The Synod on the Family

There is so much reporting and analysis  in Catholic media these days about the gathering of Bishops from around the world to discuss family life, otherwise known as the Synod on the Family.   I have never seen anything generate so much discussion in the life of the Church since I have been practicing my Faith, something I have done regularly for 25 years or so now.   Whenever there has been a Papal election, that has been close, but the fact that this Synod was discussed before it happened, that it does not happen often, that it will last nearly a month, that afterward, the Holy Father is expected to issue a formal teaching document, known as a post-synodal exhortation, and that controversial things like communion for the divorced and remarried, as well as the acceptance of same-sex "marriage" by many today, are expected to be discussed in the Synod and possibly in the exhortation afterward, all of these have factored into the reasons why there is such exhaustive coverage on Catholic TV, Catholic websites, Facebook, Twitter, you name it.
I myself have been paying attention to it, checking in daily for a few minutes.  There have been, among other things, rumblings of Bishops threatening to walk out in protest of the process , Bishops concerned with translation issues, and concerns expressed by certain media members about the information being given to them by the official Vatican media personnel.   I think there are valid concerns, and some anxiety is justified.
A few points are in order here, I think.   The Catholic definition of a Synod is "an ecclesiastical gathering under hierarchical authority, for the discussion of matters relating to faith, morals, or discipline."  (emphasis mine).   It is NOT a gathering to discuss science, politics, or sociology.  It ideally is a gathering to discuss and develop rich theological understanding, in this case, of the family.  There should be discussion of morality in family life.  How do parents act morally towards their children and vice versa?  How does a husband act morally towards his wife and vice versa?  What is the meaning of the family in God's plan?  How does it image God?   How does it image the Church?  What are the Biblical and theological underpinnings of the Catholic understanding of the family?  Only after all that and more is discussed, only then can sociological and political elements relating to the family be discussed, if need be, as it relates to how the theological understanding of the family is lived out.   However, that should absolutely not be the dominant conversation in a Synod.  Many fear that unfortunately it is, and perhaps they are right.  Too much sociology and political science is discussed, and not enough theology.
This Synod will produce a body of writing that will be given to the Holy Father for advisement.  Some are understandably worried that this summary will not accurately reflect what was discussed as the ones putting it together perhaps could be biased towards certain sociological or theological views of the family that might not be what others have.  There are language and translation issues, of course, as well.  The bottom line is that most likely an imperfect summary of the discussion will be presented to the Holy Father for his consideration.  However, it appears he is attending a fair amount of the discussions himself, so perhaps it is not as big a deal as it might be.
The Pope is then free to do as he wishes.  He can ignore the document, he can read it and do nothing, or he can read it, and then make some decisions or put together a teaching document for the Church based off that, as well as his experience of the Synod overall, and his personal prayer, study, and pastoral experience.  I suspect he will do the final thing, and put together some sort of post-synodal teaching document as previous Popes have done on topics such as Evangelization (Paul VI) , Sacred Scripture (Benedict XVI), or the Church in Asia/America/Africa (John Paul II).

Now, here is what we are dealing with.  Remember, the Synod deals with matters relating to three things;  1) faith, 2) morals, and 3) discipline. 
Now, the Church teaches that the Pope, and Bishops, when they are teaching in union with him, have the charism of infallibility when they are teaching about those first two matters, faith and morals.  They are guaranteed to not teach things that are false (if a Bishop decides to go against the Holy Father, obviously he loses that charism for that teaching moment.)   Therefore, we do not have to worry about false teaching coming out of this Synod; nothing contrary to faith and morals can officially come out of this Synod.  Therefore, I believe, there is no way one should worry about the Synod encouraging legal recognition for same-sex "marriages" or that someone who is divorced and remarried could receive Holy Communion without an annulment.
However, the third matter that this Synod can discuss, discipline, is NOT given the same charism of infallibility.  So, for example, the Synod could decide to change the process of getting an annulment.  They could decide to change the marriage prep process requirements.  They could decide to get out of the civil marriage business all together, and decide to no longer be official witnesses for state-validated marriages.  All of these are discipline matters, not directly tied into faith or morals.  Therefore, since they do not have the gift of infallibility in this area, they could make wrong decisions in this area that could harm the family.  That is where the real anxiety should be, that is where the prayers are the most needed.  

So, who else better to turn to for intercession for the Synod than Saint Joseph?  Why?  Because he is a man of the family AND a man of the Church.  
In the litany to Saint Joseph, we see many titles that pertain to the family
-Renowned offspring of David
-Spouse of the Mother of God
-Foster father of the Son of God
-Head of the Holy Family
-Glory of home life
-Pillar of families
And we also see a title that pertains to the Church.
-Protector of Holy Church

So, in this time, when the Church is focused on the family, let us turn to Saint Joseph to intercede that only 100% good will come out of this Synod.

Saint Joseph, pray for us in our time of our need.