From Mary Clare: Defines A Listening Journey and introduces how parishes, schools, and ministry groups participate in the process of listening, discernment, and action. [Insert excerpt from Bishop Gary’s 2024 Letter on deep listening] [Note from Marie - which letter is this?]
Needed expertise from Synod team: the resources/process that the parishes, schools, and ministry groups need to participate.
Why This Matters
The Church believes that faith, hope, and love are gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that through Baptism each person is called to help share these gifts in the world.
- Everyone has gifts, experience, and insight.
- Sharing those gifts helps bring hope, compassion, and justice into the world.
- Faith isn’t meant to stay inside church walls—it’s meant to show up in daily life.
The Church is called to be a living body, not a distant institution. Every Baptized person is essential to the life and witness of the Church. Through intentional listening, discernment, and shared responsibility, the Church is strengthened in its ability to respond to the needs of today’s world.
This vision is guided by three foundational pillars: Communion, Participation, and Witness.
1. Communion: Listening as a Way of Love
Listening is an act of love.
- Listening to God (through prayer and Scripture)
- Listening to one another (especially people who may not usually be heard)
When the Church listens—to God through Scripture and prayer, and to one another through shared reflection—it creates what is known as a Conversation in the Spirit. In plain terms, that means making space for reflection, honesty, and shared wisdom.
This form of listening:
- Honours the dignity of every person
- Creates space for healing and truth
- Allows leaders and community members to discern the way forward together
Communion means walking together. In communion, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and the People of God shepherd the Church collectively, through trust and mutual listening.
2. Participation: Every Voice Matters
Participation affirms that all are welcome, and all are called.
- The voice of each person matters to the Bishop, pastors, and appointed lay leaders.
- Each person brings unique charisms, talents, and life experience.
- Participation calls people to be intentional disciples—active contributors, not passive observers.
When the Church truly listens, individuals experience that being heard is as powerful as being loved.
Everyone discerns together—meaning they pray, listen, reflect, and inform the best way forward. It means the Bishop, pastors, and Diocesan leadership create pastoral direction by truly hearing the people they serve.
This doesn’t mean everyone votes on every single issue or topic. It means leaders make better decisions because they’ve truly heard the people they serve.
3. Witness: Bringing Good News Together
“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into
the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah
was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of
everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this
scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
(Luke 4:16-21)
The Church exists to bring Good News by word and action.
- Every Baptized person is a bearer of this witness.
- The Gospel calls us to bring hope, dignity, and freedom to all people.
Inspired by Luke 4:16–21 (which is considered a blueprint for Jesus’ ministry and therefore the way of the Church), the Church is especially called to serve the poor, the blind, prisoners, and the oppressed.
Witness is not only something the Church does—it is something the Church is. We announce the “time of God’s favour” by how we live, listen, and serve together.
Jesus did this through word and deed, through stories (parables) and signs (miracles), which reached people’s hearts.
Three key scripture passages help explain this work:
- The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8): feeding and nurturing life
- The Good Samaritan (Luke 10): healing and compassion
- The Mercy Parables (Luke 15: the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son): every life is valuable
These stories continue to shape the Church’s witness today.
Resources
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