On Sunday, October 8, the Church of the Incarnation on Willet Avenue celebrated its tenth anniversary since its construction. It was only fitting that our first parish priest, Fr Clyde Harvey would celebrate Mass with us.

As our chief celebrant made his way up the aisle, he sprinkled holy water on us, while the Sunday choir sang Lord Have Mercy. The altar was specially decorated with white flowers, the statue of the Virgin Mary was surrounded by many lit candles.

After the gospel reading, Fr Harvey addressed the First Communion children, asking them to think about ten positive points about their parish. They left with their teachers for a few minutes, so the Liturgy of the Word would be explained to them in a simpler form.

In his homily, Fr Harvey reminded us of our early beginnings. The gospel reading was about the sacredness of marriage and the consequences of divorce. “What God has united, man must not divide.”

Fr Harvey said that as a parish, we have achieved quite a lot, but there is room for more growth. God has showered everyone with talents. The commitment of the parishioners would determine the type of Church we would have in the future.

Young people need space to breathe and the senior members should recognise this. Fr Harvey sent a message to us. “Priests come and priests go, but the people of God remain. A Church like that will shine like a light.”

Lou Ann Neils and the Saturday night choir, the Celestial Voices, rocked the foundations of the church with a few renditions. Fr Harvey looked in admiration at the Celestial Voices who graduated from the junior choir.

Tributes were paid to those who had left this life and contributed to the church in some way – the designer of the church, the late Roger Turton and our late Archbishop Anthony Pantin who was the chief celebrant at the blessing of the church ten years ago.

The recessional hymn Pass It On urged us to pass on God’s love to others and spread the Good News. As I glanced up at the metal artwork of Anna Serrao and Ricky Boodram, it touched my soul connecting me to the Divine. Artwork on galvanise, like a grater, symbolic yet original.