Jesus urged his followers to "interpret the signs of the times" (Mt. 16:3). This attitude and process of vigilant listening have always been the defining path in the missionary journey of the Jesus Youth movement. In recent years, Pope Francis highlighted this as the synodal process that should help the people of God journey together as Christ's Body. Following his leadership, the Church has been taking steps to listen to each person as a member and understand how God might be speaking to us.

From its inception, the Jesus Youth movement has been characterised by individuals awakened by the call of the Lord coming together to listen to the Holy Spirit and one another, leading them to greater communion and a sense of mission. Over the past many years, the Lord has been inspiring the movement to renew its first love for the Lord. This has been confirmed through prophecies and messages in many gatherings of the movement across the world. The movement receives a fresh invitation by the Holy Spirit to reawaken its core identity and refocus on the call to communion and mission. This renewal must start with every individual member of Jesus Youth, which transcends to the community that he or she belongs, and in turn to the whole movement across the world. A new call for a Journey of Synodal Listening. would be the first step in this process of renewal. The Church tells us that this process "implies carefully and courageously listening to "the groans" of the Spirit (cf. Ro. 8:26) which emerge through the explicit or sometimes silent cry that goes up from the People of God: to listen to God, so that with Him we may hear the cry of His People; to listen to His People until we are in harmony with the will to which God calls us" (Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, 114). This process is about listening to the Holy Spirit by listening to others, which fosters deeper communion, participation, and understanding of our mission. We firmly believe that this is the work of the Holy Spirit in these times, bringing a freshness to the movement through the renewal of our Values, Vision, and Purpose. Let us be united in heart and be certain in the work of the Spirit that this wave of renewal will permeate every forum in Jesus Youth, including all fellowship groups, ministries, zones, regions, and countries across the globe. This new direction urges everyone in Jesus Youth- both new and old members, regardless of age, experience, or role to renew our calling as Jesus Youth and fulfil our mission of sharing the gospel, vividly reflecting our core values with a clear vision and purpose.

Goal

The Goal of this Journey of Synodal Listening in Jesus Youth is to hear every person in the movement and, through that, effectively listen to what the Spirit speaks to us today. We eagerly look forward to a renewal of Jesus Youth vision of growing in communion and mission as we undertake this journey. We will start by listening at the grassroots and spreading beyond the borders of regions, opening ourselves to the Lord's healing and a renewed sense of mission.

Method

The Method we follow will be "Synodal Listening," in which we discern the voice of the Spirit even as we gather and listen to one another. This listening will include all Jesus Youth, especially,

●      Those who began the journey in different ministries and locations, responding to the promptings of the Lord.

●      Those went far and wide to sow the seeds of the movement and laboured to build it.

●      Those in the movement are now carrying the mission forward.

●      Those, even from a distance, observe and support Jesus Youth.

●      And those who support us by courageously criticising us.

Process

The Process will include listening in three phases.

PHASE 1: AWARENESS & PREPARATION

1. Build awareness among leaders: Orientation calls will bring together the various council members and other leaders to explain the vision and process and share key documents. The first step in this phase will be continental gatherings.

Preparing Agents of Listening: Each country identifies a team to coordinate the process. They, in turn, select "Agents of Listening" (facilitators) from various levels, such as major localities and other entities like ministries. An in-depth orientation will be provided for these Agents, explaining how to roll out the process.

Personal Preparation for Listening: The first step in this process starts with each of us. In this Year of Prayer, everyone spends more time in prayer and reflection, preparing to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This personal renewal experience will, in turn, become the renewal of the movement.

PHASE 2: SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION

1. Listening to each person: In convenient locations, members gather to reflect and speak (based on the question given, also enjoying the Spirit-inspired freedom of interaction). The Agents of Listening, in some cases, may listen to other smaller groups or individual Church leaders as and when such 'special sessions' may be required.

At this stage, the following process adopted by the Church could be a good guideline. This is taken from the Synod on Synodality held in Rome in 2023.

a. Spiritual Conversation invites us to speak "from the heart" and to listen "from the heart." Participants will be given a set of questions.

b. Each group gathers with 8-10 members and two facilitators (Agents of Listening). Before coming to the group, participants are expected to have a personal reflection time based on the questions given.

c. Each person takes turns to share their reflections for three minutes. Participants are invited to open their hearts and minds to listen to the one speaking and be attentive to how the Holy Spirit moves.

d. After each round, a time of silence is observed, during which participants attend to how they have been moved during the round, what struck them as they listened, and what were the notable points of consolation or desolation, if any. The process is repeated for three rounds

e. Finally, the group can briefly review and reflect on how the conversation proceeded and decide on the main points they will report (Convergences, Divergences, and Proposals. The facilitator finalizes the report after discussing it with all the participants. All the participants need to approve the report.

5. Consolidation listening input: The Agents of Listening (as directed in # 4 e,), with the help of others, if needed, prepare a summary of the points raised in the listening session. Any conflicting views can be resolved by a joyful spirit of inclusiveness, reconciliation, and deep listening.

PHASE 3: CONSOLIDATION

6. Preparation of the final summations: Consolidation meetings involving key movement leaders should be held at various levels after completing the spiritual conversations at the grassroots locations. Depending on the complexity of the movement locations and realities, these meetings may be held multiple times and at various levels, ministry, regional, national, and international. These meetings will help us discern and refine the outcomes of the Spiritual conversations.

7. Drafting of final proposals: After the final consolidation, the teams are encouraged to produce specific proposals for each level of Jesus Youth reality involved in the listening journey.

The Journey of Synodal Listening in the Jesus Youth Movement is a spiritual pilgrimage of attentive listening to the Holy Spirit. Care must be taken not to be overly focused on the procedural or organisational aspect of the whole exercise or even on the bringing out of an outstanding document but on a deeper renewal of the spirit communion and deepening of the sense of mission