Select Page

6 May 2022

The transforming effect of the Synod

Europe

Format: Videos / Audio

Type: Communication, Synod Events

Organisation: Organisation / Association /Movement

Janet Obeney-Williams is a member of the Jesuit parish of Farm Street in the heart of London. She was invited by her parish priest, Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, to be part of the parish coordination team for the Synod. She worked on distributing questionnaires 'to every corner of the parish' and organising small discernment groups with the local community and also with the LGBT community.

In a symposium on synodality last February she shared her story and her expectations for this Synod. In her testimony she says that this participation made her change her self-perception and rediscover herself as a Christian.

Janet wanted to be Catholic from the age of 18, but did not join the Church until 2013, after Pope Francis addressed the LGBT community. She attends the LGBT mass held in that parish. She started as part of the LGBT choir at that celebration, and is now part of the general choir of the parish.

Janet, who has been in a same-sex relationship for several years, shares her hope for the synodal process: "I pray that this process will continue, I am sure that the Holy Spirit is in it. (...) I am grateful to be able to give this testimony today and in Jesus' name I am grateful."

Listen the full Janet's witness.

Paths of Peace and Hope: 47 Meditations for Lent and Holy Week, a Lenten catechesis inspired by the contents and perspectives of the Final Document of the Synod.

The text was created with the intention of offering a simple and accessible tool for personal, family and community meditation, designed to accompany the spiritual journey during Lent and Holy Week, but also usable at other times of the year for in-depth study, parish meetings and moments of community reflection.

The meditations seek to translate some of the insights of the synodal journey into concrete reflections on daily life, helping to reinterpret experiences such as relationships, co-responsibility, service, communion and hope within the reality of families, parish communities and ordinary life contexts.

Alongside the book, a daily series of video catechesis has also been launched, published and shared every day on parish digital channels, with the aim of accompanying people through Lent with a moment of listening and spiritual reflection accessible to all.

The volume was self-published on Amazon, a choice dictated by the lack of available financial resources and the need to make the text accessible quickly so that it could be used during this year's Lenten journey.

Below is the link to the book's page: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0GL39GQ5C

Tags: Discernment | LGBTQ | Listening | Participation | Synodality