Personal pilgrimage day

Today is Sunday, the Lord's day and a day of rest. Halleluia! It's been an intense couple of days. So I took it easy, soaking in grace. 

I did do one little personal project, though: a small pilgrimage to the church of San Lazzaro ai Lebbrosi:

I had mentioned my desire to do this pilgrimage to a few Romans earlier in the week, and none of them had heard of it. I was starting to wonder if it really existed, but sure enough I was able to find a Wikipedia page describing it (Italian only), as well as a few tourist sites mentioning it. So I located it in my maps app, and headed out.

The path to get there was not terribly difficult to follow, to be honest, and it helped to have signs like this pop up along the way:

After about 20-25 minutes of walking I found myself in a narrow alley, face to face with the church. Unfortunately, it was closed! I feared it might be the case, as none of the websites I had checked gave the opening hours. I did find this on the door:

D'oh! I had missed it by just a couple of hours. And with no telephone number indicated, I had (and still have) no idea how to book a special appointment to visit. I guess it will have to wait until I get to Rome next. But at least the spiritual purpose of the pilgrimage was accomplished, and that was the most important thing.

Some of you may be wondering why I wanted to visit a church that is clearly more on the obscure end of the spectrum. Well, in a previous post I wrote about the Order of Saint Lazarus, of which I am a member. I figured there must be a church dedicated to Saint Lazarus here in Rome, because all those ancient saints seem to get a shrine of some sort here. I was right -- this church dated from the 12th century, not long after the Order was founded! So I will definitely return to get some pictures from the inside to share with my friends back home.

Reporting in! part III

This morning was our last general congregation of the Synod to discuss the Instrumentum laboris. Once again, the various rapporteurs were given 10 minutes each to present their report to the assembled members of the Synod. Here I am with another one of the rapporteurs, for the group Anglicus D:

In case you are saying to yourself, "Boy that looks a lot like Bishop Robert Barron", there is a reason for that: it *is* Bishop Robert Barron. He was the first of the English-group rapporteurs to give a report. As it happens, I was scheduled to go last -- not just from the English groups, but from all of them.

As I mentioned in a previous post, our report this time departed from the usual approach by proposing an overall "paradigm of action", which was Jesus himself. The key insight that motivated this approach was that Jesus was a young man when he undertook his ministry. Following the insight from the Byzantine tradition, that growth in holiness means learning to incarnate attributes of Jesus in our lives, we approached the various "action items" not as objectives, but as means of living that incarnational principle. This was our first major recommendation, a "mega-modus" if you will.

Our other two major suggestions were related to the first. Our group would like to see the whole Church get involved in a follow-up process to the Synod. The dynamism we have experienced is a blessing to be shared, and that is what we are hoping for, for our countries, dioceses, parishes and families.

You can read the various small group reports here. Mine was Anglicus C, and I have reproduced it below.

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Relatio – Circulus Anglicus C

Moderator: Em.mo Card. COUTTS Joseph
Relator: S.E. Mons. DOWD Thomas

Preliminary comments

In looking at Part III, we saw that it was supposed to be a phase for "choosing", but we saw very little in the way of concrete suggestions for action.

Another weakness is that it flits between an inclusive approach that emphasizes that youth are part of the Church, and an approach that seems to wonder what the Church can do for youth. The approaches are inconsistent.

Another point is that part II was supposed to help us interpret the data of part I, but we are not really seeing an easy application of that principle to the text of part III.

How to move forward?

A brainstorming session led us to recognize three "major modi" that need to be the foundation of any individual action items.

• Ultimately, Jesus himself, in his person and life, is our overall "paradigm for action". All individual action items need to connect to Him.
• While we provide suggestions, particular churches will have to identify the concrete action items to follow based on their circumstances. We suggest that episcopal conferences be strongly invited to take up the results of the Synod and engage in a similar process of reflection in their own milieus, even including non-bishops in the deliberations, as this Synod has done.
• This Synod and its resulting document not the end of a process, but a beginning. We have felt a special anointing in the Synod, a renewed "flame". As episcopal conferences take up the next stage of reflection, we suggest that they in turn do so in a way that encourages regional groups, dioceses, parishes and families to undertake a discernment process in turn, so that the "flame" spreads.

We brainstormed many other action items, but rather than propose them as modi they can be found here as examples of how our modus #1 ("Jesus as a paradigm for action") can be implemented in a concrete way.

Placing Jesus at the centre

Following upon the principle that Christ "reveals man (homo) to himself", we use Jesus himself as our hermeneutic for this third part.

1. Jesus is the protagonist of our salvation. He in turn invites us into a personal relationship with him. We accept him as Lord (Biblical image: John 13), and this opens us up to receiving the Holy Spirit. He in turns calls us his friends. (Biblical image: John 15.)
2. The kerygma must be announced in such a way that the work Christ accomplished is understood so as to also understand the greatness of the invitation he makes us. The Gospel must be proclaimed not as a burden but as a call to the fullness of freedom, joy and peace. The conversion that comes from this initial call is continuous: we want to keep our eyes fixed on Christ to avoid sinking beneath the waves (Biblical image: Peter walking on water).
   
   • Kerygmatic proclamation should be welcoming, even (and especially) to those who might feel excluded -- communities themselves should demonstrate warmth, friendliness, places of relationship
   • Expressing the more difficult teachings (e.g. around sexuality) not just as rules but showing the values underpinning those teachings.
   • Kerygmatic catechesis, based on "start from the questions" concept
   • Religious leaders should be specially formed in building bridges and forming relationships
3. For many people, the personal relationship with Christ is mediated through the Church. Scandals and pastoral attitudes and approaches that lead to a counter-witness need to purified. The Church can and must reform so that it is truly a safe and trustworthy environment.
   
   • We need tools of good governance in our institutions to make them be (and seen as) trustworthy.
   • We must be visibly proactive in dealing with these scandals (and future ones)
4. Jesus is our model. With the Holy Spirit, we are called to incarnate his attributes in our life of discipleship. This is the principle behind the call to holiness. This "process of incarnation" is necessarily gradual, and requires spiritual formation and accompaniment.
   
   • Training in spiritual direction, making it available, keeping in mind spiritual guides should be icons of the living Christ
5. Christ was young when he accomplished his mission on earth. He needed to "grow in wisdom" over the course of his life (Luke 2:52). This is not some sort of defect in the incarnation, but a demonstration that "growing in wisdom" is actually a blessed part of being human. Accompanying young people is not about "getting more ministers". It is a sacred task, part of the ongoing process of incarnating Christ in the Church. As a corollary, we must avoid confusing physical age with maturity. Christ was young but not immature. (Biblical image: we can think of Paul and Timothy here.)
   
   • Draw up a formation road map, highlighting ways we can nurture the blossoming of youth in leadership, and the development of qualities. The aim should be to inculcate virtues, habits, skills and qualities that will enhance their intellectual, human, spiritual and affective maturity
   • Youth should be given opportunities to lead based on actual maturity and ability, not stereotyped maturity based on age alone
6. Considered spiritually, the most perfect encounter with Jesus is in the Eucharist. It calls us to continuous conversion of our lives, both individually and as a community. It is also a “divine service”, in that that Christ is coming to serve, heal and strengthen us. This is a form of mystagogia -- on an ongoing basis, we are being "initiated" more deeply into the mystery of Christ and discover the fullness of life.
   
   • A call to improve the actual celebration (ars celebrandi) especially in preaching and music, so that the participants feel the action of Christ in the liturgy -- a bigger dose of joy!
   • We should not forget the disabled in our liturgies -- being sure they are included shows forth the unity of the Body of Christ!
7. The grace of the Eucharist extends beyond the end of the celebration. As he did with his disciples when he sent them out two by two, Jesus sends us on mission (Luke 10:1-11). The transition from recipients of pastoral care to collaborators in pastoral care is part of the process of maturation. We do not need to wait for young people to magically “be ready” to join the “grown-ups” before they start being active. They possess the Holy Spirit, and engaging in mission - with accompaniment from a partner in mission - is part of the growth process.
   
   • Training needs to be given to accompaniers, and those being accompanied need to be trained in it as part of their training.
   • Use of volunteer years as formation opportunities
8. Part of "incarnating Christ" is the acceptance of the cross. He took it up, and he specifically called us to "take up our cross and follow him" (Mark 8:34). The word "martyr" originally means "witness".  As disciples who are sent we must "witness" in part by the renunciation of self we are called to (i.e. to carry our cross), even if it doesn't lead to the martyrdom of blood (or even if it does).
   
   • The use of testimonies is a powerful part of proclamation and formation.
9. The mission to which Jesus sends us is expressed in our specific vocation. Living our vocation will always involve some level of self-renunciation, as otherwise we are trying to keep "all vocational doors open". This renunciation is part of growth in maturity (Biblical image: the call of Jeremiah).
   
   • Making sure we present a complete picture of vocation, which does not discount specifically religious vocations but which does not discount other vocations either
   • Help people discover their talents, give them platforms to use them
   • Help to foster hope for the married vocation (cf Amoris laetitia)
   • Connect vocation to the notion of work, as that is where many are looking for their vocation
10. We recognize that Jesus identifies himself with the poorest and most vulnerable (Biblical image: Matthew 25). Therefore, our service is not just a form of "Christian humanitarianism", it is service to Christ himself. And many of those who are poor and vulnerable (with whom Christ identifies most strongly) are themselves young people.
    
    • Care for creation
    • Service to migrants, refugees, IDP
    • Human trafficking
    • Service on the political scene, for justice and peace
    • Counselling to those who are wounded
    • Care for the sick, incarcerated persons
    • Assistance to families in difficult circumstances, young pregnancies and single mothers
    • Education -- expanding access (e.g. via financial support)
11. This "incarnating of Christ" must also be lived by intermediate communities such as small groups, religious communities, movements, parishes, dioceses, episcopal conferences, and so on. We cannot consider just the individual or universal levels of the Church -- the levels in between are often where this "incarnation" really happens.
    
    • Networking -- inside and outside the church
    • Giving ourselves institutional tools to live and work as one body:
      • Presence of youth in pastoral councils/forums (parish, diocesan, episcopal conference)
      • Youth councils/hubs
      • Dicastery for youth that would coordinate youth-related themes that are found already in dicasteries but not in a networked way.
      • All discussion bodies to be trained in methods of discernment, not just decision making
    • Working ecumenically
    • Our intermediate church bodies could use a Year for Youth to help them along in this process of conversion.
    • Spiritual leaders in the Church need to be formed in this new approach to youth formation, inclusion and leadership
    • The place of women in leadership: is it currently allowing women to make their fullest possible contribution of service as members of the body?
    • Multiculturalism, diversity in the church
    • Regional Youth Days with international participation

Final day of small groups

Today was a serious work day, particularly for those of us who have the role of Rapporteur. Originally, the Synod schedule required us to get our "rapporteur reports" in by Saturday a little after noon. This would have given us time to have our meetings today, prepare the text of the various amendments we wanted to propose, vote on them Saturday morning, and use the rest of the morning to write up the report. But with the change in the schedule, the amendments and accompanying report was now due *tonight*. Which meant that we lost an entire evening and subsequent morning to do the paperwork.

So I was up early today, writing a skeleton for the report and reviewing my notes to see what elements of modi I could piece together already in advance of our group discussion. Again, part III was tough. I did not have a lot to go on, and I hoped that the meeting this morning would help us advance better.

As it turned out, it did. The group is absolutely fantastic, and all present realised the situation. Our discussions were more focussed, bringing forward practical ideas to address the situation(s) of youth in the Catholic Church today. Of course, one major problem: how to bring unity to all these various proposal? How to avoid our many ideas and amendments (36 in total by the end) seeming to be just a lot of darts being thrown at a dartboard?

I had the 4-hour break between the morning and afternoon sessions to come up with an idea. But as I was putting the pieces of the puzzle together, one thing emerged as an idea: Jesus himself. *He* is our ultimate paradigm for action. If we look at core elements of his life and ministry, all the other various ideas fell into place.

So rather than write 36 individual amendments, I wrote up my rapporteur report first, hooking the amendments onto the report. I then brought copies of the report to my small group, so we could discuss it together. I sensed the group was a bit taken aback by the unique approach, but once they saw it was an attempt to respect everyone's point of view while at the same time providing a unified approach in the compressed time frame we had, we just dove in. I made sure to let the people know I was not emotionally invested in the text, and that all critiques were welcome. Many improvements were suggested to the text, and then we voted. Approved!

As this was our last small group meeting together, we decided to have a group photo on the steps outside our meeting room:

I took the rest of the evening to polish up the report based on the critiques received. I left the Paul VI hall around 7:45 pm, meaning I had been working on this thing for 12 hours straight. In a word, I was pooped. I had a bit of adventure getting out, because it turns out the Swiss Guards had locked the gate into Vatican City. I had to go to the nearby gendarme post and find my way through an interior guard post to get into Saint Peter's square. Not a big deal, but just another part of the adventure.

I want to thank my group for being so amazing. It was a pleasure to work with all of them, and I know we have all grown from this experience. We come out of it having discovered new brothers (and sisters!) in Christ, around the world.

A bit of Canada in Rome

Today was another work day. In the morning we listened to the final interventions (i.e. 4-minute speeches) from the remaining synod members, in preparation for going into our final set of small group sessions. The four delegates representing the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops decided to have a group photo taken on the terrace of the Paul VI Hall:

From left to right: me; Archbishop Luc Cyr (Sherbrooke); Bishop Lionel Gendron (Saint-Jean-Longueuil, President of the CCCB); and Bishop Stephen Jensen (Prince-George).

After lunch we came back to meet in our small group for discussions on the final part (part III) of the Instrumentum laboris. It was challenging, to say the least, not because of any internal dissension in the group, but because part III itself was hard to get a handle on. As well, a change in the overall synod calendar meant that we would have one less session for study and discussion. We spent a big chunk of our meeting just trying to figure out the direction we wanted to take as a group.

Fortunately, the evening offered an opportunity to relax. A van was waiting to pick up the Canadians, we take us to the official residence of the Ambassador of Canada to the Holy See. There, we were warmly received by M. Dennis Savoie and his wife Claudette. Along with a few guests who had already arrived, we were treated to a lovely meal together.

When the meal was over we went into the parlour of the residence to continue sharing friendship and even some music! Father Pierre Paul (seen in the photo in grey) is quite the pianist, and soon a group of us were singing along to pieces he was playing. It made the think that this is probably how people used to keep themselves entertained before television and smartphones. Not a bad way to live, at all.

Mr. and Mrs. Savoie are coming to the end of their time in Rome, as Mr. Savoie's term as ambassador will soon be up. It was a pleasure to be able to share this time with them. Many thanks for your hospitality and your service to Canada and the Holy See!

EWTN interview + I may have committed heresy

I was asked to be on EWTN last night, as part of their coverage of the Synod. The day's sessions ended at 7:15 pm, and I was expected at the EWTN studio for 7:30, so I hoofed it over there with little time to waste. Fortunately it was not far, just a little up the Via della Conciliazione (about halfway to the residence where I am staying). Even more fortunately, as I got to the imposing wooden door it opened to reveal a young woman who was heading out to try and find me! Divine providence strikes again!

Although I did get there on time there were a couple of guests ahead of me, so I had a chance to stand on the rooftop and catch of bit of evening breeze. The view overlooks Saint Peter's square, which is absolutely gorgeous at night. When it was my turn I sat down, had some makeup put on, and got miked. Here is what the studio set looked like:

Not a bad view in the background, eh? And that's not a fake backdrop, that's the real dome of Saint Peter's basilica.

The interview went well, it seemed to me. Here is the video as posted on Youtube by EWTN, so you can judge for yourself (I have queued it up to my interview):

As for the heresy I mentioned in the title of this post, it wasn't during the interview, but after. The interview started a little after 8 pm. After it was done I got de-miked, and then headed out of the building. By the time I got home, it was past supper time -- and I was hungry. I got out of my fancy bishop clothes, put on a T-shirt and some jeans, and headed out to a restaurant I knew I was familiar with:

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! Here I am in the heart of Italy, and yet I succumbed to a "Bic Mac attack". That being said, there really is nothing like a burger + fries to satiate a quick hunger. And one thing I've learned is that no matter where you go in the world, when it comes to McDonald's, you know what you are going to get.

That time when the Pope and I shared a laugh

Today I had a chance to offer my "synod intervention". This is a speech each synod member is invited to present, with a maximum time of 4 minutes. We were asked to prepare ours well in advance (my first draft was finished in June), and then have them approved by the conference of bishops (which the Canadian conference did for mine in the last week of September). Upon arriving in Rome, we registered the text of our interventions with the synod secretariat, so they could arrange the order of the speakers and make sure our intervention would happen on a day when we were discussing parts of the Instrumentum laboris relevant to our personal topic.

Except... on the first day, the Pope told us that we should see our intervention as only a first draft. That we should allow ourselves to be influenced by the discussions going on, and possibly change our intervention. That we should feel free to let the Holy Spirit move.

I was delighted by this, not only because I believe in letting the Holy Spirit move, but because I found the intervention very hard to write. Simply put, the written word is not the same as an oral presentation -- the style and tone are often very different. Also, I had written my original intervention not knowing anything of the dynamics of a Synod, or even who my audience would really be. So I paid close attention to the Spirit, and to the other interventions.

In the end, I decided to re-write my intervention completely. I wanted to speak on catechesis, and that had not changed, but I decided to adopt a less theoretical approach by using a concrete example to illustrate my point (what I've called in the past the "puzzle of faith"). I also decided to risk adding a bit of humour. And it worked! The assembly shared a good laugh, including the Pope!

My intervention was just before the coffee break in the morning, so I had a chance to chat with synod participants over a cappucino. I am pleased to report that not only did they remember the joke, they also remembered the point I was making. One even suggested that Bishop Robert Barron and I collaborate to further develop the point I was making, as Bishop Barron had also spoken about the importance of good catechesis (a fact I referenced in my speech).

Shortly before heading back up to the synod hall, a Cardinal I did not recognize approached me and began to speak of the Youcat catechism published by the Vatican, and he wondered what I thought of it. After all, it was a big seller throughout the world. I replied that, while I appreciated the Youcat and its question-and-answer format, its great weakness is that is does not have a narrative structure. He paused thoughtfully and said he agreed that indeed, it did not. We continued our exchange on the topic, and at one point I admitted that I did not know his name. He apologized for not having worn his nametag, and then said that he was Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna.

Wow. If there is one guy who knows about catechesis, it is him. He was the secretary of the commission that prepared the original version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the late 1980's and early 1990's. That catechism, sometimes called the CCC, is definitely one of the signature contributions to the exposition of the Catholic faith of the past 400+ years. I shared with him about the impact the catechism had on me when it first came out, when I was a young man still asking a lot of questions about my faith. He smiled and said that his time working on the CCC was one of the most significant experiences of his life.

When I get back to the synod hall we still had a few minutes before starting again. The Pope was back at his seat, so I went down just to say hello. He recognized me, shook my hand, broke into a big smile and said (slowly, in English), "If you want to be Pope... you can take it!"

LOL! People have not stopped teasing me since. My point was not to be funny, of course, but to use humour to get a message across. And I think it worked. Several people have asked me for a copy of my synod intervention, something I was not expecting, and an article was even written (in Italian, no less!) about it. So I am happy to share it here for those who are interested. See if you can spot the part that made the Pope laugh.

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Putting together the puzzle of faith

My intervention is on the topic of catechesis. I once had a conversation with a young Mormon woman who was in the process of becoming Catholic through the RCIA. She was a catechumen, but she was dissatisfied with the catechesis she was receiving. "We are learning lots of facts, going line by line through the creed for example, but they are not showing us how the facts connect together." She was not criticizing the faith, but the way it was presented. She needed a methodology adapted to her, with some basic starting information to put the whole of the faith in context.

I replied that the Catholic faith was like a jigsaw puzzle, one of those very large puzzles with at least a thousand pieces. The first step is to turn over the pieces to see the image on each one. The individual images don't look like much, but as they are put together a greater picture emerges. To build the image, though, we start by looking for the corner and the edge pieces, so as to build the frame of the puzzle, and then fill it in as we see, over time, where particular pieces fit together. And we often use the picture on the box as a guide put putting those pieces together.

I was born in 1970, and my religious upbringing in the Catholic school system and in our parishes used a new approach to catechesis. I can say it was an abysmal failure. In many cases, it remained too academic, i.e. it just gave us pieces, and no overall picture. It also gave us no starting methodology to build the puzzle ourselves. And often, our catechists left out pieces or tried to introduce others that were foreign to the Catholic image, or refuse to turn some of them over so we could see the true image and not just a grey backside. Thank goodness I had parents well-versed in Catholic teaching, as I do not think the catechesis and Catholic education I had received at my parish and school would have been sufficient. I can see the results among my friends, many if not most of whom no longer practice or even believe.

Based on some previous interventions, it would seem my experience was not unique. We know that there must be more than just an intellectual component to being a disciple, but we must also realise that young people -- and not so young -- have real and often deep questions for which they seek answers. We have heard how a new form of catechesis should follow the questions of young people, as was mentioned by Bishop Barron in his comments on Part I. Of course, with such a huge puzzle -- and life itself generates many questions -- we need to know where to start. We need the corner and edge pieces of the puzzle that give us the framework -- four key questions, you might say -- and we need an overall picture to help guide us as we build that puzzle.

The Holy Father has invited us to speak boldly. In that case, let me say that if I was Pope -- I know I'm not, and rest assured, you Holiness, I am not after your job -- but if I was, I'd write an encyclical on the 4 basic questions I believe constitute the corners and edges that anchor the puzzle. These questions are:

• Who is God?
• If God is good, why is there evil in he world?
• If God is good but there is evil in the world, what has God done about it?
• If God is good but there is evil in the world and God is doing something about it, how can we be part of it?

It is my conviction that these questions haunt the heart of every person, religious or not, and that the Christian faith can give a complete answer to those questions. God is love, the tragedy of sin, the drama and beauty of salvation history, and the call to vocation. In other words, start with the answers to those questions, and every other question falls into place. The picture on the box is revealed. It does not exempt us from building the puzzle ourselves, as no two people will notice the same patterns in exactly the same order, as our life experiences are different. But we'll know where to start and how to finish, and if we make a mistake we can more easily correct it without confusion.

It is my hope that this Synod will propose a renewal of catechesis that includes an approach respectful of individual questions but which also helps guide young people on their journey of "building the puzzle".

Thank you for your attention.

Reporting in! part II

Today was the conclusion of our discussion on Part II of the Instrumentum Laboris. I was up early, as our small group met in the morning to finalize the various modi we wanted to present as suggestions to the committee that will be writing the draft of the final document. It was a lot of preparation, but the meeting went super well, and we were done within the first hour. That gave me a chance to write my second "rapporteur report", which needed to be handed in by 12:30 pm.

We got back to the main synod hall by 4:30 pm, and soon thereafter we start the process once again of verbally presenting the written reports to the members of the Synod. Again, I had this duty, but this time I was much more comfortable with the task. Part of the challenge, mind you, was orally presenting a report that I knew would later be shared in print with the world. The oral word and the written word constitute two very different literary genres, so I adapted my written presentation with a few side comments (and even a few jokes). The synod members seemed pleased, and more importantly, they seemed to "get it". That was the most important part of the presentation for me, as I wanted to make sure I was faithfully communicating the consensus of our group to the broader audience.

One original element of our presentation is that we had a diagram to illustrate how certain different vocations relate to each other. While the Vatican Press Office did publish the presentation (along with several others) they left out the diagram! So that you can see the whole thing as it was presented, feel free to keep reading below.

I'll admit that I was pretty wired after the presentation. I don't mind speaking in public but obviously I want to be true to our small group, so I want to get it right. Of course, there are remedies for stress, including exercise, and here in Rome, gelato! A brother bishop and I headed out for some "limone et pistacchio", my two favorites in one cup... mmmm good!

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Moderator: Em.mo Card. COUTTS Joseph
Relator: S.E. Mons. DOWD Thomas

Preliminary comment

In looking at Part II, our group looked to the overall structure in #3 to inform our work. We saw that part I looked at the concrete situation of youth today, while part II was meant to cause us to reflect on how to interpret that data (while part III will be the phase where we examine concrete suggestions for action).

Our goal as a group, therefore, was to develop a hermeneutical model (i.e. an interpretive framework) for that evaluation of part I, which will then help us eventually offer suggestions for concrete pastoral action (that will be done in part III).

Our various modi should be considered as concrete applications of the overall approach to this part as well as to the specific hermeneutical approaches appropriate to each chapter. To avoid presenting them as individual modi, we have also prepared a separate document with suggestions for clarification of terminology, editorial suggestions, etc.

Chapter 1

A Christian interpretive framework must be rooted in a Christian worldview, which is essentially rooted in Scripture. With its many examples from Scripture, we saw the essential function of Chapter 1 as an attempt to provide concrete Biblical reference points for this overall hermeneutic.

Among the Biblical examples the Instrumentum laboris provided, we saw certain ones as out of place:

#77: Joshua succeeds Moses, but then he leads an army of conquest
#81: The call of Samuel is actually a poor example of the dynamics of a young person seeking his vocation.
#83: The prayer of Solomon is beautiful, but his later life is not an example for young people!
#83: The Esther example is also full of violence and trickery.

We think the call of Jeremiah (#78) as a core hermeneutical key in Chapter 1. It should be retained. The encounter between Jesus and the rich young man is also important.

To these we would add Paul's relationship with Timothy. He advises him to “let no one despise your youth” -- Timothy has real responsibility in the Church, given to him by a gift of the Holy Spirit but also by the laying on of hands, and is also being guided by his “elder friend” Paul.

With regards to the process of accompanying, we also see the sending of the disciples two by two (Luke 10:1-11). Jesus accompanies them, and then entrusts them with real responsibility -- but with them accompanying each other. He also listens to them when they return, and prays for them.

With regards to the fear that some feel when they are facing their call, we would add the passage of Peter walking on water. He is called by Christ to come and walk, and he does. He only begins to sink when he takes his eyes off Jesus, but Jesus rescues him.

Other Biblical examples will be found in other modi.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 provides an overview of different vocations, beginning with the very broad (“the mystery of vocation that illuminates creation”) to vocations very specific to the Church (ordained ministry, consecrated life). We saw the description of the various types of vocations as “pearls on a string”, each description having its own value, but being even more valuable when properly related to each other.

We would therefore propose a restructuring of the presentation of chapter 2 (“vocations in the light of faith”) to better illustrate the relationships between the various layers of vocation. One could call this a “vocational pyramid”.

The base layer: Being loved for love's sake

Our group saw this basic dimension of human existence as important to highlight. It is alluded to in #88 when reference is made to vocation being characteristic of all creation. In short, there are people -- especially the weakest and most vulnerable -- whose vocation might not be to action, but to a more passive reception of the love of others. This is a great gift to the overall community, and we thought of Jean Vanier as a modern prophet to demonstrates that those with intellectual handicaps are not to be thought of as human failures -- they are gifts that help all develop their humanity by calling us to a love that is greater than efficiency.

The call to holiness

The next layer in the vocational “pyramid” is the call to holiness, which by its very nature is universal. However, we recognized that the expression “call to holiness” can conjure images that obscure this universal meaning. For example, we felt that in many people's minds, the “call to holiness” sounds like a mere “call to piety” or worse, a call to mere pious practices.
In order to express this concept more completely and in plain language that can speak to young people, we felt that any explanation of this universal call could use applications such as:

• The call to holiness is ultimately a call to happiness and joy, not an external imposition
• The call to holiness means a call to become the best possible version of oneself
• The call to holiness includes a call to find one's best possible path in life -- it includes one's internal call, but also how to respond to the concrete situations of life around us
• Drawing on an insight from the Eastern church, the call to holiness is about incarnating attributes of God in our life, e.g. joy, mercy, justice, care for creation, etc.

The greatest sign of holiness is, of course, charity (agape). We propose that the story of Saint Therese of Lisieux, who was attracted to all particular vocations (even priesthood) but found the unity of all of them in love as a wonderful illustration of this principal.

For the next two layers, we wanted to distinguish “vocations of being” (calls to particular states of life) from “vocations of doing” (calls to a particular profession, career, apostolate, etc.).
The “vocations of being”

The discussions of ordained ministry, consecrated life, marriage, and the single life led us to contemplate how these states of life are related to each other. We used this model as a visual aid:

The states of celibate and married life are mutually exclusive, so they do not touch. Each can be a “state of life” vocation unto itself. However, it is possible for them to be combined with states which touch them.

• For example, a Latin-rite diocesan priest is generally both “clergy” and “celibate”, while a permanent deacon is often both "clergy" and "married". A lay religious would be "
• The vocation of a religious priest includes three callings: “clergy”, “consecrated life”, and “celibate”.
• The existence of third orders, as well as new forms of consecrated life, often allow married persons to participate in a charism of consecration. If lived by a married cleric, it is also a way to combine three “states of life”.

The “vocations of doing”

In our discussions it became clear that, for many young people, a key aspect of discernment is the attempt to find an answer to a very practical question: “What am I going to do with my life?” Many would prefer a profession that gives them meaning and responds to their talents rather than one which merely provided sustenance.

We recognized that for many people (and for many past generations) the idea of “fulfillment” was not found in work. Work was/is a matter of survival, not of career choice, and meaning/fulfillment was generally found in family life outside of the actual job. Still, this distinction is emerging more and more, and must be addressed.

Our general consensus is that finding ones “vocation of doing” generally means following one's talents. We recognized that in some cases what appears to be a secular career is actually a deeper calling (for example, even in the secular world being a teacher is often described as a “calling” rather than a mere job or career). Saint Paul takes the image of the Body of Christ, in which each member has a specific part to play, and then expands it into lists of specific “roles” that can serve as guidelines for finding the specific calling (see 1 Cor 12 and Eph 4).

Chapter 3

Our group found chapter 3 of part II to be very wordy. Keeping in mind that the purpose of Part II is to provide an “interpretive framework” or “hermeneutic of vocation”, our group analyzed chapter 3 to see what key concepts it provided within all the verbiage.

We want to highlight the following insights/concepts which we feel should be retained:

• Discernment, in plain language, is the process of finding your best path in life, according to the internal gifts/talents one has, as well as the external environment/opportunities one lives in.
• Following one's “emotions” seems too superficial as a criteria of finding one's vocation. What we really should be looking to do is find and follow one's deepest desire, one's truest joys, one's inner peace.
• True discernment recognizes that a vocation is an invitation, not an imposition. It does not include the idea that if you've missed your “only” calling you've somehow missed the boat. All genuine vocations possess true good and God can bless them regardless of our specific choice of vocation.
• Following one's vocation does include an ascetic component, in that finally making a choice can mean renouncing other choices. People who want to keep all their options open can never really discern.

 Chapter 4

Our group found chapter 4 of part II to be very important. We recognize that accompaniment can come in many forms. Keeping in mind that the purpose of Part II is to provide an “interpretive framework” or “hermeneutic of vocation”, we sought to discern what are the elements of “true” accompaniment.

• As a first point, we wanted to highlight that true accompaniment respects that the discernment being made does not belong to the mentor, but to the person being accompanied. Manipulation can never be part of a true accompaniment. Members of our group, unfortunately, shared stories of this form of pseudo-accompaniment, some of which even seemed well-meaning (as opposed to predatory) but which was still inappropriate.
• With this in mind, we appreciated the emphasis in the document on the respect for the freedom and conscience of the person being accompanied. We would like these concepts to be more fully developed (see our modi related to this point).
• Accompaniment should be done in a climate of friendliness, trust and warmth. However, it should not be so friendly that objectivity is lost. The Irish notion of anim cara (“soul friend”) is a good image here. The mentor should also be free to offer "fraternal correction" when necessary, without losing the respect for freedom and conscience as mentioned before.
• We contributed a modus suggesting that the relationship between “spiritual” and “psychological” accompaniment be more completely addressed so as to show the unity between them while at the same time respecting the specific contributions of each.
• The role of the community in accompaniment is very important, in that a “calling” is often initiated and verified in the context of a community. It is not just the individual doing an individual discernment.
• It is important to emphasize that mentors should pray for those they are accompanying. They must carry them in their heart before God.

Concluding observations

Our group wanted to highlight the centrality of the Eucharist in the process of discernment.

• The Eucharist is not just the offering of the consecrated species, but includes the offering of oneself to the Father. This is a fundamentally vocational dimension to the Eucharist.
• The Eucharist is what gathers the community that does the discerning alongside the young person.
• In the Emmaus story, it is in the Eucharist that the “eyes of the disciples are opened”.
• Many people do the prayerful element of their discernment in the context of the Eucharist.

A modus has been offered in this regard.