Submitted by Sr Mary fcJ, member of the Gumley Community in London, home of the FCJ General Leadership team. Gumley House is part of the Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows and St Bridget of Sweden in Isleworth, West London.
For many years, collaboration between the Gumley Community and the nearby Parish of St Bridget of Sweden has borne fruit for members of both communities. Sometimes strong and free-flowing, sometimes needing a little more work depending on needs at hand and the people concerned, collaboration is always at the forefront of our minds.
Two recent developments to share – one concerning Sacred Music, the other Gardening.
On Holy Saturday Night, the pure, light and resonant voices of our FCJ companions proclaimed the Exultet at the Easter Vigil, creating a sense of praise and prayerfulness on that sacred night. Many parishioners expressed their gratitude for the singing which they said was ‘heavenly’, ‘angelic’, they felt ‘transported to another plane’. Our sense of the otherworldly Risen presence was confirmed.
The Parish has begun a Sustainability Garden group with the aim of having homegrown flowers to decorate the altars in Church. Two triangular beds were dug out, composted and tulips planted. Then two weeks ago, on a glorious Saturday morning, numbers in the gardening brigade doubled and it was all-hands-on-deck to prepare the ground for planting perennials and a few shrubs. Gumley community provided three willing members, plants and implements galore. From now on, the main occupation will be watering the plants, weeding the beds and hoping for some glorious blooms to adorn the Church altars.
