your Son graciously came as a guest to the home of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus,
By their prayers give us grace to serve Christ faithfully in our brethren,
and bring us to your home in heaven.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
We lose the capacity to realize “I, as a lay person, do not always have all the knowledge”; while it is quite probable that the deacon, priest or bishop has a much fuller picture of what is actually happening.
From a letter from Bishop Patrick J. Zurek to the Faith Community at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Amarillo.
Do, “I, as a lay person” believe that the purpose of the present Synod 2021-2024 (Communion, Participation, Mission) is finished and has died at St. Mary’s Cathedral; or does our pastor, Bishop Zurek, in his clericalism, still need to continue to hear from me so that synodality never dies❓
You no doubt have heard of or perhaps even read the now infamous accusations against myself, your Rector and the associate Rector. These were obviously made by ‘a few’, emphasis on a few, souls that appear to be quite restless.
From a letter from Bishop Patrick J. Zurek to the Faith Community at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Amarillo.
Doesn’t Bishop Zurek seem to consider the Synod 2021-2024 to be over when Pope Francis is telling us, “So now finish the work and let the results be worthy“; moreover, doesn’t Bishop Zurek tell me that it is wrong for me to let synodality make me “restless”; but didn’t his good friend, St. Augustine of Hippo, say, “we are on our way, not yet in our native land; we are in a state of longing, not yet of enjoyment. But let us continue on our way, and continue without sloth or respite, so that we may ultimately arrive at our destination“; indeed, will not synodality help us to be just as the siblings, Martha, Mary and Lazarus, who, not by their relation by blood, but by religious aspirations, stayed close to our Lord and served him harmoniously, although in different ways when he was among them: Martha by action; Mary by contemplation; Lazarus by being alive;…
…nevertheless, when our next bishop takes over and he reviews the 2021 synod process at St. Mary’s Cathedral, will he say, “But it was rotted, good for nothing!“…
…for, although Bishop Zurek went through the motions of synodality, had he not forgotten God who gave him birth, and thus was not the process imbued with clericalism that he inherited from our diocesan history, and with those forms of exercising authority on which the different types of abuse are grafted;…
…Alleluia, alleluia;
however, I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia, alleluia;…
…consequently, when I ask myself what kind of St. Mary’s I want to leave behind, shouldn’t I think in the first place of its general direction, its meaning and its values; because, unless I struggle on the synodal path with these deeper issues, how will my concern for my parish produce significant results, or give me the proper answer when Jesus asks me, “Do you believe this?” ❓
