Prayer fundamental to Synod process, Assembly weekend

Think Synod, think prayer.

Prayer has been foundational to planning the Archdiocesan Synod since its inception. And it continued throughout the three-day assembly June 3-5.

The Synod is the work of God, and he desires people’s happiness, said Jean Stolpestad, director of Marriage, Family and Life for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and a member of the Synod Executive Committee. In order to discern his will, his direction, he speaks softly “and he waits for us,” she said.

“The whole purpose of prayer was so we could really focus on God and discern his will, (and) discover what he had in store for us throughout the whole process because there’s so much he wanted to give us to give to this archdiocese,” she said.

Prayer also helped when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Minnesota in early 2020, canceling the Synod’s final prayer and listening event. The Synod planning committee feared COVID’s impact would stymie momentum. But, Stolpestad said, God inspired the Synod planners to use the year for prayer and reflection, and to dive deeper into his heart as an archdiocese — “not just a prayer team, not just the executive team, but the entire archdiocese,” she said.

Thus was born several online series addressing hope and healing, praying with Scripture, faith and culture, and the Synod at Home. “All those took a deep dive into our prayer life and it gave us an opportunity to be quiet for a year and really look at ourselves and the face of Christ and how we live him right now,” Stolpestad said.

That year of prayer turned out to be a gift and a grace, she said.

Stolpestad said the Holy Spirit has inspired Synod planning process throughout. One example was in the help needed to sort and categorize 38,000 comments gained from the parish Prayer and Listening Events. “We really needed the Holy Spirit to help us make rhyme or reason out of all the comments, and he did,” she said. “We could begin to see a thread through these individual contributions that started to tie things together.”

The Holy Spirit also answered prayers in preparation for leadership consultations, Stolpestad said.

Fundamental to the Synod planning process from its start is the work of a Synod prayer team. Back in August 2019, Bishop Andrew Cozzens described in a column for The Catholic Spirit the first group involved in the Archdiocesan Synod as “a group of dedicated prayers.” Mostly lay men and women, they believe in the power of prayer and committed to praying daily “for this important effort,” he said.

Earlier this year, Father Joseph Bambenek, assistant director of the Archdiocesan Synod and leader of the prayer team said that “without prayer, the work of the Synod would be pointless.”

“Archbishop 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,” Father Bambenek said.

The prayer team typically spent time in prayer and adoration of the Eucharist, Scripture reading, and sharing thoughts and reflection.

Synod participants could schedule time online to spend in adoration at the Blessed James Miller Chapel on the second floor of Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, the Synod’s home venue. Two people could sign up for each time slot and the schedule filled before the Synod’s Friday opening. The chapel is named in honor of Blessed Brother James Miller, who taught at then-Cretin High School in St. Paul.

In addition to Blessed James Miller, Archbishop Hebda is calling on the intercession of two other “Blesseds” with connections to the archdiocese throughout the Synod process: Blessed Stanley Rother, the martyred diocesan priest whose ancestors settled near New Trier and whose relatives still live in that part of the archdiocese; and Blessed Solanus Casey, a Capuchin friar who was confirmed at St. Michael in Stillwater and served as a prison guard nearby. Images of the three men face Synod assembly members.

Debbie Keller, a member of the prayer team and the Synod executive team, said the prayer team was also offered the opportunity to pray the novena to the Holy Spirit May 27-June 4, along with Synod Assembly attendees in preparation for the weekend Synod.

“It is an honor to be asked to pray for the Synod,” said School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Anne Schaenzer, a member of the prayer team and director of pastoral care at St Stephen in Anoka. She also is part of a group that has been praying together each evening via Zoom for the Holy Spirit “to fall afresh on the archdiocese.”

“We pray both the suggested prayers and we pray in our own words and share with one another,” Sister Mary Anne said. “The main intention has been for the Synod.”

“The Holy Spirit gives many gifts,” she added. “We need to be open to them and willing to receive them. They are for the building up of the body of Christ. We do now know what the Holy Spirit may do if we are able to be truly open and receptive.”