His name is Dennis...
So Mom and I went to church tonight to participate in the Synod on Synodality, AKA the Synod on the Synod. And... There was like no one there. LOL! Well, they said maybe 40 people showed up this AM, but then this PM aside from the church people leading the thing, there were like a little over 10, maybe 12? We split in 2 groups and I was with "Matt Maher". Lol.
Oh but first... When we walked in the Deacon (the elder) waved to me from across the room, but then later came up to me and said hi, that he had waved, but didn't stop by, so... Does he even know my name??? Lol.
We were invited to have snacks. Mom was like, no... We just ate. I want snacks! Anyway, soon after I bump into "Matt Maher". Uh... They had an intro prayer service which included "All Are Welcome". Uh... Isn't that song banned? But then we broke up into groups to discuss where we hoped the church would go, keeping in mind the church in the US and not our parish.
As I said, it was Mom, I, "Matt Maher", this other guy, 2 "older" women. Another woman showed up soon after we broke off. So we went around and introduced ourselves. I intro'd Mom. That's when I found out he's Dennis and not "Matt". I don't remember anyone else's name.. Lol. One lady did most of the talking. About community, transparency, etc. At one point she said she wanted to hear from me, the young people. Uh... I mentioned the need for more cathechesis. She mentioned that she had seen Mom and I at Mass (??? I seriously have never seen her before), but not once did we talk or say hi. She seemed to imply Mom doesn't understand or speak English, but Mom said she doesn't talk in church. But she seemed to simply disregard that and say, just smile. On one hand Mass isn't about community, but I get the Parish is. So... She also talked about how she liked how Deacon Paul isn't afraid to speak and reminds us of things that we need to hear. About the only time there was any sort of "disagreement" was the guy taking the notes said he and I seemed to be the youngest there. I kept wanting to say I'm not that young. And he said he wanted a continuity and not a flavor of the month liturgy. Like if he goes to Mass in a parish 20 mins away he might get a guitar Mass while at another it's smells and bells. He'd prefer the latter. Like in a sense I'm on his team, but then... He also seemed to imply church hopping is OK, which I'm not a fan of. All that being said, we all agreed our Parish is good, we've had good priest, good liturgy. At the end there Dennis threw in less social justice. LOL! In a sense... I don't feel like the "younger people", mainly me, the scribe and "Matt Maher" really expressed what we wanted to say. We let that one woman talk a lot and yes... Community is good, but... I kinda feel like younger people want stability and therefore turn to the Church for it. Like someone mentioned about Deacon Paul telling it how it is. And I thought, but couldn't formulate how to say it at the time how... We not only need to know what is right, but why. And why the Church teaches that. That's why I feel like there needs to be a focus on Cathechesis. At the end end, each group announced to the whole group what the ideas were. OMG... We both agreed for the need of more catechesis. The other group mentioned Bible study. But then... Talking about woman deacons and should a priest leave the priesthood to get married there should be amnesty for him. Yikes...
cc 7500centfish