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	At St. Albert the Great, Our Celebration Continues By Rose Barrett Weymouth News [Weymouth MA] June 29, 2005 There is much to celebrate in the Parish of St. Albert the Great in Weymouth these days. We have shared so much sadness these past ten months, it is only fitting that we share our joy and lessons learned. I would like to share with you my experience: I have often heard it said that the journey of life is a series of peaks and valleys. >From the moment I was introduced to this philosophy, I have found it fascinating. It had been my belief as a child that if we did what was right, obeyed our parents, went to Mass on Sunday, did good deeds etc. then we would be happy. I had life all figured out at the ripe old age of eight, I was always going to do the right thing and I was always going to be happy. Somewhere along the line, I noticed that this was not working. Though many people were living by the rules, there was much sadness in the world. It was then that I realized life is not just about being happy but more importantly, about growing and learning. If life is about peaks and valleys then it is not so much the peaks but those valleys that bring about growth. What I have recently learned as an adult is that sometimes we peak and valley over a long period of time and other times those peaks and valleys are lined up in a row giving us the feeling of being on a roller coaster. This has been our experience as parishioners of St. Albert the Great Parish. Unlike most Catholic parishes, the parishioners of St. Albert the Great Parish are not just from the local area. We are from all over. While this is unusual, this is what works so well at our parish. It was my attendance at the 6 p.m. Mass on the occasional Sunday that introduced me to the wonderful group of people at St. Albert's. It was the joy we all shared as we approached our church weekly that has helped develop this love that we all now share. And while it was our Pastor Fr. Ron Coyne's love for his parishioners that strengthened this love, it was his observations and his way of sharing those observations that cemented our love of each other. His were not sermons, he was not there to teach the uneducated. He was there to love and respect and to share that love and respect with us allowing us to share it with each other. We all knew that if there was something that needed to be clarified or discussed he was readily accessible and this could then be discussed quietly or over dinner at your house or at any of his favorite restaurants. Fr. Ron Coyne loves people so much it is sometimes easy to forget that his first love is his God and his vocation. We had the perfect combination of priest and parishioners, we were all very happy with this situation and remained on our peak until early 2004. When it was first announced that St. Albert's would be on the list of possible closings we were unable to comprehend that this could even be discussed. I had been attending the 6 p.m. Mass at this point for about a year and I had noticed the congregation growing weekly to standing room only. In my mind there was no way they could seriously consider closing us. The discussions continued and this valley that we were then in was the beginning of major growth in the lives of all the parishioners of St. Albert the Great. We were thrust into the limelight fighting a fight that we never thought we could or would fight. We felt strongly though that we were not fighting with our archdiocesan church but for our archdiocesan church. Our leaders had made mistakes in the past, some much more serious than others, and we were now in a position to do something about their ill-advised decisions.Our vigil began. To those not involved with the vigil at St. Albert's it might appear that the re-opening of our church was our greatest achievement. We would disagree. Because of our action, many other parishes sought our guidance in holding their own vigils. We have supported each other as needed throughout this time. As a result many parishes have joined together forming the Council of Parishes, which has been very active and successful. We continue to await word from our local courts regarding ownership of church property and hope the courts clarify this matter once and for all. Because of these actions, the archdiocese then formed a committee to review the closings. We saw this as the first step in the right direction with regards to the flawed reconfiguration process. There were few peaks during these times and many valleys. We held strong knowing that mistakes had been made. We held strong knowing that now was the time to stand up for what was right and by doing so we would be strengthening our church, not weakening it as some might have believed. There was celebration with the word that we would be re-opened but sadness when we learned that Fr. Ron Coyne would not be reinstated. We felt strongly that if our archdiocesan leaders were admitting to a mistake as they had, then a big part of that mistake was bringing about frustration, pain and sadness for Fr. Coyne and all involved. We realize now that Fr. Coyne celebrates our success and is prepared to bring his many gifts to a new congregation, we wish him well. With our re-opening, we see that much good has come from the actions of many and our celebration these days comes from the fact that our determination and strong will has been vindicated. We celebrate that we had a pastoral council in place that has been so willing to put their own lives on hold (and that of their families in many cases) in order to put the time and effort into this vigil, making us all feel successful. We celebrate the hard work of Phil Healy, and more recently Lorraine Larabee, for the most difficult job of arranging the very successful twenty-four hour vigil. We celebrate also the wonderful ladies on the hospitality committee that so cheerfully set up coffee and goodies twice daily without fail. We celebrate the maintenance committee and housekeeping committee that worked so hard these months in keeping our church clean and for the wonderful work in sprucing up our rectory, as we get ready to welcome the return of our beloved Fr. Lawrence Borges. We celebrate the support of the UPS store in Braintree for printing our weekly bulletins for us to keep all informed and we celebrate those involved in formulating our weekly messages. We celebrate our choir, most notably Susan Lynch for the beautiful music twice daily to lighten our loads. There is much to celebrate in regard to donations and hopefully all involved are fully aware of our total appreciation. Most importantly, we celebrate our beloved lay leader, Pelly Tulimieri and the support of his wife and family. As Pelly commented recently at his 85th birthday celebration held at the church, his original request was to lead a prayer service for the first three days of the vigil. Much to his credit, Pelly has led us in over 600 eucharistic prayer services these last 10 months. With his early morning arrival, Pelly would lead us with the rosary prior to the 9 a.m. eucharistic prayer service, which he officiated. He would then return early in the evening to do it all over again for the 7:30 p.m. service. He did this every day for almost 10 months. We enjoyed Pelly's Chuckles. Every service would end with a humorous story referred to as a "chuckle" and Pelly's Chuckles are now legend. We will forever be indebted to Pelly for sharing his spirituality, dedication and humor and we appreciate the opportunity of getting to know and love him these past 10 months. With the return of Fr. Borges this week we return to our regularly scheduled Masses but know that Pelly will be there to continue sharing his gifts and hopefully a few chuckles. We celebrate all involved with the vigil, knowing that we have all grown but more importantly that this growth is ongoing and our efforts have made a difference in the lives and faith of many. We have appreciated and enjoyed the many messages of support given to us by those dropping by our church and those sending donations, gifts and notes. We understand that our situation has brought about much discussion with family, friends, co-workers, customers, clients and even strangers. We have witnessed the struggles of faith for some and the determination of faith for others. We have brought faith to the forefront. Many have learned from and benefited from our efforts and this we consider our greatest achievement.