In 1991 Father Reggie Hezekiah, then parish priest of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church in Maraval, introduced an 'Over 50's - Golden Years Intercessory Prayer Group" made up as it is easy to tell of the parishioners who had attained that golden age. Many parishioners refer to the group as the "Golden Girls" but the men of the parish are also quite welcome to be part of this Ministry for the not so young.
Last Tuesday, the lone male, Boysie Wong-Fo-Sue, accompanied his wife, Dorothy, and very comfortably socialised with his female peers who meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the parish house.
The leader of the happy group, Vida Pocock, is ably assisted by Mimi Chin Fatt, who quickly pointed out "I am not yet a Golden Girl" but as Vida said "Mimi helps a lot, especially with the food" a very vital part of the meeting.
The group's main role is prayer, and so the 10 a.m. meeting starts with the Rosary as says Pocock " we are consecrated to Our Lady, so is the parish and so is the country. The Rosary is our main prayer." The parish priest, who is now Father Knolly Knox, normally puts in an appearance at the meetings, but was unavoidably absent last Tuesday.
The parish priest gives the group parish intentions for which to pray, such as, the sick and youth of the parish and the church generally. The one thing which the group is very good at praying for says Pocock "is for good weather at parish functions." We also pray for our own intentions and have a prayer box into which these intentions are placed. Birthdays are recognised with prayer and flowers. It goes without saying that currently the Golden Group is very busy praying for the state of the world, and the nation.
But it has not always been just parish meetings for the group, as in times past there was the excitement of outings, which unfortunately have been "on hold" within recent times. But says Rita Forjonel, former secretary to President Ellis Clark "they look forward to the meetings and if for some reason we cannot get together, such as, a holiday comes in between, they are very disappointed."
"In the beginning" said Pocock "Father Hezekiah would ring the well-to- do ladies in the parish and ask them to host us, and they did, so we went to all those lovely houses and had the most enjoyable coffee mornings. We even had tea at President's House. This hasn't happened for a while."
At other times, the Golden people would visit places of interest, such as, flower farms, factories, the Yachting Association, and down-the- islands. When the visits were to places within easy reach, they got people with cars to help transport. For jaunts to places like the Wild Fowl Trust, La Vega , Hadeed's at Santa Cruz, Bovell's at Malabar and Chin Fatts', maxis were used but those are now too expensive. A recent innovation is the visitation of parish churches which the Assumption parish may have helped to build, through the annual Family Day Fair. The group has already visited Maloney and La Horquetta churches "to see how they built their churches because we contributed " said Chin Fatt "Assumption helps a parish each year."
The lack of outings has not dampened the spirits of the Golden People as they look forward to their bi-monthly meetings where they pray, enjoy a snack meal and socialise. At times, Pocock gives them a spiritual talk on the power of prayer, after the Rosary, as she feels strongly that "Our Lady is relevant to what is going on in the world and in our country. Our Lady is alive and doing wonders. She is powerful." There are other times when a guest speaker will be invited to share with the group.
The highlight on the calendar, the upcoming annual Christmas Party, is planned for December 11, and once Father Knox agrees will most probably be a nice, sit-down, luncheon followed by entertainment which could include a parang band. Here again, changing times have put an end to what used to be a Christmas dinner on the church's beautifully lit back lawn, with Santa and carol singers.
"In our heyday" says Pocock "there were about eighty members, this year we are down to about sixty as many have died and the remaining ones are getting older ourselves so we have decided we are going to try for a lunch as it is no longer safe to be out at night. There were times when people out of the parish asked to become members and we did not tell them no. What we really do need however are some younger people to help especially with transport."