Thank You Letters to Our Community for the 2015 Archdiocese Convention

Following a successful week of hosting Hierarchs, Clergy, and Parishioners from across our Archdiocese at the 2015 Archdiocese Convention, we have begun to receive thank you notes from many who appreciate the hard work and dedication of our community for a job well done. Please see below for a selection of the many letters of thanks.

From Fr. Antony Hughes

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.

­­­­-- Meister Eckhart

Now that the Archdiocese Convention is over and the dust is settling, I want to thank all of you who worked so hard, some for over two years, to make it successful. 

I will not try and thank everyone by name, since someone always gets left out. I must, however thank, above all, Mary Winstanley O’Connor and Raymond Sayeg, our co-chairs.  The hard work and time they put into this massive endeavor was monumental.  Because of their diligence and dedication, everything went exceedingly well. We and the Archdiocese owe them a large debt of gratitude.

There are so many others to thank.  You know who you are and so do we.  God bless you for everything you did for the Convention and for the countless things you do day in and day out for our beloved parish. 

All of our committees from the chapel to registration to the Grand Banquet were staffed with faithful volunteers from our parish.  Others from around the Diocese helped as well.  Thanks to all of you and all of them.

Now we can get back to our normal parish life.  I am happy for that.  Thank God for all things.

With deep gratitude and love, 

Fr. Antony

From the Convention Chairpersons Mary Winstanley and Ray Sayeg

From His Grace Bishop Basil

From His Grace Bishop Thomas

From Fr. George and Nouhad Shalhoub 

Dear Fr. Antony and Mary,

Greetings and best wishes in the name of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

We have come home, safe and sound, filled with inspiration and strengthening of our faith, not only in our church, but the future of our church.

We wish to thank you and every member of your committee – the volunteers and donors – for your gracious hospitality and kindness to each and every one of us. May God from above strengthen your resolve and bless our Patriarch YOUHANNA X, Metropolitan JOSEPH and all our hierarchs to continue the mission of the Church of Antioch, even during these dark days, because we are all winners. This was not a convention. It was a one week retreat of self-reflection and connecting the ancient past to the present and uniting them for the future.

I know every language in the world has a way to say “thank you.” This is because gratitude is an inherent quality that resides within each human being and is triggered and expressed spontaneously. So all we can say is Shukran as an expression of our hearts. 

Yours in Christ,
Fr. George and Nouhad Shalhoub

From Ray and Georgianna Rishwain

Congratulations St. Mary Cambridge.  Your faces should be beaming.  What a truly beautiful and historic convention you hosted. We were so proud of what your parish accomplished at this convention.  You attended to every detail.  You made the city of Boston Proud.

Thank you
Ray and Georgianna Rishwain