From the St. Patrick Synodality Team

As Father Scott has been telling us in his Pastors Column, we at St. Patrick are about to participate in a Church-Wide process called Synodality. Why? Because we are all on a journey of faith together! And as we journey together Pope Francis has asked us all to pause, and engage in a discernment process called: SYNODALITY.

Synodality is about communal discernment, rather than individual discernment. And as a result, we are all called to journey through this process together. The theme for this Synodal Journey is: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.” The Synodality process gives each of us the opportunity to listen to one another in a spirit of prayer, and to dream about the Church we are called to be.

Our Holy Father is asking all People and all Dioceses of the world to answer the question: “Where is the Holy Spirit leading us?” In response to this question Bishop Malesic is asking all Diocese of Cleveland parishes, schools and organizations to gather, listen, and discern what it means to be Church, and where the Holy Spirit is calling us.

To gather Diocese wide answers the Bishop has formed a Diocesan Synodal Team. This Team has developed a listening process that will encourage open conversations guided by the Holy Spirit. That process involves conducting listening sessions with as many members of a parish as is possible, then summarizing the input, reporting what was said, and NOT who said it. The goal here is to learn from our collective experiences, and to suggest and make plans for the future of our Parish Communities that are consistent with the inspiration given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Here is how our Holy Spirit guided Listening Sessions will be conducted at St. Patrick:

Open each listening session with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Ask each person participating in the listening session to recall: An encounter they had with the Church that was harmful and difficult AND / OR an encounter they had with the Church that was positive and life-giving.

Each person will then capture their thoughts and feelings from those memorable moments and list them on paper.

The table group will then use the above captured information to guide and inform their answers to three questions designed to identify actionable and practical steps, which could possibly be taken to move Our Church forward in the direction to which the Holy Spirit is guiding us. Those three questions are:

1. What concrete and practical actions do you personally think the Holy Spirit is calling us to take together so that our Holy Church can best move forward in completing the mission of Christ?


2. Based upon what we just heard from each other: What concrete and practical actions do we (all the people participating in the session at your table) feel strongly called by the Holy Spirit to suggest in order to move our Church forward in completing the mission of Christ?


3. Of the actions, all of us in this room just listed, which ones do we all believe will best help us move forward as members of a Spirit driven Church? In our personal life... In our community... And as a diocese?

Close the listening session with a prayer of thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit.

Our St. Patrick Synodality Team will then theme and summarize, all the responses we heard to question number three and send them back to the Diocese Synodal Team. That team will then continue rolling up the input from all the Parishes of our Diocese, and eventually report that information back to Pope Francis.

In preparation for those sessions let us each join Bishop Malesic in praying: Holy Spirit, please guide us, so that what flows from this synod will preserve the fire of faith in Jesus Christ as Our Savior through the ages.”

We hope that by sharing the Reason, the Goal, and the Process associated with SYNODALITY that we can better prepare everyone to actively participate in the upcoming listening sessions that are currently planned to be held here at St. Patrick in March.

To learn more about the Diocese’s plans to support this process please visit: www.dioceseofcleveland.org/synod