María Luisa Berzosa FI, who, each month tells us the latest news of the Synod, and Altagracia (Iris) González FI, will participate in the Synod Assembly as experts and facilitators. Great news for the Congregation.
You can access her chronicle of the Synod listing by scrolling down, and if you click on the italicized and underlined word “Synod” at the bottom of the page, you will discover all the previous entries.
Two years after the beginning of the Synod on Synodality – October 2021 – we could not have imagined the step that has just been taken, which is already effective, with names and faces of people who will be in the synodal hall next October.
We have come a long way with many lights, but not without shadows. However, the synodal process has followed its itinerary with the indicated phases: diocesan, continental, and now we focus on the universal.
Certainly, the process has followed a coherent rhythm and since the universal invitation to participate in it, one could sense that this step was logical and therefore expected because if we have walked as the people of God, these same voices should have a place to be heard in the hall.
The publication of the list of participants with its various sections, indicating different groups of places of origin and responsibilities of the people, is a wonderful scenario of plurality, universalism, multiple charisms, geographical and moral presence, vocations …
The biblical text that has accompanied us since the Continental Stage becomes vividly real:
“Enlarge the space of your tent, stretch out the curtains, do not hold back; lengthen your ropes, secure your pegs; for on the right hand and on the left you will expand, your offspring will inherit nations, and desolate cities they will populate” (Is 54:2-3).
We have not remained stagnant, heeding the guidance of the prophet Isaiah, as we have expanded our store space. Many individuals will join us, carrying the voices of others. It is not a privilege or personal title but rather a sense of belonging to the People of God who actively walk and aspire for a church that embraces the vitality of our world. Together, we accompany and uplift one another, sharing in both sorrows and joys.
I deeply desire that we continue in active listening, mutually and together, to the Spirit that will guide us on where to advance along the path of Communion-Participation-Mission, through discernment, spiritual conversation, and by continuing to contribute as active members who wish to belong, with an awareness of adult faith, building from within and not as mere spectators.
We are grateful for this gesture from Pope Francis, which engages and challenges us, and therefore motivates us not to halt our progress or silence anything that can contribute to building a church more closely aligned with the one that God dreams of.
María Luisa Berzosa González, FI
