Believe it or not, the Building on the Synod efforts in our diocese didn't come out of nowhere. In October 2021, Pope Francis opened the Synod on Synodality, thereby inaugurating the first ever listening process in which the people of God were invited to participate. In the months to follow, 470+ listening sessions with 6,000+ participants addressed this question: "based on your personal experience, what breaks your heart and what fills your heart about the Catholic Church?"

Comments submitted to the diocese, which were then synthesized in our diocesan synod report, which was submitted to the USCCB in June 2022. But the story doesn't end there...reports are not made to sit on shelves. In the See - Judge - Act method, we did the "see" portion, and now it was time to discern, or "judge." From the list of eleven themes that emerged in listening sessions, in the fall of 2022, parish councils and school boards used a a process to discern and come to consensus about which themes most needed to be address in their communities. This has charted a path for our diocese to address the following themes over the next three years:

• Welcoming and Belonging (2023-2024)

• Youth and Family Engagement (2024-2025)

• Church Teaching and Tradition (2025-2026)

With these priorities in mind, it was time to turn to the "act" phase. In the winter and spring of 2023, parish pastors and school principals began identifying representatives from their local community to help lead efforts to better integrate the theme of welcoming and belonging in their communities.

Finally, on June 17, 2023, parish and school representatives from across the diocese gathered for a Synodal Summit to kickstart our yearlong focus on welcoming and belonging. You can read about the Synodal Summit here in The Catholic Messenger.

"To the people in exile the prophet’s words evokes the experience of the exodus, when they dwelt in tents, and announces the promise of the return to the land, a sign of joy and hope. To prepare, it is necessary to enlarge the tent, acting on the three elements of its structure. The first is the tent cloth, which protect from the sun, wind and rain, delineating a space of life and conviviality. They need to be spread out, so that they can also protect those who are still outside this space, but who feel called to enter it. The ropes that hold the cloths together are the second structural element of the tent. They must balance the tension needed to keep the tent from drooping with the softness that cushions movement caused by the wind. That is why if the tent expands, the ropes must be stretched to maintain the right tension. Finally, the pegs are the third element: they anchor the structure to the ground and ensure its solidity, but remain capable of moving when the tent must be pitched elsewhere." - From the Working Document for the Continental Stage of the Synod on Synodality: "Enlarge the space of your tent"