Pope Francis invites us to embrace listening and dialogue through the Synod:
The Pope Video for the month of September is a call to pray for the Synod which takes place this month. The Pope prays that the Church might allow herself “to be guided by the Holy Spirit towards the world’s peripheries,” reaching out to everyone, “without excluding anyone.
TEXT OF POPE’S MEASSAGE
Mission is at the heart of the Church. And even more when a Church is in Synod. This synodal dynamic alone carries its missionary vocation forward – that is, her response to Jesus’ mandate to proclaim the Gospel. I would like to recall that nothing ends here. Rather, we are continuing an ecclesial journey here. This is a journey we will travel, like the disciples of Emmaus, listening to the Lord who always comes to meet us.
He is the Lord of surprises. Through prayer and discernment, the Holy Spirit helps us carry out the “apostolate of the ear,” that is, listening with God’s ears in order to speak with the word of God. And thus, we draw near to the heart of Christ. Our mission and the voice that draws us to him spring from him.
This voice reveals to us that the heart of mission is to reach out to everyone, to seek everyone, to welcome everyone, to involve everyone, without excluding anyone.
Let us pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a style of life at every level, allowing herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit towards the world’s peripheries.