Your Church Wants to Hear from You: What Is the Synod on Synodality?

by Michael J. Sanem

Overview

In October 2021, the Catholic Church officially began the largest consultative process in human history. The entire people of God, some 1.34 billion Catholics worldwide, were asked to participate in a process of listening and engagement together over the course of two years. Why embark on this incredibly novel, time-consuming, and expensive task? Because your church wants to hear from you.

This booklet explains and explores why the leaders of the Catholic Church have discerned that the synodal path is what “God expects of the church of the third millennium.” This Synod on Synodality is not just another meeting. It is the beginning of a conversion process that is essential to the life of the church and its mission. And the Church needs you to carry it out.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814668177
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	04/23/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	24
File size:	253 KB

About the Author

Michael J. Sanem is the minister of evangelization at the Church of the Nativity in Leawood, Kansas. He studied history and philosophy at Loyola University Chicago, and systematic theology and spirituality as a Bernardin Scholar at Catholic Theological Union. He has written for a variety of Catholic publications while working as a pastoral minister, prison minister, theology teacher, and homeless outreach coordinator. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with his wife and three sons and writes regularly at www.incarnationiseverywhere.com. 

Editorial Reviews

"A synodal way for the whole church needs a guide for the whole church. With this brief, readable, and excellent resource, that's what Michael J. Sanem has provided. Your Church Wants to Hear from You is a wonderful way for individuals, study groups, and parishes to enter the synodal process and its new way of being a church community journeying together."
Steven P. Millies, Catholic Theological Union

“This brief book ably covers a huge topic. Pope Francis has summoned the largest consultation in the history of the human race, and Michael Sanem has presented a clear way for people to get involved. Time is of the essence. The pope wants you.”
Fr. Paul Turner, Pastor, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Kansas City, Missouri

"In Your Church Wants to Hear From You, Michael J. Sanem provides a clear and engaging description of what the Synod on Synodality is, what it hopes to accomplish, and why people should embrace this opportunity for greater participation and communion in the Church. Sanem describes how the synodality process of listening, dialogue, and discernment is present in scripture, in the early history of Christianity, and in the Second Vatican Council. He then invites all people to learn and listen from each other and the Holy Spirit through the Synod on Synodality 'so we may all journey together with Christ into a hope-filled future.' I highly recommend this concise and inspiring guide to the Synod on Synodality, with its call for all the people of God to become a church that journeys together."
Jennifer Halling, OSB, Mount St. Scholastica Monastery, Atchison, Kansas


"The word 'synod' is still not quite at home in the lexicon of many Catholics, yet it is certainly being talked about right now. Michael Sanem offers a concise yet complete overview of synodality and particularly the synod currently underway in the global Catholic Church. Emphasizing that this is a journey more than a destination, Sanem provides the essential issues that Pope Francis wants to hear about from Catholics all over the world. Everyone should be engaged in this synod, and if you are not sure how or why, pick up this booklet."
Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv, Bishop of Lexington, President of Pax Christi USA
 


"If the 'journey is the destination', this is the road map on how to offer an effective Synod on Synodality process within your diocese and parish. This booklet will help you navigate the best practices on inviting, calling forth and engaging those you serve while allowing the Spirit to lead the way."
Elizabeth Madeo, Parish Director of Faith Formation and Adjunct Faculty
 


"In three moments that meaningfully resonate with the see-judge-act pastoral cycle, Catholic educator Michael J. Sanem offers a clear and excellent guide to the Synod on Synodality, the process and fruit of which are decisive for our life and mission as Church. Rooting 'synodality' in Vatican II's Lumen Gentium, Sanem kindles in the reader the hope-inspiring image of a Church that is participatory and inclusive."
Antonio D. Sison, CPPS, PhD, Vatican Council II Chair of Theology, Catholic Theological Union

From the Publisher