“Are Not Your Ways Unfair?”

Today’s post is from Bondings 2.0’s Managing Editor, Robert Shine.

Today’s liturgical readings for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time can be found here.

“Are not your ways unfair?”

Tomorrow, I head to Rome. Frank DeBernardo, Bondings 2.0’s Editor, and I will be there covering the Synod assembly this month. There is a tremendous buzz about what many considered the Catholic Church’s most significant since Vatican II in the 1960s.

The road to this assembly over the past two years is itself already significant: millions of people have gathered in thousands of listening sessions, prompting a back and forth of documents at all levels of the church. The 400-some participants at this month’s assembly bring with them the stories and concerns of so many others. I question anyone who claims to know now what will come of this assembly in a month’s time.

Today’s first reading from Ezekiel succinctly poses one clear theme that already emerged in this process: “Are not your ways unfair?” In the reading, God poses this question to grumbling people. Today, we still clamor about how unfair we think God is at times. Yet, God quickly points out that God’s way is always mercy. It is our ways which are unfair and harmful.

Though not phrased in these words, the question in Ezekiel has been an undercurrent in the sharings from people ostracized by the institutional church. LGBTQ+ people and our allies, people of color, divorced and remarried people, women, disabled people, and the poor, in varying ways, have all challenged church leaders. We ask of them over and over, “Are not your ways unfair?” when so many are excluded from the sacraments, denied their vocational dignity, forced to remain closeted, and denigrated theologically.

Will there be major changes made at this Synod assembly? I suppose it matters what we mean by “major” and “changes.” Do I think queer couples will be welcome to sacramental marriage or women ordained? Not yet. Do I think this assembly and the process leading up to it could fundamentally alter the way in which we are a Catholic community in the third millennium? I am hopeful. And I am convinced that if we sufficiently change the church’s decision-making practices, in time, the other changes will come.

The Roman Catholic Church is in trouble. The people of God know that our ecclesial pathologies run deep. The institutional church’s ways are, indeed, often unfair. So, too, are our ways in our personal lives, if we are honest. God, however, not only poses an indicting question in Ezekiel, but provides an invitation: “Turn back and live!”

The Synod on Synodality is an opportunity for conversion, as a church and as individuals. You do not need to be at the sessions in Rome to participate. Yes, pray for the Synod and the future to come. But do not wait for some eventuality. Rather, let us live synodality now in our parishes, schools, and charities. Confer with one another often, listen intentionally, and make decisions collectively.

Though this month’s assembly is at the Vatican, the center of power in the church, God speaks most often from the margins, through the marginalized. LGBTQ+ people and allies must keep asking church leaders, “Are not your ways unfair?” And we must listen when others ask the same of us. This journeying together will enable us, the people of God, to turn back and live—live into a renewed church where all are welcomed, celebrated, and affirmed.

Bondings 2.0 will provide regular updates on LGBTQ-related developments at the Synod assembly, as well as commentaries from theologians right here on the blog. If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, you can do so by clicking here.

New Ways Ministry will also be hosting virtual programs to help understand what is happening, including “Live from Rome! A Mid-Synod Conversation” on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time.

Information on this fall’s programs and all of New Ways Ministry’s Synod on Synodality resources can be found by clicking here.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, October 1, 2023