Deanery Gatherings Scheduled

Amarillo—The final Deanery Gathering on the Bishop's Synod of 2023 will take place Saturday, May 14 at St. Mary's Cathedral, 1200 South Washington, Amarillo, according to Father Haider Quintero, pastor of St. Laurence Church and Diocesan Coordinator of the Synod process.

The gatherings are entitled Phase II of the Diocesan Experience of the Bishop's Synod of 2023: Consultation with the People of God. Father Quintero is also serving as the Contact Person between the Diocese of Amarillo and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).  

“We will gather and come together as people of Faith to participate in the synod with open hearts being led by the Holy Spirit,” said Father Quintero. “We will begin our meetings with a time of hospitality, followed by an opening prayer, invoking the assistance of the Holy Spirit so that our sharing will be guided by Him. Following the prayer, a presentation will be made to give an overview of the synodal process and the participant ground rules. Then we will move into small groups to begin the listening and conversation session. Afterwards, each one of the small groups will share with the large group the topics and fruits resulting from the discussion. The session will finish with the Prayer for the Synod or, the Adsumus (We Stand Before You).”

Father Quintero requests that the People of God should prepare for these gatherings through prayer and reflection.

“The whole synodal process is a prayerful process,” he said. “It is necessary to ask God in prayer to inspire each one of the participants so that we can have prayerful and fruitful meetings. Some of the decisive questions to ponder are: What do we hear the Holy Spirit saying to us? How are we as a diocese and a Universal Church walking together? How is the Holy Spirit calling on the Church to be transformed and renewed? Pope Francis also invites us to prepare by prayerfully reading the Word of God. This liturgical year in the Church we reflect on the Gospel of Luke, so we can prepare by reading it.

“I would like to encourage the people of the diocese to prepare for the gatherings as well by reading the documents already available. These documents are study resources that have been written by the Synod Secretariat and are available online at synod.va.”

Participants in the deanery gatherings will have, as a way to start the conversation, the fundamental question for the synod written down, as well as the proposed ten themes that will serve as helpful guidelines, according to Father Quintero.

“The conversation is certainly not limited to the fundamental question and the ten themes however,” he added. “The discussion should reflect the promptings of the Spirit in each one of the participants. The listening sessions are intended to help us in our shared mission of sharing the love of God with our brothers and sisters in our community.

“I invite everyone to join your sisters and brothers throughout the world and come to these listening sessions. The diocesan phase is a great opportunity for the people of the diocese to encounter, experience and live out the synodal journey together. The invitation is to allow ourselves to be part of the largest-ever consultation process in the history of the Catholic Church. The Church cannot be faithful to Jesus and to his mission without you!”

Father Quintero was asked what would be the next step after the deanery meetings?
“The next step after the diocesan meetings will be to prepare and write a diocesan synthesis which will be based on all the collated feedback from across the diocese as well as from the online questionnaire on the diocesan website,” he said. “The diocesan synthesis, or report, is to be submitted to the episcopal conference by this June. A final document will be issued in October 2023 by the Synod Fathers.

“This Synodal Process is not the end but a new beginning. Its aim is not just to produce a document but to journey together, inspiring people to dream about the church we are called to be and to restore strength to our hands for our common mission. In addition, we will arrive at conclusions to be implemented in each diocese.”

Father Quintero was asked what he hoped would be accomplished at these deanery gatherings…

“We place ourselves in the hands of God and pray the Holy Spirit be the one leading our discernment and conversations,” he said. “I think the synod is a great gift and opportunity to express what we see should be done in a very constructive spirit, free of all negativity. Listening to one another is enriched by getting to know each other and sharing a common path. We will meet to dream of a church where all its members are important and have an input in the building up of the Body of Christ.

“I would like to quote Bishop Patrick J. Zurek on this regard: ‘The Holy Father wants us to dream a little…dream of how we can improve the evangelization efforts of the Church. Dream of how the Church should look like in five years…ten!’

“Pope Francis asks us to listen to the Holy Spirit. What is He telling you? Reflect on why this change should be necessary. Ask yourself, how does this deepen Faith, manifest love of neighbor and generate love and joy? Then, ask; what am I willing to do to make this happen?”