Warnings come in all sizes and shapes. 

It could be about a new computer virus or on the playing field the yellow, red or black card.

When a red light comes on in my car I know I need petrol or oil. 

Warnings often come from doctors, teachers, parents and those who care.  We are told to be on our guard, be alert or to take some corrective action.

We do not always appreciate warnings especially if they challenge us to move out of our comfort zone or to change.

This is a constant theme in the Advent scripture readings. We are warned: ‘It is time to wake up’.  It is like an alarm clock. 

If we don’t wake up we will spend our lives asleep.  Indeed all spirituality can be summed up in this call to ‘wake up!’   

It is about understanding, sensitivity, mercy, compassion-seeing and hearing in a new way, a wide- awake way and not to while away the time in drowsiness or sleep-walking.  It means to be alive to the sacrament of the present moment. w.w.w. = witness, watch, wait.

Words of Wisdom

The Past is history ;The Future is mystery;
The ‘here and now’ is called  ‘The Present’ as it is a gift from God.

The Synod 

Several years ago a gay couple in this parish were attacked by youths throwing mud and stones at their home. They had to flee.

A few weeks earlier I had met Cathy, a mother who had written a book on her gradual acceptance of having a gay son.

I invited her to speak about her experience at the end of Sunday Mass.  She got a standing ovation

Of course, some complained to Bishop Hegarty who, to give him his due, had no problem when I explained the circumstances.
Shortly afterward I was invited to the Rainbow Centre in Queen Street where gays and lesbians hung out.  I had an enlightening discussion with David McCartney.  One of the phrases that lasted in my memory was this ‘People get stuck on the plumbing and it blinds them to what is often a loving relationship’.  

During the recent Synod of Bishops in Rome, Mrs. Ute Eberl said something similar.  She was one of the few women participants; she is responsible for family pastoral work in the Archdiocese of Berlin and took part at the special invitation of Pope Francis.

“Take a look at the living room first and not at the bedroom,” she had advised the bishops in her four-minute intervention. Cardinal Schönborn said he fully shared her view and knew that the Pope did too.

One of the more telling moments was when a couple addressing the synod described how they knew of a gay man who, together with his partner, was welcomed home by his loving Catholic family. They embraced him warmly because “He is our son”.

The mid-term document called for the Church to recognise “seeds of the Word” present in co-habiting couples, those in civil marriages and the divorced and remarried.  Sexual orientation of gay people should be valued, it said, as they have “gifts and qualities to offer parishes.’’

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, in support of this document said it was important the synod focuses on the “goodness in every person, whatever their sexuality, whether they’re cohabiting or in a second marriage”. He explained that “their lives continue to carry the hallmark of the work of the Holy Spirit.’’  And so a door seemed to have opened, however briefly, to a new approach that for many years seemed impossible.
Understandingly for some bishops it was too much. They feared a U- turn on our traditional teaching on marriage.
It was such a “pastoral earthquake” there had to be compromise at the end.

The change of perspective Pope Francis had brought about by looking positively at the reality of people’s lives, had frightened some. [The document got a majority in favour but not the two-thirds necessary.]

‘’On one level it is hard not to see the synod and its final document as three steps forward and two steps back’’, in the words of the German Cardinal Marx.  

[Next week I will conclude this article and refer to the openness of the debate itself.]

Some Puns

How does Moses make his tea?  Hebrews it....
Venison for dinner again?  Oh deer!
A cartoonist was found dead in his home.  Details are sketchy.

.

If you have a story or want to send a photo or video to us please contact the Derry Now editorial team on 028 7129 6600 for Derry City stories Or 028 7774 3970 for County Derry stories. Or you can email gareth@derrynews.net at any time.