Synod prayer team requests Holy Spirit’s guidance

In a column in the Aug. 8, 2019, issue of The Catholic Spirit, Bishop Andrew Cozzens, then serving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, described the first group involved in the Archdiocesan Synod as “a group of dedicated prayers.” It was “a diverse group of faithful, mostly lay men and women who believe in the power of prayer and have committed to praying daily for this important effort,” he said.

More than three years after its November 2018 launch, the Synod prayer team continues to meet monthly. Some members have left as their lives pulled them in other directions, but most of the group’s members remain the same.

“Without prayer the work of the Synod will be pointless,” said Father Joseph Bambenek, assistant director of the Archdiocesan Synod and leader of the prayer team. “Archbishop (Bernard) Hebda recognized this when the first action he took was to establish a prayer team nearly a half year before any logistical steps to start the process.”

The prayer team typically spends time in prayer and adoration of the Eucharist, Scripture reading, and sharing thoughts and reflections. Members of the team started meeting at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul, moved to virtual sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now participate in monthly votive Masses of the Holy Spirit at various parishes.

“We have a God who wants us to ask him for help, and will give help if we ask,” Father Bambenek said. “Time after time, God has provided in incredible, tangible ways the past nearly three years; undoubtedly, in part, the answer to all the prayers.”

Many talented people “with a whole slew of talents and skills” are involved with the Synod, said David Rinaldi, a prayer team member and vice president of mission at NET Ministries in St. Paul. “Yet, because the Church’s work is spiritual, we can’t rely simply on our natural talents to accomplish our goals,” he said. “All of the Church’s work — including the Synod — must be covered in prayer.”

Debbie Keller, a parishioner of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake and member of the Synod prayer team and Synod executive committee, said after a Scripture reading team members describe “how it relates with the Holy Spirit speaking to us about pathways for the Synod; concepts or ideas to think about.” She recalled the team praying Scripture with lectio divina, or listening to a Gospel reading twice and spending 30 to 45 minutes quietly in eucharistic adoration and then “sharing what came to us.”

Seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance included a prayer team subgroup studying and praying about data gathered from the Synod’s parish consultation process last fall, including analyses of ages, gender and ethnicity, as well as reading thousands of contributed ideas, Keller said. Team members met three times with Archbishop Hebda, sharing common themes that surfaced and movement of the Holy Spirit, she said.

The prayer team experience has helped her grow in her own spiritual life, Keller said. Being part of the team helped her see what a treasure prayer is, to integrate it more deeply into her life and to see her Catholic faith as a gift, she said.

Prayer has become a rhythm for Keller. “I don’t know when I could say I’m not immersed in prayer,” she said. “I pray when I cook, when I clean, when I’m with friends, when I’m alone. I can’t say it was always that way.”

School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Anne Schaenzer said the prayer team’s listening for the Holy Spirit is important, and it can be elusive.

“We need to share our thoughts, perhaps inspirations that in some way the Spirit may be creating — not through just one person but through the shared reflections of all, as all are members of the body of Christ,” she said. Sister Mary Anne recalled times even aside from the prayer team when prayer and sharing brought a new, creative idea that could be executed for the good of all.

Rinaldi said that in addition to prayer team gatherings, he prays for the Synod every day, and during times of adoration of the Eucharist.

Because Archbishop Hebda will use the Synod to inform the direction in which he leads the local Church, Rinaldi said it is important that all the faithful join with him in prayer. He suggests interceding for the Synod right before or after Mass, offering an intention during family prayer or family rosary, and setting a phone alarm for the same time every day “to pause from your work and ask the Holy Spirit to guide the Synod process.”

Families can say a prayer of their choosing, said Sister Mary Anne, such as a prayer designated for the Year of St. Joseph, or pray in their own words asking God to guide the Synod process. It needn’t be long or a burden, she said, “simply a daily request that the Holy Spirit guide the process, will guide Archbishop Hebda as he leads the team of people working with him, will keep him and all of us healthy so that together we can learn, can listen, can be docile to the Holy Spirit.”

Four votive Masses of the Holy Spirit and eucharistic adoration remain on the prayer team’s schedule, including 5:15 p.m. Feb. 17 at St. Peter Claver in St. Paul. Everyone is invited to attend and participate. To learn more, visit archspm.org/pray.