Dear Parish Family, I’m sharing Bishop Bonnar’s article
from the Catholic Exponent September 16, 2022 “Walking by
Faith”. In it our Bishop talks about Pope Francis’ call to a
worldwide Synod on Synodality. This summary report contin-
ues to be a time for us all to dream together as people who
come to the Church so that we may go forth and be Church
together. Bishop Bonnar is asking for each parish to continue
the process of Synodality by studying the Summary report at
the parish level. Monsignor Zuraw has instructed me to bring
this to our parish council with three questions as to how we are
to address and go forward with this at the parish level.
I can’t believe a new Season of Fall has begun, please enjoy
the beautiful colors, temperatures and smells…
My love and prayers always,
~~Fr. Steve

One of the oldest motifs in literature is the journey. Life is a
series of journeys that intersect on many levels. We are all on the
way going somewhere. A few months ago, when I was on retreat
with the Ohio and Michigan bishops, I introduced myself to the
retreat master who was a retired bishop from Europe. I told him
my story and he simply said: “We are all pilgrims.”

With the establishment of the Synod on Synodality, Pope
Francis has reminded us that we are on a journey together. More
importantly, the Holy Father has invited us to reflect on this jour-
ney, together asking us on every level to converse with one anoth-
er. For the past year, we have been in a process of dialogue across
the world reflecting on a series of questions involving the life and
journey of the Church which we live out largely in our individual
parishes.

In “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis speaks about parish life
and our journey together, stating: “We must admit though, that the
call to review and renew our parishes has not yet sufficed to bring
them nearer to people, to make them environments of living com-
munion and participation, and to make them completely mission-
oriented.” (#28) The Synod on Synodality is a way for us as a
Church to grow in communion, participation and mission which
serve as the chief themes of this three-year process.

In the last issue of the Catholic Exponent, we shared with you
the Summary Report from our local Church on this shared reflec-
tion. (Find the report at www.doy.org/synod-summary/.) As I
continue to review the Summary Report, I am grateful to Msgr.
John Zuraw for leading us through this process. I am also ex-
tremely grateful to the many voices of our clergy, religious, and
lay faithful that are contained in this report. The report has been
sent to Rome and we look forward in the next few years to receiv-
ing a more universal report reflective of the entire Church. Only
the Holy Spirit knows what the outcome will be from this exten-
sive and collaborative consultation.

In the meantime, I think that there is much we can glean from
our summary report. On the one hand, the report affirms many of
the good things we do as a faith community every day. The parish
is the primary way we journey together as companions led by the
Holy Spirit. Listening is integral to our journey, but it is also im-
portant that we speak out in witness and compassion. The celebra-
tion of the Holy Eucharist is at the heart of our journey.

Together we have a shared responsibility to embrace the mis-
sion and be part of meaningful dialogue in the Church and be-
yond. We share in the work of evangelization and ecumenism. All
of our collective efforts need to result in conversion and continual
formation as we move along the Synodal path.