A SYNODAL CHURCH AND THE QUALITY OF PREACHING IN THE PARISH
This post is an article written by one of our subscribers about the connection between a synodal church and preaching in the parish.
by Richard Shields
The Catholic church exists in its people. Or as Cardinal Newman once said, “the Church would look foolish without them.” Newman, of course, was not talking about numbers, although empty pews and solitary priests celebrating Mass would indeed look ludicrous. His focus was on the spiritual (not the juridical) constitution of the Church. How does this relate to the notion of a synodal Church? And what does this tell us about the quality of preaching?
Synods and Synodality: A Message for the whole Church
a) A call to act
We know that the Synod on Synodality is an assembly of bishops, as has every previous synod since Pope Paul VI established them. He described the synod of bishops as “an ecclesiastical institution [for] questioning the signs of the times, and still more seeking to interpret in depth the divine plans and the constitution of the Catholic Church..[in order to] foster the union and collaboration of the Bishops of the whole world with this Apostolic See, through a common study of the conditions of the Church and the harmonious solution of questions relating to her mission (at the Synod on Evangelization 1974).”
A synod—even a worldwide gathering of bishops – is meant to be a governing or legislative body. The bishops do not meet to make rules for the whole Church, but to discern “what the Spirit is saying to the Churches (Revelation 2: 17) on topics of pastoral concern for the Church”-- particular concerns in particular historical circumstances. In biblical thought, we call this kairos or a decisive moment (Luke 12:54-56; 19:44, Romans 13:11-13). A decisive moment calls for action, conversion and transformation—a change of life. Synods, therefore, are not about the talk. They are equally about the walk (Luke 3: 10). What the Spirit is saying to the Church requires a response in faith, a conversion (Mark 1: 15) “which cannot leave things as they presently are (Joy of the Gospel, n. 25).” Pope Francis sees conversion, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, “as openness to a constant self-renewal born of fidelity to Jesus Christ: ‘Christ summons the Church as she goes her pilgrim way… to that continual reformation of which she always has need, in so far as she is a human institution here on earth’ (Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism).”
b) What have we done so far?
A review of the themes and ensuing documents of the twenty-eight ordinary, extraordinary, and regional synods that have been held since 1967 indicates the directional aims of the deliberations.
They provide an orientation for the Church’s way forward—albeit one that must be studied, reflected on, and adapted to local realities. However, a review of diocesan pastoral plans over the same time period sadly shows us how easily these deliberations and exhortations can be ignored.
This raises the question: How is it that deliberations of such importance to the world Church as well as their recommendations for action can remain in limbo on the diocesan and parish level? Social and main-stream media allow access to the deliberations and thinking that has gone on at the highest levels of Catholicism. One could rightly think that office holders in the Church—bishops and pastors—would be dynamic supporters and communicators of such important dimensions of Catholic life.
Synodality in the Parish: Is the Message Getting Through?
a) The laity have a right to live the fullness of the Gospel
Move the focus from the synod of bishops to a synodal Church. While the question of who controls the message could be laid at the feet of the holders of ecclesiastical office, principally diocesan bishops, responsibility can no longer be restricted to those in positions of authority. As Karl Rahner put it, the Church today must “be sustained from below, from the base, by the faith and spiritual attachment to the Church of convinced Christians and their fellowship [sic].” This view was articulated by Pope Francis as follows, “our first and fundamental consecration is rooted in our Baptism. No one has been baptized a priest or a bishop. They baptized us as lay people and it is the indelible sign that no one can ever erase. It does us good to remember that the Church is not an elite of priests, of consecrated men, of bishops, but that everyone forms the faithful Holy People of God (Letter to Cardinal Marc Ouellet, 2016).
b) The Liturgical Homily as Indicator of a Parish’s Direction
It has been said that the Catholic Church’s social teaching is its “best kept secret.” Might the same be said of the many Synods of the Bishops of the World Church, and especially of the Apostolic Exhortations of Pope Francis and his Encyclicals. We know about them from the attention they received in the media and the controversies they generated within the Church. But do we know them from what is happening in our parish? There may indeed be groups or organizations in your parish that are involved with, for example, environmental issues (Laudato si). This is a good thing. But, how does their action impact on the direction or ‘culture’ of the parish as a whole? An answer to such a question takes time. It may not be evident on the surface, but may be like a leaven or a mustard see—slowly growing into something larger. Or it may be simply something on the margins of parish life. How do you tell?
If you want to know the direction in which your parish is moving, pay attention to the homily. The sermon reflects both the pastor’s thinking (his theology), but also how he views the members of the parish. The sermon exposes not only the pastor’s approach to Scripture, but also his sense of the liturgy, his understanding of the Church, and particularly his goals as leader of this particular community of believers. You can discern what the pastor thinks the parish is capable of from what he preaches.
The important issues with which the bishops struggled with in their synods are rarely part of the messages communicated in a homily. According to Pope Francis, “in preaching the Gospel a fitting sense of proportion has to be maintained. This would be seen in the frequency with which certain themes are brought up and in the emphasis given to them in preaching. For example, if in the course of the liturgical year a parish priest speaks about temperance ten times but only mentions charity or justice two or three times, an imbalance results (Joy of the Gospel)” If homilies focus mostly on personal piety/morality and less on the crucial concerns and commitments evoked by the synods, then how is the response of the laity restricted, their voice perhaps unintentionally and unconsciously silenced?
The Liturgical Homily: Shaping and Reflecting Parish Culture
a) More than a Vision Statement
“Without a vision the people will lose their way (Proverbs 29: 18).” Does the parish have a vision? What is the parish priest’s vision for the parish or for himself as pastor? Parishioners have a right to know. Conversely, the pastor has a duty to tell.
In the apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel (Chapter 3, esp. nn. 135-144) Pope Francis acknowledges that in Catholic liturgies across the globe (not just in North America) sermons fall short of their potential. “So many concerns have been expressed about this important ministry, and we cannot simply ignore them.” Pope Francis goes on to say “that both they [the people] and their ordained ministers suffer because of homilies: the laity from having to listen to them and the clergy from having to preach them! It is sad that this is the case.”
Did the Pope say “suffer”? For the faithful, “suffer” can connote two things: (1) that the homilies fail to provide the content and inspiration the laity expect and need and (2) that they have to sit passively, endure while the preacher tries to say something meaningful. The Pope is correct when he says that “preaching within the liturgy...calls for serious consideration by pastors;” but not only pastors, the laity. In fact, the laity have an active role to play in shaping the pastor’s homilies.
b) “The homily is the touchstone for judging a pastor’s closeness and ability to communicate to his people”
Do you recognize yourself in the Sunday homilies? Do your voice, your concerns resonate in what the celebrant is saying? Do the homilies capture “everything that God is bringing about” in the members of the parish? The liturgical homily discloses how the pastor sees the priest-laity relationship. So the Pope continues that “A preacher has to contemplate the word, but he also has to contemplate his people.” Too often homilist presumes to know what the people “need” and unconsciously ignore “their aspirations, their riches and limitations, ways of praying, of loving, of looking at life and the world, which distinguish this or that human gathering.” A good homilist pays attention “’to actual people, to using their language, their signs and symbols, to answering the questions they ask’.He needs to be able to link the message of a biblical text to a human situation, to an experience which cries out for the light of God’s word (Joy of the Gospel).
Because the parish is a sacramental reality, a visible presence in a community of believers, who together are a sign of God’s reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5) it must be more than the response of individuals to Gospel life or in Pope Francis’ words “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Joy of the Gospel).” While not every homily has to connect (a) the “mystery of faith” celebrated in the Eucharist with (b) how the parish “acts on behalf of justice and participates in the transformation of the world” (Synod of Bishops, 1971), how often do we hear sermons on what the parish is called to become in the concrete societal situation in which it exists?
To think critically about the parish homilies is not to invite a free for all of criticism. It is not about how good a preacher the parish priest is; every preacher has weaknesses and shortcomings, but about leadership and direction. Where, in what direction, is the pastor leading the parish? And what say do the parishioners have in where they are going?
Why We Need to Talk (to the pastor) about the Homily
a) Who has the right sense of the homily?
St Paul’s head’s up to Timothy has relevance today. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Even before the synodal consultations, Catholics disagreed on where the Church needs to journey to be a credible sign of God’s presence in, God’s will for the world (see: the Kingdom of Heaven. Of God” in the Synoptic Gospels). We probably also disagree around our expectations from a homily. To talk about the homily, therefore, is also to examine our own expectations.
We also need to talk in order to gain some consensus (the sense of the faith of the faithful) about what our parish is capable of doing, when people journey together. We need to talk because it is a sin to go on as if the parish could exist apart from the “joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men [sic] of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ (Vatican II, Church in the Modern World, 1).”
b) Discernment is a shared process
We need to talk first to the parishioners we know and trust. St John’s admonition: “Do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4)” reminds us that not everything we think should happen is, in fact, an authentic response to the Holy Spirit. This, I believe, would be the logical and respectful opening to a dialogue about the homily with the pastor and lead positively to what Cardinal Newman, in Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine (1845) described as “a conspiracy of pastors and faithful” (pastorum et fidelium conspiratio) in which the faithful should have a respected place justified by their proven witness to Christian orthodoxy [I would translate conspiratio as sharing the same oxygen or breathing the same air].”
In other words, talking to the pastor about his homily is not a critique of how well he preaches, but a shared journey – a discerning process of ways in which the parish can realize its potential. It is a shared process of learning how to fulfill “its duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.” In other words, so that the parish can respond in a way that makes the faith intelligible in a secular age, ‘we must recognize and understand the world in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteristics (Vatican II, The Church in the Modern World).” Undertaken in a spirit of hope, discerning dialogue affirms that “the homily can actually be an intense and happy experience of the Spirit, a consoling encounter with God’s word, a constant source of renewal and growth (Joy of the Gospel).” The discussions leading up to the Synod on Synodality aroused in the believing community the hope that their vision for the church and how it can better respond to the needs of Catholics today would be taken seriously. A conversation with the parish priest about the homily would be a concrete affirmation of this hope.
On a Synodal Path
What a synodal Church can be on the local level is still to be discovered. What Karl Rahner says of a participatory Church of the future sheds light on the conditions for effective synodal listening/action. “The real effectiveness of such a Church and of its authorities will depend...on the assent of faith freely given by individuals in the commitment of it s members ‘from below.’ What has hitherto been regarded more or less as an established Church will become a community-Church.” This is a thoroughly theological undertaking that must always be rooted in an authentic theology or as Pope Francis describes it, “the believer's way of doing and thinking.” In St. Paul’s words: “I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return (Philippians 1: 9-10).”