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COMMUNION, MISSION, AND PARTICIPATION
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I mentioned this past weekend that I had done a bit of “lifting” from Pope Francis’ address on October 9, during the vigil for the opening of the synodal process that will culminate next October in Rome. Marty Haugen composed a hymn, “All Are Welcome”; the goal of the Synod, finally is “All Are Participants.”
What does Francis mean by the words he chose to highlight the meaning of the Synod? The first two are closely related, and they flow from the understanding of Church developed during the Second Vatican Council, particularly in its “Constitution on the Church,” known by its Latin title as Lumen Gentium (“A light to [all] the peoples”). So the Church in itself should be a place of visible and real communion—a place of shared life and love for all the members of the People of God, the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit (yes, people—that’s us!). It’s interesting that the phrase “communion of life and love” is perhaps the most typical description of the Blessed Trinity…
But the Church has a role to play, as the title of the Vatican II document clearly indicates—we are to be a Church of mission— of visible witness to the truth and joy of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. We cannot fully be a Church of mission if we are not fully also a Church of communion. And, Pope Francis insists, we cannot be fully a Church of communion if we are not also a Church of participation. He expresses it in this way:
In the Church, everything starts with baptism. Baptism, the source of our life, gives rise to the equal dignity of the children of God…. Consequently, all the baptized are called to take part in the Church’s life and mission. Without real participation by the People of God, talk about communion risks remaining [wishful thinking].
Francis realizes there are risks involved, and he identifies three of them. The first he names “formalism,” which is another way of saying the Synod might “go through the motions” and then ignore its conclusions, like “…admiring the magnificent facade of a church without ever actually stepping inside.” He also knows there’s the danger of “intellectualism,” by which he means keeping discussions and conclusions limited to “experts” who offer abstract thoughts that have nothing much to do with reality. Finally, he points out the risk of “complacency.” This is the rejection of the idea of synodality because “We’ve always done it this way,” and he notes that this typically means applying “old solutions to new problems (Matthew 9:16).”
The Holy Father truly wants a listening Church—one that listens to the whole Church. He is willing to face the risks, given the benefits of becoming a Church fully alive in communion, in mission, and in participation. What might the Church look like if this vision were to become a reality? The Church is called to be far more than prelates and Vatican officials; we (yes, we!) are called to be Church.
