Father Louis Cameli, October 07, 2015

Archbishop Cupich asked me to collate all the parishes responses to the Archdiocesan feedback survey in preparation for the Synod on the Family which is taking place right now in Rome. I did read all the responses from the parishes and the many individual responses as well. Afterwards, I offered the Archbishop a synthesis that he could use for his report to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The task of reading, collating, and synthesizing turned out to be much more than a job to get done. As I read about the graces and challenges that families experience, at a very personal level I was deeply moved. Often, people spoke of how they learned to love in and from their family. Sometimes, even the challenges that families faced—for example, of raising a child with disabilities or caring for an elderly parent—became blessings that deepened the experience of love and connection. What emerged for me was a palpable sense of the presence of God at work in the most ordinary circumstances of life.

People also spoke of the many pressures they experienced in their families. Economic uncertainty and instability around employment cause anxiety and fear about the future. Even more dramatically, the neighborhood violence that some families must endure on a daily basis is a painful hardship that distorts the ordinary routines most people take for granted. In a more general way, people lamented how the surrounding culture, especially through the media, does not support values of respect for the dignity of others, genuine human connection, and sacrifice for the greater good. When people spoke of these and other pressures that families experience, they also looked to the Church—their larger family in faith—not to provide easy solutions but to support hope and offer encouragement along the way. I came to understand what a decisive role the Church can play in supporting families, and the fundamental link between family and Church.

The work of the Synod will not be completed with the last session at the end of October. My hope is that the Synod will be a beginning for all of us to name the graces of family life in a deliberate and intentional way. I also hope that it will be a beginning for all of us who form the Church to take up the challenges of mutual support and encouragement, especially for families under fire. And, then, when we speak our narratives of grace and when we offer each other loving support in the face of daunting circumstances, we will be that Church that God wants us to be—his great family of faith, hope, and love.

 

 

Check out the latest reflections from the Synod by Archbishop Cupich and Fr. Cameli:www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL30oeUTJ9xG2yVcZ1b1l7rkD9F5vWw_XI