Mass at Holy Cross in St. Paul marks closing of Archdiocesan Synod Assembly

The end of the Synod Assembly in the first Archdiocesan Synod in 83 years was marked with a closing 5 p.m. Mass June 5 at the same location as the opening Mass June 3: Holy Cross Church in St. Paul. The church is adjacent to the Synod Assembly’s main venue, Cretin-Derham Hall high school.

With Archbishop Bernard Hebda chief presider and Bishop Joseph Williams delivering the homily, about 500 delegates filled the church, most representing their parishes and some representing Catholic institutions. The delegates made their way to Mass after table discussions and voting on the last of three focus areas for the Synod: Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young. The other two focus areas were the center of activities June 4.

Archbishop Hebda welcomed all to the Mass and at its close offered his gratitude to the many people who contributed their time and gifts to making the Synod possible, from the delegates to volunteers, spouses and children of delegates, Father Joseph Bambenek, assistant director, and Therese Coons, director of the Synod, as well as members of the Synod executive committee and prayer group, and the priests who concelebrated the Mass, Father Daniel Haugan, pastor of Holy Cross, and more.

After the Mass and three days of prayer, presentations and discussions, Synod delegate Jerry Buchman, a parishioner of St. Michael in Stillwater, said he was impressed with how well organized the Synod Assembly was, from beginning to end. He could see the hard work that went into it and said he was impressed with the engagement of “our bishops and the leadership team.”

Buchman, 52, who works as a manager in information technology, said it was obvious that a lot of prayer went into the Synod process and he found it genuine. “(The) archbishop is a true shepherd who wants to shepherd us forward,” he said.

Buchman said with the Synod’s close, he looks forward to greater collaboration within the whole archdiocese and a greater understanding by all parishioners that “our local Church is the archdiocese, not our individual parish, and that the work within parishes is to serve the Church, to serve each of our brothers and sisters, those who are Catholic and not Catholic, because the archbishop … wants to be a good shepherd for us.”

Delegate Anne Cullen Miller, president of St. Paul-based Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota, said her overwhelming thought on the Synod was that the Holy Spirit was present. “You could just feel individuals, including myself, moved by it,” she said. “There was an unbelievable, unexplainable vibe in that whole room.”

Several people said June 4 was a long day but it went by quickly, said Cullen Miller, 59, a parishioner of St Joseph in West St. Paul. It was “an easy, wonderful day” with good, rich conversation and people truly listening to each other, with some minds changed in the course of a discussion, she said.

“There was a lot of learning and a lot of engagement,” Cullen Miller said, “and, I think, a lot of community building.”

Cullen Miller said she hopes next for solid execution of the fruits of the Synod, first in a pastoral letter from Archbishop Hebda in November, then an action plan from the archdiocese. With that, “we can come together as a local Church,” she said. But “we won’t be able to do anything unless everyone comes together and brings energy and this renewed hope to restore and grow our local Church,” she said.

She believes some structural change in the way mission and ministry are advanced is needed, and she believes some of that will happen. Cullen Miller hopes “we’ll find ways the Holy Spirit won’t abandon us after the Synod closes and that we’ll be moved to sort of modernize our approach to advancing ministry and evangelizing.”

The topic of evangelization was embedded in everything discussed, Cullen Miller said. “That’s the ultimate goal of everything.”

Delegate Maddie Aspholm, a parishioner of St. Stephen in Minneapolis and stay-at-home mom, said the Synod required work from planners and participants. Unlike a typical nine-to-five job, she said being a Synod delegate required the whole heart, too, engaged the mind “and forced us to really think beyond just our individual parishes.”

Aspholm, her husband, Jim, and their 8-month-old daughter, Sadie, who was baptized by Bishop Williams, are parishioners of St. Stephen in Minneapolis.

She said she felt the Synod was well organized, it ran smoothly with clear and coherent talks and guidelines for leading table discussions. “I was really pleased with how differing opinions were expressed, but still received with graciousness and love,” she said.

Aspholm said she hopes Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Williams continue to listen to the Holy Spirit as they consider what should arise out of the Synod Assembly, and ask the Lord’s guidance for the archdiocese. “And that there would be an openness on behalf of parishes across the archdiocese to implement them,” she said. “My great hope is for openness because I think some of the resolutions that came forward might surprise people,” Aspholm said. “But it’s all inspired by God, it’s inspired by the Holy Spirit, so we can trust that we’re in good hands and parishioners across the diocese will be open to saying yes to that.