A Reflection for Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
You can find today’s readings here.
“No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins." Mark 2:22
I can’t stop thinking about the Synod on Synodality. I can see some of my colleagues rolling their eyes as they edit this. Perhaps the best way to explain why is with the famous quote by C.S. Lewis: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.”
Synodality is not synonymous with Christianity, obviously, and the final document of the three year process clearly states that “synodality is not an end in itself” (Final Document, 32). But it is “a constitutive dimension of the Church,” (Final Document, 12) which suggests it’s more of a culture than a religion, initiative or strategy. And once situated within a culture, a person cannot help interpreting the world around them through the lens of it.
Having covered synods at the Vatican since 2012 and witnessed their rapid evolution under Francis, I’ve begun to see how synodality connects to everything in the life of the church: Parish life, the liturgy, social justice, authority and governance, unity and diversity, discernment, disagreement and even polarization.
On discernment and disagreement, I’ll never forget the opening remarks made by Cardinal Hollerich during the October 2023 synod gathering at the Vatican, in which he described the necessary “synodal” disposition for tackling contentious issues:
“We have always to keep in mind that a Synod is not a Parliament! In Parliament, politicians discuss text A proposed by the majority. The opposition then proposes text B. In the best cases, some points of B will be integrated into A… We have one text to start from: the Instrumentum laboris… It is now entrusted to our discernment. It should not be a battle between position A and B. Through genuine discernment, the Holy Spirit opens our minds and our hearts to new positions, leaving A and B behind!”
“New positions.” New ways of looking at familiar things. Similar revelatory experiences happened to people who met Jesus. He always challenged his interlocutors to look at things in dynamic ways. In today’s gospel, his image about wine and wineskins is both filled with common sense and also perennially challenging for Christians: “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined.” His concern is for both the wine and the skins, not one or the other. Both have something to offer. Both are necessary. Both are good. To use Cardinal Hollerich’s language, Jesus challenges us to “open our minds and our hearts to new positions, leaving A and B behind!”
As the culture of synodality takes root in our communities, Catholics will be continually presented with the challenge to move beyond our individual positions to new ones. It will be challenging, but also liberating. It will take time and patience. But like a properly aged wine, it will be worth the wait.
