Dear Friends,
Thank you for participating in the Church’s largest consultation in history! Unlike a council beginning in Rome and then being disseminated around the world, a synod is a grass-roots effort that takes place at the local level. In October, Our Holy Father introduced the “Synod on Synodality” because He believes that only the entire people of God journeying together can answer the question, “What is the Holy Spirit saying to the church today?”
At our parish Listening Workshop on February 26, 2022, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament listened for the Spirit as we began a conversation to answer:
What are our hopes and dreams for what the church could become?
What do we see standing in the way of the church becoming what it needs to be?
Over this last month or so, you have continued this conversation by generously sharing your thoughts about what Communion, Participation and Mission means for you. The Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Synod Conversation Team and I have been reviewing your feedback and compiling a Synthesis Document which has been shared with the Archdiocese of Chicago. Follow this link to view the Feedback Report, but what we’ve heard so far is that Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament has a desire for:
- Real parish community and authentic welcoming that meets each of us where we are.
- Lifelong formation that equips us to better know and articulate our Catholic Faith.
- Our clergy, from the Holy Father and our Archbishops to the priests and deacons at our local parish, to be living models of holiness and teach by example.
- A renewed ardor for relationship with God.
So, what’s next?
Broadly speaking, our Synthesis Document will be combined with parishes across the Diocese and with diocese across the US to be shared with the United States’ Bishops and ultimately with Pope Francis himself at the Global Synod in 2023.
But, locally, we’ll be forming teams to help equip Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament to become the parish we dream it could be and to help us identify and remove those obstacles standing in our way. To join the team helping make Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament the parish we want it to be, and know it can be, I invite you to raise your hand by contacting the parish office at (847) 979-0901 or info@olbsegv.org or to schedule time to meet with me directly at go.oncehub.com/frdan.
Remember, “things get solved when you get involved.”
Yours in Christ, Fr. Dan Folwaczny, Pastor
FEEDBACK REPORT