Pope Francis called people to prayer in St. Peter's Square the evening before the synod began (Oct. 3). This was not just a routine or pro forma gesture. He wanted the synod to take place in a context of prayer and attentive listening to God. The synod, he keeps insisting, is not a kind of parliament or discussion club or — he might have added — an exercise in corporate strategic planning. No, the synod is a gathering of the church, a church who wants to stay faithful to God. And prayer before, during and after the synod provides the essential context. The three weeks of the synod follow a classic method that should be very familiar to those in the Archdiocese of Chicago who had been involved with the Young Catholic Workers and Young Catholic Students and the Christian Family Movement. It is the method of observe, judge and act. The first week has been dedicated to observing the experience of marriage and family life in all its complexity, its lights and shadows. The second week will judge or assess that experience in light of the Mystery of Jesus Christ. Then, the third week will identify the commitments and actions that need to be taken. Notice that this method — and it is very important because of its wider application to the life of the church — is not primarily about figuring things out. It is a method that presupposes that God is acting in our lives. And more than figuring things out, we need to be open, attentive and patient to discover the direction that the Lord is giving us. In this first week of the synod, the participants identified many blessings in family life. In fact, at the end of the week, a number of synod fathers thought that greater prominence should be given to the graces and blessings of family life, so that the difficulties would not overshadow them. At the same time, in observing the experience, they also did identify many challenges facing families today. Those challenges vary by culture and geography. The challenges of more affluent and secularized cultures, for example, have more to do with indifference to deeper values rooted in faith. In other parts of the world, economic challenges, political instability and violence have more prominence and greater impact on family life. Across all cultures, there are also the perennial challenges of love, fidelity and mercy, which form the bedrock of family life. Finally, there was something else — not always explicit — that animated the hard work of the first week of the synod in observing the experience of families throughout the world. That important element was hope. I sensed great hope. The entire enterprise of the synod is worthwhile, because we have hope for the future. We hope for our children. Most importantly, however, we hope in God. We know what God has done in Jesus Christ in shaping and accompanying our lives. And we have confident hope that God will continue to be with us and draw us forward.