Feasts of the Heart and Soul

If synodality is all about walking together, then that is a perfect description of our first retreat experience. On the weekend of the 1st – 3rd of September, we gathered interested women, deacons, their wives, Sisters and a priest to pray and discern together. We listened to each other’s stories of life, faith and ministry. We shared in prayer, including Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. We heard from Deacon Anthony Gooley about the Spirituality of the Diaconate, and were challenged to reflect on how we understand and nourish our spirits. We reflected with deacons and their wives on what it is really like Living the Diaconate. And finally we held a seminar/webinar on ‘St Phoebe and Women in the early Church, inspiration for a synodal Church today.’ Altogether, it was a feast for the heart and soul.

One of our deacon participants shared afterwards: “[The most valuable part of the retreat] was meeting the amazing women who are being stirred up by the Holy Spirit to have their leadership and ministry officially recognised, affirmed and supported by the church. More than anything else, hearing their own faith stories and call to ministry was a great inspiration to me.”

We would like to thank the extraordinary people who attended the event, which took great courage and openness. We offer our sincere gratitude to the sponsors and supporters of the retreat, especially the Congregational Leadership Team of the Sisters of St Joseph and Battery Man, and the webinar, especially Catholic Religious Australia. We salute the coordinators and presenters for their extraordinary efforts to create such an enriching environment and experience.

As we go forward, we continue to discern the paths on which God is calling us, including our gifts, talents and the needs of the world around us. We walk together in the Church, to better encourage the flourishing of our entire church communities, and promote all ministerial roles and the culture of synodality. We send our prayers and hopes to the upcoming Synod on Synodality, as the members reflect on “women’s inclusion in the diaconate” (Instrumentum Laboris B2.3) and “How is the ministry of the permanent diaconate to be understood within a missionary synodal Church?” (B2.4) And we celebrate with St Phoebe the leadership and wisdom of all of our ancestors in faith.

To watch our webinar with Dr Debra Snoddy, see here:

This lecture from the Australian Catholic University with Dr Phyllis Zagano on ‘Women Deacons and the Synod: What happens now?” is also well worth watching:

Prayer Network