Parish and School News

We are a community

Thursday 5 July 2012

By Asther Bascuna-Creo,
Holy Eucharist Parish, St Albans South.

A few people are already trickling in and settling in the pews, always in the same places they occupied the previous Sunday. Some are on their knees, rosary beads in hand; while others wait quietly, enjoying the songs of the choir. The parish priest is bustling about, readying the altar, stopping to greet parishioners, organising his little brood of sacristans.

From the third row, where we usually take our place, little Elessar, my one-year-old, wriggles out of my arms and walks around the pews, near the altar, then towards the aisle and close to the elderly couple who recite the rosary without fail before Mass starts. Elessar confidently navigates the pews with his unbalanced steps, approaching everyone, looking them close in the face, and leaving only once they have greeted and smiled at him.

I worry that he is invading their private space. But I need not; the parishioners of this little church in the heart of the working-class suburb and migrant community of St Albans always have a ready smile for him. Not only the elderly ladies, but also the men, open their arms out to him. On one particular Sunday even the Vietnamese lady who had a fruit stall near the entrance of the church greeted him with open arms and carried him. Without the English language skills to talk with us there is nevertheless a connection, a communication; an understanding of meanings and intentions. There is a sharing of faith.

We are a community. Every week we gather and occupy the same space. Elessar, who has attended Mass in this same church since he was only a few weeks old, is a familiar face to the parishioners. They have observed his growth, and they have developed a fondness for this little boy who likes to greet people. He has become a part of the life of the church.

We are a community. Without needing to express our thoughts and sentiments we nevertheless share our experiences, our intentions as we profess our faith. We gather on Sundays, not with the arrogant belief that we are better than those who choose not to share this ancient tradition, but in the knowledge that we are accepted in our imperfection and in our brokenness.

We are a community. Over time from those same pews that we occupy each week, we develop and deepen relationships. We derive strength in our faith journey in the knowledge that there are people like us who falter and yet surge on. We discover similar themes running through each of our lives. We discover that there are more similarities than there are differences between us and the other person.

Our church community in this working-class community of St Albans is full of broken people, people who have come from other lands, people striving for belongingness, people yearning for home, people who are weary, each with their own story to tell. We find strength not through singular prayer, but by gathering together in communal faith.

The Holy Eucharist Parish, St Albans South, 40th anniversary was in June, on the feast of Corpus Christi. Celebrations were held in April to avoid the colder weather.

This article was published in the Holy Eucharist Parish anniversary booklet.