Indian Catholics during a Good Friday procession in Amritsar on March 30, 2018. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP)
Oct 29 2021
The term synod comes from the image of journeying together – of walking together. The dogmatic constitution on the Church – “Lumen Gentium” – emphasizes that the Church is a pilgrim people that journeys towards her final destiny – the reign of God.
The image of pilgrimage and journeying together is important. We are constantly on the move. We journey together.
There are two ecclesiological themes associated with the pilgrim people: Communion and People of God.
Communion is primarily relational – how the members of the pilgrim community relate to one another and with the Triune God.
People of God is mission-oriented: participation in Christ’s prophetic, priestly, and kingly/servant mission. Thus, we can say that the synodal Church is a pilgrim community whose members live in communion and participate in Christ’s mission as a priestly, prophetic and kingly people of God.
Living in Communion
In the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), the term communion appears in the first chapter under the general heading of the “Mystery of the Church.”
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