We had our final monthly meeting of the year on Monday evening and, as usual, the agenda was pretty full! Thanks to the generosity of the parishioners, and the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, we are ending the year in good shape. Our 18-strong team, ably supported by the energetic B-Attitudes, are ready to address the challenges that these dark and cold months always bring. Be it the hungry, the lonely, the sick or the imprisoned, we are on standby to help.
Monday is the UN’s International Volunteer Day. This is a timely reminder of the great team of young people and adults that we have in the SVP parish family! Not just that, though: We also have a lovely team of people who just like to help us out at the food bank on Saturdays.
Irrespective of the different paths to volunteering, I think all the volunteers would testify to the presence of something ‘mysterious’ within them that makes them want to put in the effort. This mysterious something is, of course, the power of the Holy Spirit. As a hymn reminds us, ‘…the power of the Lord is moving in this place..’. Let’s all say ‘Thank You’ to the Lord for being such a tangible presence within our parish and please pray that the Holy Spirit continues to energise our volunteers.
As we enter the beautiful, expectant season of Advent, it is all action in the SVP! A number of work streams are particularly busy at the moment, including the food bank, ‘Gifted’, the young persons B-Attitudes group, the Bereavement Support Group and the regular visits to Brackenbridge House care home and the refugee detention centres at Heathrow. We couldn’t do this work without the support of the parish and the congregation and we say ‘Thank You’ in advance for any help you are able to give us in the run up to Christmas.
Last weekend we recommenced our regular weekly visits to Brackenbridge House care home. These visits have been on hold since the pandemic started, and now add to our list of existing activities. These include the food bank, the B-Attitudes, the bereavement support group, our religious items shop, Gifted, visits to our local detention centres near Heathrow, home visits to the lonely, delivery of weekend mass CDs and DVDs to the housebound and supporting our twinned SVP conference in Romania.
This weekend is a time for remembrance and reflection. And in particular, of course, we remember all those who have lost their lives in conflicts past and present. The SVP team see the impacts of these conflicts in some very real ways. At the food bank, for example, we always meet some clients, our brothers and sisters, who need our help directly as a result of conflict in their home country. Similarly, when we visit our local immigration detention centres, our brothers are there directly because of conflict and strife in their homeland. Only as a result of your ongoing support are we able to continue to help in these ways, and it is a privilege for us to be able to do so. Please accept our sincere and ongoing ‘Thank You’.