Adsumus, Sancte Spiritus
We stand before You, Holy Spirit,
as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go
and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path
nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity
so that we may journey together
to eternal life and not stray
from the way of truth and what is right.
All this we ask of You, who are at work
in every place and time,
in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever.
Amen.
Sunday March 20: 9:40 – 10:50 AM, Fellowship Hall: Training for engaging others in the synodal conversations. We will provide suggestions on how to initiate the conversations, actively listen and encourage honest responses from others, and offer words of comfort and acceptance to those with painful experiences of Church.
Following each of your conversations with others about their experiences with the Church, please use the diocesan portals to enter the information. All responses must be entered by April 29.
Through this synod, Pope Francis is calling the entire People of God to journey together! He is asking us to dialogue with each other, listen to each other, and discern (always under the guidance of the Holy Spirit) direction for the Church and how we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
The Diocese of Lansing will synthesize all of the feedback they receive through the portal into a report that they submit to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in June. The USCCB will then synthesize the information it receives from dioceses across the country to send to the Vatican.
The conversation guide is truly just a guide. It's there to help you focus in on specific topics that the diocese discerned to be most important. Note the last question, though, that allows you to input responses from any other topics you covered in your conversation. Let the Holy Spirit guide you!
As we hear what's been working for people, we'll try to include that information here. One thought is that it may be easier to start a conversation like this with people if they've been warned it's coming. Maybe start out with an email that includes the conversation topics to give your potential respondent some time to reflect.