Br Mark O’Connor FMS – Soundings from Rome: Seekers not Dwellers – Towards a Spirituality of Synodality

The last of four reports from the Vatican by Brother Mark O’Connor FMS, Vicar for Communications, Diocese of Parramatta and Pope Francis Fellow, Newman College, University of Melbourne. 

“PEOPLE…ARE SEEKING, AND NOT WITHOUT SUFFERING, SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WHOM THEY SENSE BUT CANNOT NAME.” – PAUL VI, EVANGELII NUNTIANDI (PAR.21)

Diagnosis comes before a cure. In this final Sounding from Rome 2022, I suggest that if we are to continue to develop a Synodal spirituality in the years ahead, we need to get the diagnosis right! For after all, as Pope Francis famously said – the Church is a ‘field hospital’.

“I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds…. And you have to start from the ground up.” – Pope Francis 

Link to full article: https://catholicoutlook.org/soundings-from-rome-seekers-not-dwellers-towards-a-spirituality-of-synodality/

Similar Posts

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.