Resonance and Synod in the Context of Contemporary Pastoral Theology

The starting point for understanding the concept of resonance is the fact that man is a creature of relationship. The world and the society in which we live are moving in the direction of individualisation. Pastoral theology, on the other hand, seeks throughout time to build communion, community. We can already find encouragement and guidance in the Bible and in Church documents. We will focus on Synod 2021.2023, which seeks to orient all activities and efforts towards communion, cooperation and mission. Pope Francis stresses that the way of synodality is precisely the way God expects of the Church of the third millennium. The whole pastoral programme is in a sense already contained in the word 'synod'. The synodal Church means the Church that 'walks together'. Where and how is this 'walking together' being realised today? What steps is the Holy Spirit leading us to take in order to grow on this path? To be able to answer this question, we need to listen to the Holy Spirit who, like the wind, "blows where it wills, you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going" (Jn 3:8). The religious relationship is also, therefore, essentially a resonant relationship, which is why the theory of resonance is also an important stimulus and a challenge for the pastoral field. The quality of life, the quality of pastoral work, depends on relationships. The third step of the synodal process is the mission, which will be like a 'resonance', an evaluation, an evaluation of the work done previously (communion and collaboration).