In the days leading up to the Synod, which began last Wednesday, several synod retreat meditations were presented to those preparing to participate in the global meeting of bishops in Rome. One of the meditations focussed on the meaning of ‘Authority’ and another on ‘The Spirit of Truth’. Authority There can be no fruitful conversation Read more
When the Holy Father asked me to give this retreat, I felt enormously honoured but nervous. I am deeply aware of my personal limitations. I am old – white – a Westerner – and a man! I don’t know which is worse! All of these aspects of my identity limit my understanding. So I ask Read more
We come to this Synod with conflicting hopes. But this need not be an insuperable obstacle. We are united in the hope of the Eucharist, a hope which embraces and transcends all that we long for. But there is another source of tension. Our understandings of the Church as our home sometimes clash. Every living Read more
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 Read more
We are called to walk on the synodal way in friendship. Otherwise, we shall get nowhere. Friendship, with God and each other, is rooted in the joy of being together but we need words. At Caesarea Philippi, conversation broke down. Jesus had called Peter ‘Satan’, enemy. On the mountain, he still does not know what Read more