El Camino and synodality

By Fr Donald Chambers

Despite the numerous challenges faced on lengthy journeys, invaluable treasures await. One of these journeys for me was the Camino de Santiago Compostela pilgrimage in Spain with the Living Water Community. This pilgrimage was not just a physical journey but a profound transformation that unearthed treasures of wisdom, which now enrich and nourish me as I participate in the Church’s synodal journey.

On the Camino, we experienced and encountered myriads of unimaginable and unexpected physical, spiritual, and emotional challenges from excruciating physical pain, wounds, sickness, exhaustion, and mental fatigue, all of which triggered feelings of frustration, fear, and impatience.

Sometimes, we were tempted to permit our negative moods to push us down the rabbit hole of desolation and to complain like the Israelites on their exodus journey (Psalm 95:8).

However, silent moments were our antidote, listening to the heartbeat of the Holy Spirit by reflecting on our Encounter with God on the journey and the ways God was calling us to Conversion. These moments act like life-saving vests, saving us from drowning in desolation and reigniting consolation.

As with the Camino, the synodal journey of the Church is a pilgrimage. As Deacon Geert De Cubber, a member of the Synod on Synodality said, “… we are in a [pilgrim] church… we need to bring everybody with us. So, the only way we can do it is by addressing it in a synodal way.”

As with all pilgrimages, the Church faces both spiritual desolation and consolation. Spiritual desolation is that interior movement away from God where we become wholly self-focused and withdrawn from the community, imprisoning ourselves in negative feelings and abandoning essential things such as prayer and dialogue that blind our vision and drain our energy.

On the other hand, spiritual consolation takes us beyond ourselves, lifts our hearts to sense the joys and sorrows of others, intensifies communal bonding, generates inspiration, discovers God’s active presence, and offers us a burst of inner energy.

Writing in the Synod Diary of America Media, Zac Davis hints at signs of spiritual desolation among the participants of the Synodal Assembly in Rome. He writes, “Nature abhors a vacuum, and without a clear focus for conversation, people will naturally try to fill it with any number of issues. I believe we have run up against the limit of talking about synodality in an abstract way.”

Ricardo da Silva expressed a similar sentiment, “I have become less hopeful and increasingly frustrated with a process that seems to grow ever more complicated in its methodology, leaving delegates exhausted after long days with little time to reflect.”

St Ignatius’ rule for handling desolation is critical on this synodal pilgrimage. In the Spiritual Exercises, he instructs, “When in desolation, don’t make life-changing decisions, and don’t go back on a decision that you took during a period of consolation.”

The Church’s decision to embark on a Synod on Synodality was made in a moment of consolation. Despite the moments of desolation that are currently being experienced, the Church needs to adhere to Ignatius’ wisdom and not turn back.

Our commitment to this journey must be unwavering, and we must stay on the course with confidence and faith. It’s a call to all of us to stay determined and committed, no matter the challenges we face.

During moments of desolation, silence is needed to pay attention to some interior directional signs. Margaret Silf (Inner Compass) suggests that we must be in touch with our moods, recognise consolation and desolation, and respond accordingly.

In the language of Ignatian spirituality, our moods are like bees drawn to or away from flowers. If we imagine that the flower represents God as our true centre and home, our moods can either orient us towards or away from God. On the Camino, we used the Ignatian Examen, not as a tool for examination of conscience, but to pay attention to those moments when our moods are drawn towards or away from our home and centre, God.

In addition, when the dark rain clouds temporarily impair our vision on the synodal path, we must revisit the original map we first discerned to chart the synodal course. In doing so, we reconnect with the original moment of consolation.

As a Church, we are on a pilgrimage in search of God, who becomes manifest in the signs along the journey. As with the Camino, the rabbit hole of desolation drives us away from our home and centre, God. But the wind of the Holy Spirit leads us towards God.

Let us heed the call of a Dominican synod delegate: “Please stay, whatever your frustrations with the Church. Go on, question! Together, we shall discover the Lord’s will.”

Fr Donald Chambers of the Archdiocese of Kingston, Jamaica is the General Secretary of the Antilles Episcopal Conference.