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Dreams and Reality
Life in a Parish
When I returned to the English Province after my term as General Secretary, I fondly dreamed that I would have more time for prayer and time to write – time to be! It was a dream but certainly not reality, for I very quickly found myself immersed in parish life with its many different challenges.
Nearly five years ago, Sr Maureen Davies and I moved into the presbytery at Blessed Sacrament, Rumney, Cardiff which had become vacant on the death of the parish priest. Sr Maureen would continue her work as the Administrator of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre while I would work in the parish since there was no longer a resident priest – we are served from the neighbouring parish of St John Lloyd about a mile and half away.
The house had been refurbished before our arrival but little or no work had been carried out on the Church for about 30 years – it was leaking, badly in need of renovation and the furnishings and altar linen were quite literally rotting away because of the damp. The first task was to set up a Parish Action Group who would share in the many tasks which needed to be done – planning, cleaning, fundraising etc. in other words taking ownership.
The parish has the largest Traveller Site in Europe with housing for around 2000 Travellers who claim Blessed Sacrament as their parish. Irish Travellers are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group who maintain a set of traditions. They live mostly in Ireland as well as ass comprising large communities in the United Kingdom and USA. There is also a fairly large Indian community mostly from Kerala, as well as other ethnic groups – Filipinos, Africans, Poles and Italians, all very well integrated into parish life.
The parishioners are very generous and the Parish Action Group work together to bring life to the parish. As a group we have been very inventive in ways of fundraising, (greatly needed), and at the same time developing a deeper sense of community, where people really do look out for one another in times of joy and sorrow. One of our first fundraising efforts was a sponsored “Toddle” – we couldn’t run – some of us couldn’t even walk but we did “toddle” round the 2km trail on zimmers (walking frames) and sticks while I arrived as the White Witch and went around on a broomstick!
The church building is now watertight; it has been painted inside and out and looks welcoming and cared for. Thanks to the generosity of our Sisters, much of the linen and altar furniture has been replaced and all this has enabled us to make the building a more worthy place in which to worship. Again, thanks to our Sisters we have a beautiful set of Easter garden figures. It isa far cry from our first Easter here when we pasted over the rotting plaster with coloured paper decorated with Easter symbols, just to give some sense of Easter joy!
But although I sometimes felt, in the early days, I had become a site manager, a scaffolding expert, a tree feller and a painter and decorator, life has been about much more than that. The building is only a means to an end: that of sharing the love of God with those we meet and providing time and space for people to deepen their prayer life.
Two very special ventures have been our annual Advent Carols by Candlelight and our monthly Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Mass and a soup lunch, each First Friday. Advent Carols began very small but we now have around 100 people coming andour parish primary school of St John Lloyd, has provided us with a choir, forging strong links between the parish and the school and the homes.
Last summer we had the joy of the ordination of one of our parishioners and we went in force to the Cathedral for the ceremony and the next day our church was packed for his first Mass. It was a very special occasion - one which really brought out the best in people. They were determined that it would be something to remember for a long time and worked so well together to make it that way.
Catechesis for the sacraments is carried out jointly with St John Lloyd parish and one of the blessings has been that of enabling lay people to feel confident enough to share their faith. Catechists from both parishes are beginning to take on responsibility themselves. Our core group has become the support group for the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) programme and lately has transformed into a faith sharing group and the beginnings of evangelisation – not always a popular word! We have also trained several parishioners as Eucharistic ministers for the sick and housebound and now this ministry is largely carried out by them.The seeds are being sown and all we can hope is that through the grace of the Spirit each little seed will add something to the growth of faith.
In the last two or three years, I myself have been trained as a Lay Minister for Funerals – a new concept in our Archdiocese. This is a privileged ministry at a time when people are very vulnerable. Sadly I find so often that while the deceased may have been a practising Catholic, the next generations are mostly not church attenders and have little idea of the religious aspect of death. It is a challenge to reach out to them as, for many, this may be one of the few occasions when they have contact with anything religious.
Another big demand is the presence of the large Travelling community. Their understanding of faith and practice is certainly expressed differently, although we have successfully integrated the young people into both the Confirmation and First Holy Communion programmes. The parents come themselves for the Baptism preparation programme but, as many are not literate, we do have to stress that there is no written work – it’s mostly DVD and discussion. There have some challenging situations atTraveller funerals and weddings, when rival groups have begun fighting. There was one notorious funeral when there were armed police and a police helicopter at the cemetery and it even made the national TV news!
I have been involved in education in one way or another for much of my life and I love the contact with the school and the children through my work as a school governor for St John Lloyd School. It is another great way of contributing to the Catholic ethos of the school which has just received a glowing report after a recent inspection. My role there helps to strengthen the partnership between church and school, to give support to the staff and is a good way of getting to know families.
What happened to my dream? I think my dream has become reality - but not in quite the way I expected! I have had the privilege of working with and for so many wonderful people who have allowed me into their lives to share with them the riches of our charism, in the good times and the not so good. I have tried to give but I know I have received so much in return. I love what I do- it is often hard and demanding, but it is also what dreams are made of.
“We go by preference to the poor and most neglected and we seek to form apostles who will continue to spread the Gospel message that all are called to the greatest love.” (Constitutions 39)
It would be wonderful to hear how this is lived out in other parts of our SSJ world.
Sr. Marie De Montfort
