Dear Parishioners and Friends,
During the first three weeks of the Synod of Bishops 2nd assembly, the members explored themes of synodality related to the foundations of a synodal church, relationships within the church, pathways for decision-making and the places where people experience the church in their daily lives.
Coming to the final week, Cardinal Mario Grech (an old friend of mine) who serves as secretary general of the Secretariat of the Synod, urged members to resist the temptation of "covetousness". It is a desire "to keep everything for ourselves, to possess, to hoard, to define, to close."
Reflecting on the Gospel reading from St. Luke, in which Jesus tells the parable of a man who decides to build larger storehouses after a bountiful harvest, the cardinal drew a parallel to the synod’s work: "We too, faced with the abundant fruits of the synodal journey, might ask ourselves the same question: What to do now?".
Cardinal Grech said that the synodal process has allowed the church, which is very much aware of its wounds and frailties, to "see the gifts that are flourishing in the people of God today”.
But "we too could run the risk of doing as this man did, of hoarding... the gifts of God that we have discovered, without reinvesting them, without living them as gifts received that we must now give back to the church and the world." If we give in to that temptation, we could run the risk of living off our earnings.
The cardinal told delegates that “if we listen to the voice of the Spirit, the conclusion of this synodal assembly will not be the end of something, but a new beginning, so that the Word of God may spread and be glorified."
Cardinal Grech also highlighted another scene from the Gospel reading in which Jesus is asked how to divide an inheritance among brothers. Jesus refused to be involved in what divides. Instead, he invites us to seek communion. Let us seek communion, even within our small sphere.
God bless you
Fr Silvio
