AN undoubted talking point from the funeral of Lyra McKee was the reaction to Fr Martin Magill's heartfelt but pointed question about why it took a murder to bring together the political parties.
Referring to a gathering in Derry last week which was attended by senior figures from across the political divide, Fr Magill said: "I commend our political leaders for standing together in Creggan on Good Friday.
"I am however left with a question: Why in God's name does it take the death of a 29-year-old woman with her whole life in front of her… to get to this point?"
The mourners packed inside St Anne's Cathedral greeted these words with a standing ovation; it was a powerful moment - an amen of acclamation, of affirmation - as Fr Magill's words washed over the congregation.
The Churches are regularly accused, and often with justification, of being ineffective when it comes to holding power to account.
But amid the very unusual circumstances of Wednesday's funeral, Fr Magill rose to the occasion. This is a skill of the preacher, and part of the call to be what Christians know as a prophetic voice.
The potency of his challenge lay not so much in the words themselves - how often have we heard similar statements in the wake of bloody tragedy? - but in how they were directed at a congregation that included the very politicians responsible for deadlock at Stormont.
RHI, Nama, Red Sky, flip-flops on welfare reform, and the sheer and utter lack of delivery in education and health during a decade of dysfunction are among the brass-neckery that distinguished the DUP-Sinn Féin-led executive
The rest of the congregation clearly heard truth in Fr Magill's remarks, and in its spontaneous response wanted to reflect that truth towards Mary Lou McDonald, Arlene Foster, Michelle O'Neill, Theresa May, Leo Varadkar et al.
Fundamentally, the power to restore devolution at Stormont lies in the hands of Sinn Féin and the DUP, together.
Everyone knows this - though it is highly debatable whether the presence, much less the absence, of Stormont would have made any difference to the recent course of events in Creggan.
Arlene Foster drew criticism for being 'a bit slow' to stand up for the ovation, with the suggestion being that she was somehow embarrassed into joining in.
This was evidence enough to some observers, particularly those who see the world through the prism of social media, that not only is the impasse at Stormont her fault more than anyone else's, but that she also knows it.
Beside this is the alacrity with which Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald, sat next to Mrs Foster, joined in the applause.
There is much for which Mrs Foster deserves criticism, but pretty low down the list would be the speed at which she joined in with applause for remarks which directly confront the political failure of her party and others to deliver functional government.
Another way of looking at it might be to consider that the Sinn Féin duo, just as much as Mrs Foster, should have felt embarrassed to join in at all. The shambles at Stormont is at least as much down to Sinn Féin as it is to the DUP.
Embarrassment does not come easy to our political class, though. RHI, Nama, Red Sky, flip-flops on welfare reform, and the sheer and utter lack of delivery in education and health during a decade of dysfunction are among the brass-neckery that distinguished the DUP-Sinn Féin-led executive.
I got to know Fr Magill well through the 4 Corners Festival, which he founded with Presbyterian minister, the Rev Steve Stockman.
They each realised that there were parts of Belfast into which they had never ventured so, joining forces, they set out to encourage people to leave their own 'corner' of the city and visit another.
It's a modest enough aim, but in a city as riven with sectarianism as Belfast, it is also an important one.
Writing in this newspaper last month, Fr Magill and Rev Stockman, reflecting on this year's 4 Corners Festival, said: "We have been saying for some time that mercy, forgiveness and a stable peace are not going to drip down the hill from Stormont.
"We believe that they must 'flow up the hill' from the grass roots of our communities, who seem to be further ahead in their work of reconciliation than our main political parties."
If there is cause for embarrassment, it lies in the width of the reconciliation gap between 'real people' and the political class, who are all too often ready to blow the sectarian dog whistle and bang the constitutional drum. Bridging that gap will be an uphill struggle.
