‘If you knew the gift of God’

Published in the Southern Cross Newspaper on 5 November 2021

Excerpt:

“Within the space of a month, three significant events have happened within our church: our local Diocesan Assembly, the first session of the Fifth Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in Australia and the beginning phase of the next Synod of Bishops to be held in 2023 on synodality. Characteristic of all of these three movements in the Church is prayer. This was especially the case during the recent first gathering of the Plenary Council. Unsurprisingly, each day the general gathering and the discussion groups began with prayer, speaking and listening. Before we spoke, we allowed God to speak. Several times during the day we would stop and pray. Radical perhaps, necessary always.

In the early stages of the first session of the Plenary Council, for some, it seemed like we were at a shareholders meeting or an AGM of a company. Then imperceptibly and surely the nature of the gathering changed as people became accustomed to each other and the process, and learning to trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Gathering as the Body of Christ, where daring to peer through the spiritual lens, rather than simply our own, made the difference and recalled us back to the purpose for which we were gathered. Some of the learnings were, to speak boldly and listen carefully, not as easy as you might think.”

Read the full article at https://thesoutherncross.org.au/opinion/2021/11/05/if-you-knew-the-gift-of-god/