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October 23rd: Meeting with Cardinal Sean Brady
Yesterday, I had a wide-ranging conversation with Cardinal Sean Brady of the diocese of Armagh, Ireland, who kindly agreed to meet with me about our synod requests.
The Cardinal noted that this is the fourth synod he’s attended. He has a sense that it hasn’t been as pressured as previous synods, and has been impressed by the quality of the documents that came beforehand. He felt the Instrumentum Laboris was especially well done and also both of Cardinal Ouelette’s presentations [reports given at the beginning and midway that serve as jumping off points and summaries of the discussion respectively]. The Cardinal served as a relator at the last synod, and reflected that he was glad to rest this time because it is a non-stop job. The synod has been a rich opportunity for bishops to experience lectio divina and take time to reflect on the topic of the Word of God. He noted with gratitude that there doesn’t seem to be as much conflictual press coverage as in past synods.
I asked Cardinal Brady’s advice about how to bring our concerns about lectionary texts that omit or delete the witness of women to the attention of church leaders. He said he doesn’t know whether or not the synod will recommend revising the lectionary. There has been discussion about it, though not in relationship to our topic. He suggests sending our materials to the appropriate Vatican offices and saying he believed they would be read and given consideration.
I then asked his thoughts about requiring seminarians to take a course or at least a unit on women in scripture, noting that in my experience such course work is optional. Often this leads to poor- not to say offensive- preaching about women in the Bible. For example, the preaching about the Samaritan woman invariably focuses on her being a sinner who had “five husbands.”
Yet, Jewish and Samaritan women could not initiate divorce but they could be divorced, often for trivial reasons. The Samaritan woman is a victim not a sinner. Jesus engages her in a lengthy theological discourse about where true worship is to be found. This results in her conversion and subsequent witness to the people in her city bringing them to belief in Jesus. The Samaritan woman is an inspiring missionary and leader in the early church, yet most preachers miss the point. They do so because they have never had a course on women in scripture.
Cardinal Brady replied that he thought these new understandings are getting more attention, albeit slowly. He noted that a priest in his own Armagh diocese is doing a great deal to educate on the subject.
Our conversation turned to other aspects of the synod that Cardinal Brady found inspiring. He named ecumenism in particular, saying he never before recalls Catholics being encouraged to share the Word with our Protestant sisters and brothers: “While we can’t share the table of Eucharist, we can share the table of the Word,” he said.
Another important focus for the Cardinal is preaching. He said priests and homilists must prepare carefully, have good biblical knowledge and reflect and pray before preaching. And there is a great need to apply the scripture text to the experience of the people. Most important of all, the Cardinal said, the priest or homilist must have had an encounter with Christ because “You can’t bring others to someone you don’t know.”
Cardinal Brady especially appreciated input from the Eastern Orthodox about the need for silence before the Word. He was touched by their reflections on icons and their tremendous appreciation of the profound privilege of hearing and receiving the Word. He felt the diversity of experiences offered to synod bishops from vespers in the Sistine Chapel to the concert by the Vienna orchestra at the St. Paul’s basilica helped open them to new understandings of the many ways the Word of God comes to greet us.
Over all, Cardinal Brady said he believed the synod has been a very good chance for everyone to reflect on what the Word means for the church…not just biblical scholarship but the reflection on the Word (after being informed by biblical scholarship) that leads to encounter with God and a changed life on behalf of the kingdom of God.
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