After a tornado, cyclone, hurricane, or other storm hits us, we can feel both relieved and devastated at the same time: relief that we survived yet devastated by the destruction.  After a grueling game or sport season, team members can feel both exhilarated and exhausted.  Feelings can be similar on the day after a general election.  Some people are elated by the results and celebrate; others are devastated and must pick up shattered pieces of their broken spirits so they can move on.  Most, however, realize that our approach to daily life doesn’t change much because of it; our mission is still to engage in our surroundings, help brothers and sisters in need, and continue to do our part to lift society up by doing our part to make it better.

Similarly, the Synod on Synodality ended a three-year process last week marking a moment of change in the life of the Catholic Church and offering a renewed sense of faith.  The process started in early October of 2021 when the Pope invited everyday Catholics and others to voice their hopes for our future; the synod concluded late in October of 2024 with his unprecedented response.  Rather than receiving the summary document of the lengthy and multi-leveled caucus to transform it into a papal encyclical, Francis accepted the words of participants as the voice of the church and now charges people of God in communities throughout the world to live our faith in light of the issues surfaced, including greater transparency from bishops, greater roles for women in church governance, reform of seminary training for future priests, input from common people into the selection of their bishops, greater ecumenical engagement, etc.  But mostly, the synod encourages us all to develop more profound relationships with one another and with the Holy Spirit by listening and carrying out the mission of Christ.

The mission is both personal and social.  It begins with greater understanding of our purpose to know, love, and serve our Lord and to recognize that everything in the world is a gift that could help us along our journey from this life to the one that awaits.  In my own ministry as a priest in urban parishes in the heart of America, it challenges me to listen to the people in our inner city and those connected to it through commitment to the social Gospel so that we can build up the church in places that are sometimes ignored or abandoned.  It challenges us to do church a bit differently there because the voice of the Holy Spirit is heard in ways that are culturally adept to its unique expressions of faith.  There is much to do.

The synod is over, but the work is just beginning.  In a like fashion, the election is over and whether our favored candidates won or lost, our issues prevailed or were defeated, we have lots of work ahead.  The work relates to doing our part to build up God’s kingdom in our own communities.  Key concepts of the synod include relationships, listening, and creating strong and healthy faith communities so that we can have a healthier and more holy and wholesome church; they are similar concepts to what our nation seeks in building a more unified country, starting in our own neighborhoods among our brothers and sisters.  Now that the election is over, whether relieved or devastated, exhausted or exhilarated, elated or shattered, we are called to get back to work and do our part to create a better society.  As people of God, we do that by listening to the divine spirit and trusting that the good Lord will show us the right path we are to travel.