Friends of Saint Peter Lithuanian Parish – Mass Of Thanksgiving Remarks

October 23, 2005

Mass of Thanksgiving/Celebration Remarks

Sveikinu visus atvykusius siandiena, dziaugtis ir dekoti Dievui kad musu numyleta Sv. Petro Lietuviu Parapija isliko gyva. Kai geguzes menesi, 2004 metais, Bostono arkivyskupija paskelbe kad musu parapija jiems nebereikalinga ir bus uzdaryta, mes susiburem kovoti jos islaikymui. Per paskutiniuosius pusantrus metus mes dirbome Parapijos islaikymo darbus ir siandiena galime vel susiburti cia kartu ir dziaugtis musu atsiekimais.
Toliau kalbesiu angliskai kad visi cia susirinke suprastu.

Welcome to each of you who came to St. Peter Lithuanian Church to celebrate and give thanks to God that our beloved parish remains open today. In May, 2004, when the archdiocese shocked us with its stunning decree that our Parish was no longer needed in the archdiocese and would be closed, we banded together to fight this unwelcome decision. We campaigned for over a year, and now it is truly fitting that we come together again to CELEBRATE our accomplishment. The banner above the door proclaims DZIAUKIMES and the banner near the altar proclaims CELEBRATE! Today we will do just that!

We have received letters of congratulations that we will read now.

I speak to you today as Chairperson of the Friends of St. Peter Lithuanian Parish.

The Friends of St. Peter Lithuanian Parish was formed in May 2004 and during the ensuing year we banded together to save a part of our heritage. I would like to remind you of what we accomplished as a united community.
We stood shoulder to shoulder in our determination to keep our Parish open. We demonstrated, we wrote letters, we made phone calls. We contributed monies and built a treasury to launch a canonical challenge to the proposed closure and we prepared to launch a civil challenge if it became necessary. We even made preliminary plans to conduct a vigil/live in to prevent the loss of our church.

We encircled our church with a ribbon of juostas/Lithuanian sashes in June, 2004 as we demonstrated against the archdiocesan plans. In July’s heat and humidity, we marched, prayed and sang in front of the archbishop’s residence on Commonwealth Avenue. In October, we built a Hill of Crosses in front of church as a symbol of our resistance. Today, we continue to add crosses as symbols of our gratitude. In the midst of all this, we celebrated our 100th Jubilee in grand style and listened to an uplifting homily delivered by Msrg. Contons during our Jubilee mass.

We prepared and planned and strategized. We appealed to the Vatican and just recently, finally, we received its response.

We refused to cooperate with the archdiocese when they kept clamoring for us to set our own date of closing. Imagine the absurdity of setting our own closing date! Why did the archdiocese think that we would willingly set our own date of execution?

What an unexpected and bewildering shock we received when on June 16th, 2005 the archdiocese removed the threat of closure and announced that our Parish would stay open. The official word from the archdiocese is that “St. Peter Lithuanian Parish would not have a closing date established.” We are jubilant that the wolf is not prowling at our door ready to pounce.

Now, Today, It is our intention to enjoy parish life as never before!

It is our intention to recommit ourselves to making St. Peter Lithuanian Parish more vibrant than ever before.

It is up to us to build a Lithuanian ministry that will make it impossible for the archdiocese to ever consider closing St. Peter again.

We must now think bigger and better!

This is the challenge of the Lithuanian American community in Greater Boston.

This is our mission!

During our months of resistance, we were very fortunate to receive moral and spiritual support for our cause from many individuals, many of whom are here today. To each Friend of St. Peter Lithuanian Parish, another heartfelt thanks to you for your financial support. Your financial contributions made our efforts possible.

Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the United States, brought the prestige and weight of his office to our cause when he wrote letters, made phone calls and traveled to Boston in the hopes of meeting with the archbishop. For his efforts on our behalf, we are most grateful and would like to present him with a sign of our appreciation.

A special word of thanks for his support in our battle is extended to Honorary Consul of Lithuania to the United States, Dr. Thorsteinn Gislason. Although he could not be with us here today, he lobbied on our behalf during several trips to Lithuania and interceded with Cardinal Backis.
Mr. Peter Gelzinis, columnist for the Boston Herald, is deserving of our appreciation. His columns in the newspaper were supportive and eloquent as he challenged the logic and motives of the archdiocese. He presented the human side, our side, of the conflict. It was delightful and satisfying to read his perceptions of the situation. I am sure that his grandfather, one of the founders and builders of our Church, would be extremely proud that his grandson, Peter, used the power of the pen to support our Parish.

We thank Msgr. Albert Contons for his courageous and passionate defense of the Parish and his fiery and methodical analysis of canon law as it pertained to reconfiguration. His authoritative words provided consolation and energy to many of us.

Finally, we thank our pastor, Fr. Steven Zukas, for standing with the parishioners and Friends of St. Peter Lithuanian Parish often at personal, occupational peril. Multiple times, Fr. Zukas was asked by the bishop to proclaim a closing date for the parish and multiple times he refused to do so. He graciously accepted the advice of the Parish council and protected our status. We thank him for his support during these past months.