Editor’s note: Bishop William K. Weigand’s column below is an excerpt from his opening address Oct. 11 to the members of the Diocesan Synod.

In the life of the Church, the two most authentic embodiments of the very essence of the Diocesan Church are: first, the Stational Mass, at which the Diocesan Bishop presides, and, second, the Diocesan Synod, at which he also presides.

At the Stational Mass, the Diocesan “Bishop...celebrates the Eucharist...surrounded by his college of presbyters and by his ministers, and with the full active participation of all God’s holy people.” (Ceremonial of Bishops 119). The most perfectly typical Stational Mass is the Mass of the Chrism, as the Diocesan Bishop, presiding in his Cathedral Church among his college of presbyters, with his ministers assisting, blesses the Holy Oils, amid the liturgical participation of the People of God of the Diocese.

At the solemnization of the Diocesan Synod, the Diocesan Bishop in council makes provision for the nourishment and shepherding of that portion of God’s holy people entrusted to his charge, by taking counsel with the Members of the Synod, drawn from each and every state of life and order in the Diocese. Of course, ever since the Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of our Savior, Jesus, we live in the Era of the Holy Spirit and of the Spirit’s bride, the Church, which was inaugurated by the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. In consequence, these two prime actualizations of the Church, the Mass and the Synod, are, first and foremost, the work of the Holy Spirit, singular and proper to the Spirit.

In the Liturgical Action, the Mass, in the prayer immediately preceding the consecration, called the Epiclesis, that is “the invocation to aid,” the priest spreads his hands over the offerings and prays, “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and the blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” In response, the Holy Spirit comes into the midst of the Eucharistic assembly and actuates the priest’s sacramental character of orders, in order that he may be an effective instrument in the hand of God to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord. It is the supreme work of the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, in the pastoral action of governance through consultation in communion, which is the Diocesan Synod, it is the Holy Spirit who inspires the Diocesan Bishop to convoke this assembly; it is the Holy Spirit who inspires and guides all the preparatory work; it is the Holy Spirit who answers our joint appeal for help as members of the Synod by coming into our midst, in synod assembled; as in the Mass, the Spirit joins our assembly to actuate the sacramental character of Baptism in each member of the Synod, in order that, together, they may exercise the prophetic function of their common Baptismal priesthood; they do so by offering their consultative counsel on the topics proposed to them by the Diocesan Bishop presiding, for his deliberative consideration....

The efficacy of the Synod depends on four concurrent actions of the Holy Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit acts through the participation of the People of God who are represented by the Members of the Synod, in the prophetic function of Christ’s priesthood through their incorporation into the common priesthood of Baptism “by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.” (“Lumen Gentium,” No. 10) Second, the Holy Spirit arouses and sustains in the whole People of God a supernatural appreciation of the faith, the sensus fidei, which is that instinctive sensitivity and capacity for discernment in regard to the content of the faith handed down to us, which members of the Church possess through the anointing they have received that comes from the Holy One.

Third, the Holy Spirit affects the consequent capacity of the People of God to adhere observantly to this faith, to penetrate it more deeply with right judgment, and to apply it more fully in daily life. Fourth, the Holy Spirit bestows and distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank, which make them fit and ready to undertake tasks for the more ample and effectual renewing and upbuilding of the Church. These are precisely the gifts and qualifications which make the Members of the Synod aptly qualified to engage effectively and fruitfully in the Synodal dialogue with the Diocesan Bishop by their consultative counsel offered on the topics proposed by him, and with one another in the process of reaching a consensus on the counsel to be offered....

I am heartened, as we face this great undertaking, by the fact that the Holy Spirit here present in our midst leads and guides you, the members of the Synod, in the exercise of the gifts he has bestowed — prophetic discernment, the sensus fidei to recognize the content of the faith handed down to us, the capacity for right judgment and discriminating application of the faith received.

I have unwavering assurance that the Holy Spirit will inspire this Synodal body to offer me secure counsel to enable me to make wise provisions for the renewal and the more ample and effectual upbuilding of the People of God of this diocese, and for their peaceful shepherding in the footsteps of our chief shepherd, the Lord Jesus.

The mighty wind of the Spirit is already blowing in our midst, as in a latter-day Pentecost. Let us unfurl the sails of our special spiritual graces and gifts to catch it and run before it to the safe haven already prepared for us.

“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love: Lord, send forth your Spirit and they shall be created: and you will renew the face of the earth.”

Copyright © 2004 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved