In our synodal journey desired by Pope Francis and lived in our dioceses, we are called to discern together. This journey begins with listening. The experiences lived, expressed and reported show a living Church that longs for healing. Not everything that is said is the voice of the Holy Spirit, there is a need for time of silence, of decantation, to allow us to be better aware of the Spirit’s motions. We do not all react in the same way.
Discerning together by meditating on the Gospel
By meditating on the Gospel, we can identify, rejoice, highlight, and value the hitherto unexplored riches of this living source of listening and speaking together. In the orientations of the SVECJ for the next 6 years, it was recalled that the mix of our states of life is a grace. Let us have the audacity to be more witnesses, in the ecclesial places where we are, of this received grace of diversity and communion, and to propose processes of community discernment.
Recognising the voice of God
It is also with people in fragile situations that we can “discern the spirits”, as St Ignatius invites us to do. This involves learning to recognise what comes from God and what seeks to thwart his will. To enter into this discernment is to resist the urge to seek the apparent satisfaction of an immediate situation. It is to feel the gentle pull of the Spirit within and to identify and beware of contrary movements. With time, in prayer and patience, a solution is reached that is not a compromise, but something quite different, a gift from God.
Happy return to school,
Fraternally.
Cécile Legris General Director
