The primary theme of the upcoming Synod on Synodality is “walking together.” Also listening. Inclusion. Basically:
No one should feel left out. God loves everyone, and the Church must be a witness to this in word, action and structure.
…it is the specific modus vivendi et operandi of the Church, the People of God, which reveals and gives substance to her being as communion when all her members journey together, gather in assembly and take an active part in her evangelizing mission.
The centering of this message and the almost palpable anxiety that frames it interests me a great deal, historically. I have spent a lot of time pondering the before-and-after situations, the framing and the straw men arguments. There’s a lot to unpack, and it’s not just about Church – it’s about culture, too.
Let’s consider some papal words from the beginning of the process:
He explained that “synodality expresses the nature of the Church, its form, its style, its mission”. The word “synod”, in fact, contains everything we need to understand: “walking together”.
Referring to the book of Acts as “the first and most import ‘manual’ of ecclesiology”, the Pope noted that it recounts the story of a road that starts in Jerusalem and after a long journey ends in Rome. This road, he said, tells the story in which the Word of God and the people who turn their attention and faith to that Word walk together. “Everyone is a protagonist,” said the Pope, “no one can be considered a mere extra”. At times it may be necessary to leave, to change direction, to overcome convictions that hold us back and prevent us from moving and walking together.
I was immediately reminded of this, from – regular readers will sigh, oh, this again – from a 7th-grade religion textbook published mid-century – published in 1935 by MacMillan, part of The Christ Life Series in Religion. Authors are the famed liturgist Dom Virgil Michel OSB, another Benedictine, and Dominican sisters.
It’s from the introduction to the section on Lent-Pentecost, preparing the – twelve-year old– for the spiritual journey ahead.
Perhaps you’ll see why the Pope’s words brought these words to mind.
On the eve of Septuagesima, with Vespers, the solemn evening prayer of the Church, all the members of the Mystical Body of Christ, bidding farewell to the Alleluia, suggestive of the joys of the Christmas Period, turn their steps toward the mountainous paths which lead to Easter. Thousands and thousands of people upon the stage of life are adjusting themselves to their roles in this drama—this drama which is real life. Old men are there and old women, youths and maidens, and even little children. From all parts of the world they come and from all walks of life—kings and queens, merchants and laborers, teachers and students, bankers and beggars, religious of all orders, cardinals, bishops, and parish priests, and leading them all the Vicar of Christ on earth. All are quietly taking their places, for all are actors in the sublime mystery drama of our redemption.
We, too, have our own parts to play in this living drama. And there is no rehearsal. We begin now, on Septuagesima, following as faithfully as we can the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which comes to us particularly in the Mass and the sacraments.
What do those words from almost 100 years ago reflect but a strong understanding of the Church as a community….journeying together?
So what’s the difference? What’s happened to produce this current anxiety and conviction that the 21st century Church stands in deep need of a reboot in this area?
Let’s think about it. Together!
First consider the textbook passage: this drama which is real life is not an individualistic effort about one’s own salvation. It is not for our benefit, for our sense of fulfilment. It is a response to Christ’s invitation to follow him – and we know what that means, right? As the rest of the catechesis makes clear, it is about taking on the mind and heart of Christ, which forms one for a life of sacrificial love – caritas.
So what is this about? Obviously the traditional Catholic sensibility has always been, well, universal – aware of one’s ties to others, of one’s responsibility to live out the greatest commandment. That yes, where ever you are, you are, indeed, journeying together with all the baptized, all over the world.
So what’s the reason for this emphasis in this moment? The anxiety? The determination to make this point in this particularly way?
(Note: This doesn’t reflect the possibility that the calling, shaping and work of the Synod is an essentially ideological, political act. Also an environmentally irresponsible, essentially anti-pastoral act (b/c it takes people, especially bishops, away from their home churches for weeks). Not because I don’t think it’s possible or even probable – hah – but because that requires more first hand knowledge than I have.)
What I am interested in is the possibility that the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, together with cultural and social currents, actually worked to diminish Catholics’ sense of solidarity and understanding of “journeying together.”
The temptation to division and individualism is always present, but when you toss in innumerable other factors, ranging from an elevation of individual political rights over the common good, the centering of individual experience in the determination of truth and authenticity, the collapse of traditional, less socially divided communities, and, in the Catholic context, the elevation of individual experience and local cultural factors over the universally-accessible objective and transcendent, and then throw in decades of intra-Church fighting, ideological positioning, category-establishing and head scratching – well, it seems, you have a recipe for atomization. Fullproof.
Basically: if we are not “walking together” it’s partly because modern life is atomized at every level, but also because modern Catholic spiritual formation and practice emphasizes the individual: individual choice, individual understanding and individual discernment, and even tells us that the further one separates oneself from “tradition” and “structures” – the more authentic one’s spiritual journey is.
So we’re not “walking together?”
And you’re surprised?
Is there anyway to get a copy of those books from the thirties? Amazon offers one for $250. I can’t believe that some Catholic Press hasn’t taken them up…