Synod Retreat Meditation: ‘The Spirit of Truth’

Meditation n. 6

The disciples see the glory of the Lord and the witness of Moses and Elijah. Now they dare to come down the mountain and walk to Jerusalem. In today’s gospel (Luke 9. 51 – 56) we see them on the way. They encounter the Samaritans who oppose them because they are going to Jerusalem. The immediate reaction of the disciples is the call down fire from heaven and destroy them. Well, they have just seen Elijah and this is what he did to the prophets of Ba’al! But the Lord rebukes them. They still have not understood the journey on which the Lord is leading them.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-the-spirit-of-truth-radcliffe.html

Synod Retreat Meditation: ‘Authority’

Meditation n. 5

There can be no fruitful conversation between us unless we recognize that each of us speaks with authority. We all are baptized into Christ: priest, prophet, and king. The International Theological Commission on the sensus fidei quotes St John: ‘You have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge’, ‘the anointing that you received from [Christ] abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you’, ‘his anointing teaches you about all things’ (1Jn 2:20, 27).

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-authority.html

Synod Retreat Meditation: ‘Conversation on the way to Emmaus’

Meditation n. 4

We are called to walk on the synodal way in friendship. Otherwise, we shall get nowhere. Friendship, with God and each other, is rooted in the joy of being together but we need words. At Caesarea Philippi, conversation broke down. Jesus had called Peter ‘Satan’, enemy. On the mountain, he still does not know what to say but they begin to listen to him and so the conversation can begin again as they journey to Jerusalem.



https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-conversation-on-the-way-to-emmaus.html

Synod Retreat Meditation: ‘Friendship’

Meditation n. 3

On the night before he died, Jesus prayed to his Father: ‘May them be one as we are one.’ (John 17.11). But from the beginning, in almost every document of the New Testament, we see the disciples divided, quarrelling, excommunicating each other. We are gathered in this Synod because we too are divided and hope and pray for unity of heart and mind. This should be our precious witness in a world which is torn apart by conflict and inequality. The Body of Christ should embody that peace which Jesus promised and for which the world longs.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-friendship.html

Synod Retreat Meditation: 'At home in God and God at home in us'

Meditation n. 2

We come to this Synod with conflicting hopes. But this need not be an insuperable obstacle. We are united in the hope of the Eucharist, a hope which embraces and transcends all that we long for.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/retreat-day-1-radcliffe-meditation-2.html

Synod Retreat Meditation: 'Hoping Against Hope'

Meditation n. 1

We are all radically incomplete and need each other. Karl Barth, the great Protestant theologian, wrote of the Catholic ‘both/ and.’ For example, Scripture and tradition, faith andworks. He is said to have called it the ‘damned Catholic “And”’, ‘das verdammte katholische “Und”’. So when we listen to each other during the coming weeks and disagree, I pray we shall often say, ‘Yes, and…..’ Rather than ‘No’! That is the Synodal way. Of course, No is also sometimes necessary!

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/retreat-day-1-radcliffe-first-meditation.html