Young people of Bombay
Archdiocese in “Synodgy” with Rome Synod
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| Synodgy2018 of Bombay Archdiocese. |
The young people of India’s Bombay Archdiocese came together
to celebrate “Synodgy 2018” in spiritual solidarity with the current Synod of
Bishops on young people in Rome.
By Robin Gomes
Young Catholics from all over the Archdiocese of
Bombay in India came together in Mumbai on October 7 to participate in
a novel way in the Synod of Bishops on young people currently taking place in
the Vatican.
Mumbai’s young Catholics celebrated what they called Synodgy2018 that
aimed at inspiring young people to work together with the Church, with the
promise that the Church would listen and respond to them.
The October 3-28 synod has as its theme “Young People, the
Faith and Vocational Discernment.”
Synodgy?
Father Magi Murzello, the rector of St Andrew’s College,
explained to Crux that he coined the word “Synodgy” combining the words ‘synod’
and ‘synergy’, which means synod and youth working together.
Rosary
Sunday, October 7, being the feast of Our Lady of
the Rosary, Synodgy2018 kicked
off with a rosary pilgrimage by more than 1,000 young people at the Basilica
of Our Lady of the Mount, Bandra.
Bishop Barthol Barretto inaugurated the
event with a small prayer and the release of a balloon rosary in the sky.
The rosary reflections highlighted the importance of the
rosary for young people. Students of St. Andrew’s College enacted
the classic allegory of the hare and the tortoise bringing out the themes of
the glorious mysteries.
The procession concluded at the Apostolic Carmel
Convent where a short prayer was offered for the success of the Synod.
The event included a video presentation of interviews with
young people, who spoke about the relevance of the Church today and what they
would do if they were made pope for a day.
The climax of Synodgy2018 was the Holy Mass concelebrated by
Bishop Barretto, at the end of which the participants were served refreshments
and were entertained by a group of talented singers, musicians and performers.
Message of Card. Gracias
The event also projected a video message to the participants
from Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay who is in
Rome attending the synod on youth. He expressed satisfaction that
“Synodgy is celebrating this universal event on the home ground.”
“Stay high and excited in our faith in Jesus Christ,” he
urged the young people of his archdiocese. “Synodgy,” he said, “is here
to ignite you and inspire you to work together
youthfully and faithfully even as we commit to listen to you,
accompany you so that you make your choices and decisions which will bring you
inner contentment, reveal the beauty and meaning of life and the Christian
life.”
In his message, Gracias said the pope was inviting the
entire Church to be involved the moment of opportunity. “The Church
knows that we cannot offer yesterday’s solutions to the problems you face
today. And so in order to better respond through the lens of the
Gospels, Pope Francis wants this to be a graceful time where we move
forward as a Church relevant in our days,” the cardinal said.
Reminding his young people about the call of the Second
Vatican Council to renewal, Cardinal Gracias who is president of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), expressed confidence that the
universal event of the synod “will add new oxygen and renewal in
the ways we serve the young people.”
In this, he said, “Pope Francis edifies our understanding of
reaching out to youth.” In the synod’s preparatory document the Pope
reminds the youth that they are the “protagonists, the main actors in the
Church of today”. “And so over these years of preparations he is calling
us to be a listening Church that accompanies you having discerned God’s plan
for every young person.”
The cardinal said the Church wants to reach out to
young people in their concrete actual situation.
“We want to encounter you in the flesh and in the
wounds and bruises you live with. So, listening to young people has
happened by way of surveys where youth of all dioceses of the world responded
including our own Archdiocese of Bombay,” said Cardinal Gracias who is also
president of the Federation of the Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC).
He recalled that Pope Francis had met some 300 youth from
around the world, including from India, at a special pre-synod youth
event in Rome in March. The Pope listened to them, to share
their joys and pains, and to walk together.
Speaking about the working document that acts as the guide
to the working sessions of the synod, the cardinal summarized the process
in 3 verbs: recognizing, interpreting and choosing.
This, he said, will help the Church in finding ways to reach out under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Source: Crux/Bombay Archdiocese)
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