorced persons feel alienated, the youth want more involvement. In general, laity want to be taken more seriously. 

 To some degree many of the laity concerns, legitimate and painful as they may be, seem to be at the level of the Greek vs. the Hebrew widows. They are not to be ignored and we need to serve persons both inside and outside the Church. But there should be no question that the primary job of the Church is that of the apostles—to proclaim the Gospel. That is where we should start in our understanding of the Church’s main role and reevaluate how well it is doing in it, even as we continue to serve others. 

 The secondary roles of the Church are still very important to consider, because when they are not carried out well, the results can be a large deterrent to the success of the primary function. If Catholic counterparts are perceived by secular women, youth or the disabled to not be treated fairly by the Church, I think it is a deterrent for these non-members to seek further involvement. I’m not saying that secular persons should let that stop them, I just think it is a facet of human nature that in many cases is at play. 

 That is why I think the meetings and the Synod will be helpful to all, despite a contingency of resistors. In his article mentioned above, Bishop Flores has expressed well how the process has already helped him see his own Diocese with new eyes and the coming Synod 21-24 will be a hopeful, continuing journey for us all.

Articles of some continental meetings:

Africa Continental Stage; Europe Continental Stage; Oceania Continental Stage; Middle East Continental Stage; Asia Continental Stage; Latin American Continental Stage; North American Continental Stage.