The Second Vatican Council, "speaking" to the world, says about the role of the Church in the world: This expression appears in the last chapter (Chapter 4) of the first part of the Charter for Pastoral Affairs, 'Human vocation and the Church'. The church, which wants to exist as the soul of the world, does not introduce itself to the world from the beginning, saying, "I am the power that makes you live."
In fact, this is the first greeting of the Council. "Joy and hope, sorrow and anguish, for the present day, especially for the poor and suffering, it is the joy and hope, the sorrow and anguish of the disciples of Christ. There is nothing truly human that does not resonate with the believer" (1). In dealing with human dignity, the new man, true man, and perfect man, Christ, is introduced in the last paragraph (No. 12), and when dealing with the human community, it is only in the last item of Chapter 2 that Christ is proposed as the model and principle of the human community. (No. 32) This is the method adopted not only by the Pastoral Charter but also by the Second Vatican Council, the inductive methodology. The use of this method is evident in the literature of later popes, especially Pope Francis.
Even more interesting is that the Council acknowledged that the Church has something to learn from the world, not just to hear the voice of the world and to shine it with the light of the Gospel to suggest the Church's answers (Nos. 41-43). Just as recognition as leaven helps the world, so the Church does not know how much it has been helped in the history and development of mankind (44). ! However, it is too simplistic and even light-hearted to evaluate that the church has become “humbling” when it acknowledges that the church receives help as well as giving it.
This is related to the fact that the Council declared that God was both Savior and Creator, and thus not only working in the Church, but in a mysterious providence, governing the passage of time and renewing the world, that the world was present in development (26).
After all, 'hearing' is the first step the church must take to be the soul of the world and to proclaim the gospel to the world. And this hearing must be done not only toward the world, but also within the church. In fact, if there is no hearing in the church, how can we say to the world that we will listen?
The Chinese character for holiness, 聖 (sung) originally meant "the ability to hear clearly with the ear", and religiously, it is said to have been expanded to mean "to hear the heavenly revelations or the voice of God."
The people of God are moving toward holiness, which is in fact God Himself. This journey, the first step of synodalitas, is also listening. On this journey where shepherds and believers become one, the shepherd listens to the believers and the believers walk towards the same place while listening to the shepherd's voice.
Through this mutual listening, what we ultimately want to hear is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Hearing is the first step in life in the church, in fulfilling its mission, in order to become a soul in the world, and in fact, it is like a matrix in which that life and activity take place. ‘Listening’ makes many problems easier than you think. If we listen first, won't the world also listen to our voices about Christ? This expectation may seem overly romantic, but did not the council propose it in this way and expect its practice within the community of faith?
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