After a crisis, there is a new vision. We have come to a turning point in Australia, and there is no going back. The Australian Plenary Council, the highest form of decision-making assembly in our Church, could have been a simple exercise in passing motions that had been discerned after years of Spirit-led consultation. But […]
As a high school theology teacher, I field a lot of questions —and anger— about the sacraments and the “rules” (both real and perceived) that surround them. Instead of focusing our energy on what the sacraments can’t do, however, I try to refocus my students on areas of growth that the church does see as […]
On Monday, April 4th nearly 50 college students from across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia gathered at La Salle University for a cross-campus listening session as part of the first phase of the global “Synod on Synodality.” The event was the culmination of a six-week effort across 14 participating institutions–involving all 11 Catholic campus communities and […]
This work is a prayer for us to experience this time–both the global synod process and this particular Discerning Deacons Listening Session–as Kairos, as the opportune moment to be transformed by encounter with God. I begin each square by drawing a quatrefoil with an Advent candle, a gesture that prepares our hearts to listen. Then […]
On Sunday March 13th, 120 men and women gathered in an upper room – at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota to reflect on scripture, listen, share, and await the Holy Spirit to guide our discernment and help us speak aloud. The question was a synodal one: “What is the Holy Spirit saying to […]
One expressed aim of this Synod is “to inspire people to dream about the Church we are called to be.” (Vatican Handbook 1.3). As the path along which God’s People walk together, synodality grew out of an understanding of Jesus ‘the Way’ (Jn 14:6) and of his disciples as ‘followers of the Way’ (Ac 9:2). […]
Pat Ball, Guest Contributor for Discerning Deacons Last week was such an exciting and enriching week for me. I felt the Holy Spirit hovering and whispering in so many ways, some of which have been mind blowing. I sensed the Spirit in my bones the day I read in the National Catholic Reporter that Loyola […]
The Recording is available! February 9, 2022 Webinar – English As we seek to go on the synodal path here in the US, Mauricio López, director of the Pastoral Center for Social Action and CELAM Networks, will share his insights and reflections from the first Ecclesial Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean — an unprecedented […]
A year ago we (Casey Stanton and Ellie Hidalgo) and Luke Hansen were in the midst of shepherding and participating in a virtual retreat/workshop: discern, dream and scheme. In the center of this Advent time of reflecting, praying, journaling – we were invited to dream. How might we grow the conversation and serve the discernment […]
New date!! Sunday, March 13th, 2022 | 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm* The question of women and the diaconate is a living conversation and an active discernment in our Church. In a listening, participatory and synodal Church, it is a question not only for Synods of Bishops and papal commissions, but it is a discernment for the entire people of […]
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