Prayer, praise, thought and discussion highlight day two of Synod Assembly

Transforming lives and families through faith in Christ and his presence in the Eucharist can lead to a “family of families” in parishes evangelizing the wider community across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, a presenter said June 4, the second of three days of the Archdiocesan Synod Assembly in St. Paul.

Flanked by images of Blesseds Solanus Casey, James Miller and Stanley Rother, all of whom had ties to the archdiocese, Douglas Bushman said saints show people the way: “They are the transformation of the Church.”

“The bridge to this ideal is missionary transformation” of individuals and families, said Bushman, director of faith formation and mission at St. Joseph in West St. Paul who spoke on one of three Synod focus areas: Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization.

In his presentation, Bushman elaborated on the theme he presented during Parish Synod Leadership Team Consultations in late February and early March. Other presenters through the assembly will do the same: Liz Kelly, a Catholic author and retreat leader, will speak on forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and Michael Naughton, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, will talk about forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.

Bushman told about 500 participants in the assembly at Cretin-Derham Hall high school that people are called to begin the journey of faith with themselves, grow from there and evangelize. Parishes with members grounded in the Eucharist and the sacrament of the Mass are the base from which to share the joy of Christ and serve in his name, he said.

“This must be the fruit of discerning that the Eucharist is the center of our missionary journey,” Bushman said.

As Bushman spoke, assembly participants — delegates from parishes across the archdiocese — considered his words and spent time afterward discussing propositions for how best parishes might respond to the call to evangelize. Propositions included welcome and hospitality, building parish community, inviting others to the faith and education for the Mass.

Synod organizers randomly chose people willing to share ideas discussed at their tables with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who listened and made occasional comments.

“I was inspired by education of the Mass,” one delegate said. “Plenty of people don’t understand all that is offered in the Mass.”

“The Mass is our source and summit. That’s Jesus, that’s where he is,” another delegate said. “If people don’t understand his presence in the Mass, that’s harder to share with others.”

One delegate suggested helping people feel welcome in the Church as a strong way to evangelize. “A long time ago a non-parishioner told me, ‘I’ve been coming to your church. You sing the song ‘All are Welcome,’ and that’s not true,” he said.

Offering coffee and donuts after Mass is not enough to welcome people, the delegate said. “If we don’t invite people in an intentional way, we are missing something. We are missing opportunities that are there for us.”

After the large group sharing, delegates ranked their top three propositions through digital voting. That information will be compiled and shared as Archbishop Hebda prayerfully considers all that was offered and prepares a pastoral letter in November followed by an action plan for implementing the fruits of the Synod.