What is really happening at this synod is an earnest effort by pastors of the church to determine how best to encourage people to live the Catholic faith. This is no easy task. A move too far in the direction of merely repeating old formularies will not work. A move away from what constitutes the very definition of what it means to be Catholic will not only erode the church\u2019s self-identity and betray her founder\u2019s mandate, it will also insult and alienate many Catholics who strive to live by the church\u2019s teachings. This is what we pastors call the art of pastoral practice.<\/p>\n
The practice is best modeled by Jesus\u2019 encounter with the woman \u201ccaught in the very act of adultery\u201d\u009d (John 8: 1-11). His interlocutors somehow thought that they could drive a wedge between his allegiance to biblical law and mercy. So they cast the woman before him and demanded that he say whether she should be stoned, as the law stipulated. The tension built as Jesus doodled in the sand. Finally he replied, \u201cLet you who is without sin cast the first stone.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
The story does not end there. Jesus turned to the woman at his feet and delivered gentle, memorable words\u201d\u201da message that makes the whole story an encounter of faithful mercy: \u201cGo and sin no more.\u201d\u009d If this model\u201d\u201dfinding the balance between justice and mercy, which are often in tension\u201d\u201dweighs heavily on the minds of bishops gathered in Rome, that will be an achievement for the church and its pastoral model.<\/p>\n