SACEC Contribution to the Synod on Synodality second Assembly
A Synodal Church in Mission
South Australian Catholics for an Evolving Church (SACEC) is a group of South Australian Catholics concerned for the future of our faith and church. It is a member of the Australasian Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (ACCCR). This is SACEC’s contribution to the diocesan consultation requested in preparation for the second Assembly of the Synod on Synodality. We were disappointed that the invitation to contribute was not issued more widely, as many of the Australian dioceses have not been very active or participative in making contributions to the synod.
Consultations that we are aware of have not achieved any depth and have involved very few of the faithful. The vast bulk of those 222,000 (Australia-wide) who made submissions to the Plenary Council and the more than 90% of those who professed to being catholic in the 2021 census, let alone “all the baptised” (i.e., all Christians), are simply not represented in this important consultative process.
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Walking together towards a synodal conversion
A webinar with
Rafael Luciani
Saturday 20 May 2023
Rafael is a Lay Venezuelan theologian, Expert of the Theological Commission of the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, Expert of CELAM (Latin American Bishops’ Council) and Member of the Theological Advisory Team of the Presidency of CLAR (Latin American Confederation of Religious men and women). Rafael will be speaking from Venezuela, his home country
SYNODALITY means inclusive leadership, listening to the sense of faith of the faithful and a rejection of autocratic and patriarchal decision-making. The first session of the Synod will be in Rome in October 2023. Rafael reflected on the transformation required if the church is to become truly a synodal people of God. An edited version of this presentation is available
Link to Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCdxOxoGqWU
Co-sponsors: SA Catholics for an Evolving Church (SACEC), Australasian Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (ACCCR) and Garratt Publishing
SACEC Lenten Series 2023
SA Catholics for an Evolving Church conducted a series of presentations/discussions during Lent in 2023.
Kevin Liston explored the Gospel and other accounts for a contemporary
understanding of the Easter story and a mature spirituality.
This experience of travelling together on the Way will deepens our relationship with Jesus and
expands your spiritual vision.
Week 1 SACEC Lent-Easter Series 2023
PART 1. Jesus the man
This series is about understanding and knowing Jesus, the man, appreciating his humanity. How we relate to him as a human being who lived in Palestine 2,000 years ago and continues to live now in a transcendent form. This does not mean that we are saying he was not God. That is another issue for another time. It was not a question for the Gospel writers or St. Paul nor did they address it. It took Christians over 300 years to come to some agreement on the matter.
PART 2. Spirituality, Culture and Theology – Spirituality
Let me begin with an explanation of what I mean by spirituality. By my spirituality, I understand my decision-making, mind, psyche and body acting as one, integrated and in harmony. It is not an activity of my decision-making on its own, or my mind alone or of my psyche or my body. It is not just mind and decision-making, or decision-making and psyche, or of decision-making and body. It is my total being acting as one integrated whole. We are bodied in a bodied universe, animals in an animal world, psyches in a world of feelings and apprehensions, minds in a universe of meaning and decision-makers surrounded by opportunities for expression at every level or combination of levels.
Week 2. SACEC Lent-Easter Series 2023
Part 1. Jesus the man (While reading the following ask yourself, “What was he thinking?”
Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem
Two Processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30. It was the beginning of the week of Passover the most sacred week of the Jewish year.
Part 2. Spirituality
The ultimate criterion for each of us as we strive to live authentically is, ‘How does our spirituality, our worldview, assist or enable us to live up to all we can humanly be?’ How does a relationship with Jesus support this?
Week 3. SACEC Lent-Easter Series 2023
Part 1. Gospel accounts
The day before he was arrested, subjected to mock trials and summarily executed was an eventful day for Jesus, loaded with drama and symbolism. It is impossible to reflect adequately on everything so we will consider just three events;
A meal for participation and commitment;
Death in the garden;
Contrast Peter and Judas.
Part 2. Spirituality
Everyone’s first work of art is their own living. For each of us it is our one and only opportunity to become the unique version of ourselves that ever will be. Don’t leave your mind and heart at the door when you enter a church! All your gifts and talents are needed for the ongoing creating of the world.
Week 4. SACEC Lent-Easter Series 2023
Week 4 Friday The Day Jesus Died
SACEC Advent Series 2022
Introduction
At Christmas, we celebrate the birthday of Jesus with a focus on the baby and the circumstances of his birth. There is a bigger picture, one that we as adults should be focusing on. As with any other birthday celebrations, it is not really about how Jesus came to be born or the circumstances of his birth. It is essentially about celebrating the man, the kind of person he was. The gospel writers used the customary ways of their times to emphasise the significance of this event (e.g. the virgin birth of the Emperor Augustus). They searched the Hebrew Scriptures for references to show that this was part of Gods plan for his people (fulfilment of prophecy). They used the symbolic and metaphoric language of their day (angels and visions).
Week 1. Stories before the birth of Jesus
When we celebrate a birthday – a partner, sibling, other relative or a friend – it is to celebrate the person they have become, to join with them in praise, thanks and appreciation for who they are and for our relationship with them. We do not usually refer back to the circumstances of their birth, whether it was a last-minute dash to the hospital or worry about a premature birth or something else. We do not focus on who came to visit or who said what.
So why do we do this with Jesus?
Week 2 . Stories around the birth of Jesus. Evolution
The dominant theme for the last several centuries has been that God came into the fallen world in Jesus. He saved us from the consequences of our sins (atoned for us) by his sacrifice on the cross. He rose from the dead because he was God.
There is another theme emerging in this era. The world is, and always was, in God. Jesus was the revelation of this. His most common expressions were ‘Do not be afraid’, ‘Your sins are (already) forgiven’, ‘Your faith has healed you’ and God is a loving parent to you. He revealed the potential for full human living that is everyone’s birthright. Good news and freedom were his bywords.
Week 3. Stories after the birth of Jesus. Birthing the universe
With Jesus, a new era began. These stories are not false. We just need to read them the right way. Songs, poetry, novels, carols and hymns often speak truth through metaphors, symbols, stories, etc. We see, understand and live our lives in ways that Matthew or Luke could never have imagined.
The present change of era has enormous ramifications for us now. Scriptural language presents us with frames of reference that are not ours. We need a vision based on the paradigms of our times to help us imagine the future.
Week 4. Bringing it all Together: The Call of Christmas
We celebrate the life of Jesus, who he was, his vision, message and his life’s purpose – not just his birth – and the kind of man he became. We celebrate the new dream, perspective and values that he proclaimed – the Reign of God – a vision of life in the love of God. We celebrate Jesus’ radical claim for the potential of full human living that is everyone’s birthright.
SACEC Response to the Synod’s Document for the Continental Stage
This response is in reply to the invitation in the Document for the Continental Stage, released by the Synod on Synodality in October 2022. It follows the pattern of the three questions posed in that Document. (paragraph 106).
ACCCR Response to the Synod’s Document for the Continental Stage
Information sharing and consultation about the Synod on Synodality by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and by most diocesan bishops has been woefully inadequate. The same issues have arisen with the processes of the Australian Plenary Council. The lack of transparency in the way the content of the documents has developed and failure to be inclusive on the part of the ACBC has:
- minimised accountability,
- distorted priorities,
- discouraged many from making contributions, and
- failed to reflect the sense of faith of the faithful.
SYNOD ON SYNODALITY Document for the Continental Stage: Enlarge your tent
The Synod is on: one year after the opening of the synodal journey, we can enthusiastically affirm this! During this first part of the consultative phase, millions of people all over the world have been involved in the Synod’s activities: some by participating in the meetings at the local level, some by collaborating in the animation and coordination of the activities at the different levels, and some by offering the support of their prayers: “We also express our gratitude to the contemplative nuns who accompanied their people in prayer and continue to pray for the fruits of the Synod of Synodality” (EC Peru). All of these people who got involved are the real protagonists of the Synod!
Changing the conversation
John Alonso Dick LaCroix International September 22, 2022
A few ideas to jump-start some critical, creative thinking on how to develop new patterns and new strategies for Church life
When I began my blog “For Another Voice” now many years ago, I was inspired by these lines from T.S. Elliot’s poem “Little Gidding”:
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language.
And next year’s words await another voice.
I was convinced we needed to change how we observe and speak about our cultural and Church experiences. That need is just as true today as it was back then. I am not so certain I have always done a good job moving ahead with another voice but I continue my reflection and efforts.
A few days ago, in fact, in a discussion with friends about contemporary Church issues, it stuck me how easily we can slip into simply repeating the same old stuff we have been saying again and again. That is just reiterating “last year’s words.”
Older people do that. But younger people as well. We all need to change the conversation. Changing the conversation requires a new focus – a changed perspective – about what is really important.
Evolution of Catholic Christianity and ‘Practicing’ Catholics
Kevin Liston
Catholic Christianity is evolving. The sixty years since the 1960s and Vatican II have seen many welcome changes including local languages in the liturgy, renewal in the way Mass and other sacraments are celebrated, changes in religious life (more informal authority and leadership structures, living arrangements and dress codes), more relaxed exercise of authority generally, renewal of theology in many fields, increased engagement of lay people in church structures and a more confident exercise of their God-given freedom by many Catholics. Lay Catholics, like others are generally better educated, better off and more confident in taking responsibility for their own lives.