Sr. Rosmery Castañeda Montoya: let us pray for a Church that gives space to all
One week before opening of the second and final session of the Synod on Synodality, Sr. Rosmery Castañeda Montoya (Dominican Presentation Sisters), participant to the Synod, calls all the Dominican sisters worldwide to unite in prayer for a fruitful outcome of the October Assembly:
My greetings to all Dominican Nuns and Sisters. I want to take advantage of this moment to ask you for much prayer. Let us unite in one body as the Acts of the Apostles says: “with one heart and one soul”. Today we need the strength of the Spirit – it is He who is guiding this synodal journey. But it is up to all of us to be open and willing to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Before telling you the most important themes that we are going to work on in the Assembly that will begin in a few days, I would like to share with you a text that the Instrumentum Laboris has offered us. It says “the Church wants to become a place where the vision of Isaiah is breathed and lived; to be the strength of the poor and the fortress of the needy in their distress; a refuge from the storm and a shade from the heat” Isaiah 25:4.
Yes, that is the proposal we want in this synodal journey and that is why the first thing we are going to work on is the foundations: to look at the Church as the People of God. Let us remember that we are a baptized people it is a people of the baptized. The Church is not the sum of the baptized – it is “We who are the Church”. That is why we are going to work for a Church that is closer to the people; poorer; simpler; more humble; a Church that listens. A Church that gives space to all and, above all, provides space for the charisms, vocations and ecclesial ministries.
It is this Church that is aware that as a people, we are different, but that we need to develop the appreciation of various charisms in the role of women in the life of the Church. We are all equal through our baptism. We all have the Spirit and we all have the richness of charisms. This is what we want to contribute to a faithful, holy people of God.
The first part that we are going to work on is our relationships as a synodal Church in mission. Relationships that we need to work on in a synodal Church in mission. So we need to consider charisms, ministries and ordained ministries. What is very important, is discernment.
The other theme is courses in formation: formation as done in Houses of Formation; but also formation as done in Seminaries. formation houses, but we are going to work strongly on formation in the seminaries.
The third theme will be the work we do in our various places of ministry. engage in of the places. In these places we must take into account the reality where we are, and the relationship of the local church with the Universal Church. For all this we need an attitude of prayer and of listening to the Spirit. My greetings to all of you!!
