October is a special month for the entire Church because the Synodal Assembly will take place in Rome. And “when the Church is in Synod,” the Pope reminds us, “this synodal dynamic alone carries its missionary vocation forward.”
“Mission is at the heart of the Church,” Pope Francis says in the video that accompanies his prayer intention, created and produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. “Through prayer and discernment, the Holy Spirit helps us carry out the ‘apostolate of the ear’ that is, listening with God’s ears in order to speak with the word of God.”
Since the Synod is “a journey,” its objective is “to reach out to everyone, to seek everyone, to welcome everyone, to involve everyone, without excluding anyone.”
Let us open our hearts and “pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a style of life at every level.” “Mission is at the heart of the Church. And even more when a Church is in Synod. This synodal dynamic alone carries its missionary vocation forward – that is, her response to Jesus’ mandate to proclaim the Gospel.
I would like to recall that nothing ends here. Rather, we are continuing an ecclesial journey here. This is a journey we will travel, like the disciples of Emmaus, listening to the Lord who always comes to meet us. He is the Lord of surprises.
Through prayer and discernment, the Holy Spirit helps us carry out the “apostolate of the ear,” that is, listening with God’s ears in order to speak with the word of God. And thus, we draw near to the heart of Christ. Our mission and the voice that draws us to him spring from him.
This voice reveals to us that the heart of mission is to reach out to everyone, to seek everyone, to welcome everyone, to involve everyone, without excluding anyone. Let us pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a style of life at every level, allowing herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit towards the world’s peripheries.”