Prayer service marks close of Diocesan Synod
Monday 3rd March 2025People across the diocese gathered together on Sunday to mark the end of our diocesan synod with an afternoon of prayer and thanksgiving.
Two years ago, Bishop John announced the start of a diocesan synod to asses the needs and challenges of our local Church in a post-pandemic world.
During that time, thousands of people have engaged with the process, exploring everything from engaging young people, and the role of lay people and women, to responding to the practical needs of those in our parish communities, supporting clergy, reaching out to people beyond the pews, and more.
This weekend, this thorough process of prayerful discernment and dialogue drew to its conclusion with the presentation of 40 recommendations, divided into four groups, which were voted on by clergy and lay synod members to reveal a new order of priority, which can be viewed here.
On Sunday evening, these recommendations were presented to Bishop John during a prayerful service of thanksgiving at St Patrick’s RC Church, in Collyhurst.
The Christian Mission of Love and Service
Reflecting on the journey that has brought us to this point, Bishop John reminded us of the importance of being open and adaptable to change as we live out our Christian mission of love and service.
He said: “In the scriptures, the Pharisees get a pretty bad press, which is perhaps a bit unfair, because, for the most part, they were very sincere and holy men.
“They really believed that by keeping the law, they would recognise a Messiah that came and they would be righteous before God – and they believed in the law to an absurd degree. So, by the time Jesus came, the good Pharisee, he was observing over 600 rules and regulations every day.
“They just detailed everything. Everything was so closely defined that there was no room for any real decision or choice at all. And it shut out that ability to love.”
Bishop John continued by drawing our attention to the Pharisee who asked Jesus what the most important part of the law was; to which Jesus replied that it was to love your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; and secondly, to love your neighbour as yourself.
He said: “That opens up a real sense of freedom.
“Circumstances change all the time and you have to be open to the possibilities of love, and so Paul tells us that the will of God is something alive and active. No two days are the same.
“We’ve got to recognise what God is asking us to do each day as well as the opportunities he’s giving us to love our neighbour. And in our changing world, we’ve got to accommodate the world in which we live so that we may have as many Gospel values in the reality of our lives, and that’s why the Synod is so important.”
The Road Ahead
The homily ended with an invitation to all to continue working, discerning, and praying together so we may always be open and responsive to what God is asking of us as we continue with the implementation of our Synod recommendations.
Bishop John will now appoint a group of clergy, religious, and lay volunteers to begin exploring how best to action all 40 recommendations into a Pastoral Plan to guide us in the years to come.
He said: “It gives us dimension. It gives us recommendations and priorities.
“I would say those 40 recommendations that we saw yesterday, every one of them has an importance but in a sense of priorities and hierarchy of decisions.
“Thank you for the part each and every one of you have had to play in our synod, but the journey goes on.
“Let’s now make our prayers for the next step and as we pray for Pope Francis and his recovery in these days. Let’s be sure that we follow his teachings that say that we go out to welcome others:
“We welcome people in. We help people in the Church to understand and live the faith, to be the missionary disciples he calls each and every one of us to be.”
Tagged | Bishop John | Diocese | Prayer | Synod
