The Parish Brings Christ
In 1978, the pastor of Divine Providence wrote about what a parish is. Nearly fifty years later, his words read like a letter to us.
In 1978, five years after the new church in Southfield was consecrated, Divine Providence parish published its five-year anniversary book. In it, the pastor at the time, the late Fr. Viktoras Kriščiūnevičius, wrote about what a parish is. Nearly fifty years have passed — yet his words sound today as if they were meant for us. This is not a voice from the past. It is a reminder.
A parish is alive only as long as we keep it alive — as long as we come, as long as we take part, as long as we carry it forward. It is not enough to be on the parish rolls. The parish needs you — your presence, your work, your prayer.
And so, what is essential in a parish? I answer: the life of God’s grace, which flows from the head into the body, and is given to the members only when they are joined to the Body of Christ. This divine life of grace is the essence of the parish. Its primary task is to give this life to its members, to sustain it, and to lead them toward maturity. This is why it is so important that we rightly understand, value, and support our parish.
It is a joy to see in the parish those enthusiastic people who spare neither time, nor labor, nor sacrifice for this hearth of spiritual formation. I would wish that everyone felt it as their own. For it was out of the cares of each one of us, out of each one’s greater or smaller sacrifice, that this hearth came to be. May it be our own not only when we have need of it, but also when it has need of our help or our sacrifice.
We are more fortunate than many of our brethren who, having no church of their own, are granted only the right to have Mass in their own language. A good number of our parishes are fading as their surroundings change. Having built a beautiful and ornate church, our countrymen begin to move on — to a newer, better neighborhood — leaving their religious and cultural centers to the mercy of fate. Our parish, too, may one day face such trials…
The church is built. The spire rises to heaven and the eternal flame burns… but is the work finished? I would sooner say that it is only the beginning. It will not be finished until a dwelling for the Lord is built in the soul of each of us, until, day by day, we help one another, until we can all say: “Lord, we are Your people.”
— Excerpts from “The Parish Brings Christ” (Parapija atneša Kristų), Fr. Viktoras Kriščiūnevičius, 1978