A Gentle Joy, St. Michael’s 120 th Jubilee in Binghamton!
BINGHAMTON---“A gentle joy,” is how Fr. Jim Dutko, described the just concluded 120th jubilee of the establishment of St. Michael’s parish in 1904. “My hope and prayer was clear, that faithful and friends would gather for this weekend celebration and after it was all said and done would be able to say, ‘Wow, am I glad I came! I was immersed in the love of the Lord, the embrace of love from our Metropolitan, clergy, faithful and friends, I experienced the spiritual awe of our beautiful Vespers and Divine Liturgy, and delighted in the stories and the song and dance at our celebrations.’” The words of St. Peter at the Transfiguration were appropriate indeed: Lord, It is good for us to be here!” Matthew 17:4

The Jubilee celebration began on Saturday morning when a Divine Liturgy was celebrated in memory of all the bishops, priests and faithful who had been part of the parish family since its inception in 1904 and the consecration of the first church in 1907 and the construction of the present St. Michael’s in 1916. It is fitting that as
the hymn of Eternal Memory resounded through the church, that the chalice used at the Memorial Liturgy had been the same Cup of Salvation shared with all of these in their lives here in the parish since 1905.

Faithful gathered at St Michael’s on Saturday afternoon at 4 PM to share in the Vespers. His Eminence Metropolitan presided as Fr. Jim Dutko, pastor and guest clergy shared in the celebration of the evening service.

In his closing remarks, Fr. Jim welcomed His Eminence and the clergy and faithful. He noted that although the church was formally established in 1904, its roots went back to 1894 when faithful immigrants from the Carpathians organized the Society
of the Archangel Michael as a first step in becoming a parish church. He spoke of the consecration Liturgy on St. Michael’s day in 1907 and the need shortly thereafter to build a larger complex which was completed in 1916. “The poorest people in
town,” he noted, “built the most beautiful church in the city! They did this because they were believers who more than anything else wanted to give glory to God!”

In his homily following the Vespers, Metropolitan Gregory noted that the 120th anniversary of the parish was also linked to the reality that the longest a human being can live is 120! He urged families to talk to their oldest family members to learn the history of those who had come before. He spoke of speaking to his own
grandfather who was a village priest in Greece when he was a 16 year old boy. He had asked him to tell him the family history and his grandfather went back seven generations! “I wrote all of the names with a pen on a napkin which I still have today. I made
copies of this including a copy in a safe deposit box so we will always have our history. This is why we need to celebrate the history, these milestones of churches, so that the little ones will know the sweat and tears, the work, the pennies that were
collected to build this church. They are the ones we honor!”

“My parents were immigrants! I was conceived in Greece, but I was born over here. I am 100 percent Greek and 100 percent American! We are a country of immigrants from all over the world. We love all human beings, but you have to do it the right way.” the Metropolitan concluded.

The Saturday Evening Reception!

St. Michael’s Recreation Center was beautifully decorated for the 120th jubilee. A long the rear wall was a large Church School Quilt Blanket that had been made in 1994 to mark the 90th anniversary of the parish. We discovered on this 120th anniversary, that there were a total of 120 squares reflecting each child, teacher and
assistant in the Church school program then. It was like unearthing a precious time capsule that became a place for many photos and shared memories!

There was also a table with yearly scrapbooks tracing life in the parish over past decades as well as countless photos and a huge chest that once made its was across the Atlantic to a new life in America with treasures from that home so far away.

There was also a large wall hanging of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor so descendants of the immigrants so long ago could have family photos taken beneath Lady Liberty, a beacon of such hope to newcomers to America long ago.

The meal was prepared in the center kitchen with lots of TLC under the direction of George and Patty Korba. The main course was George’s famous meatloaf, made from a recipe of a beloved cook, the late Ramona Kulik. It was supplemented by many sides and desserts provided by St. Michael’s faithful as well as the Jr. ACRY
which supplied an abundance of apple and pumpkin pies! The table setups were designed by Karen Randall and Joe Goeber of Americana Vineyards provided red and white wines with a distinctive St Michael’s Jubilee label.

A joy of the evening was the theatrical presentation by Kit’s Interactive Theater of a Journey of an Immigrant in 1894 to America! Cast members were selected from the audience for various roles by Kitty Jones, a professional theatre artist from New
York City as the story revealed the trials of the journey from Europe across the Atlantic to New York Harbor and Ellis Island.

Sunday Liturgy
On Sunday morning, the Liturgy began with a greeting from St. Michael’s Church by Randy May, parish president on behalf of the entire congregation. Fr. Jim Dutko presented the Hand Cross with a prayer asking the Metropolitan’s blessings for all
the departed faithful of the parish as well as all who had gathered to share in the joy ``of the celebration. Metropolitan Gregory was then escorted into the church by clergy, altar boys and children of the Church School as the congregation sang the entrance hymn in honor of the Mother of God and the hymn, “You have entered O
Archpriest.”

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Gregory and the clergy and altar servers processed to the rear of the Church for the Blessing of the two new Icons that had been written by master Iconographer Raymond Mastroberte and installed on the back wall. They included the Icon of the Hospitality of Abraham and Sarah
and that of the Dormition of the Mother of God.

In his homily, Metropolitan Gregory noted that all had gathered to honor those immigrants of more than a century. “They came here with only the clothes on their backs. The jobs that they had were hard jobs. Can you imagine a coal mine job, a steel job, those factories around here before IBM? They were working hard, but
deep down in their hearts they knew that they had to have a church. In the villages they came from, the church was the center of their lives. Everything had revolved around it. And now they were in America and they didn’t have a church! And this
was not only here, but everywhere they went.”

“The first thing they thought about was getting a church! They had to be able to baptize their children, to bury their departed family and friends and to marry their loved ones. And so they scraped together their pennies and their nickels. Others did more work after them and added and supplemented what was needed. And now after 120 years, here we are! We owe them a debt of gratitude,” Metropolitan Gregory noted.

“My parents were immigrants from Greece,” Metropolitan continued. He shared his personal story of his own Grandfather who had been imprisoned by the communists in Albania for 10 years because he refused to give up one of his 11 children to the
communist state.

“After his release, he wrote to my father who had been in America to come and see him. It was there that my father was introduced to his future wife and my mother. They were married there and I was conceived in Greece and born in America.” he continued.

“This is my story, but you need to know your families’ stories. “Sit down with the oldest person in your family and talk to them. Take a piece of paper and pencil, and write down what they tell you about the family because once they are gone the stories will disappear if you don’t write them down,” he continued.

Metropolitan also spoke of the stories in the day’s Gospel account of St. Luke on the raising of the daughter of Jarius as well as the healing of the woman who was bleeding for 12 years who with faith touched the hem of the Lord’s garment. He also spoke of the raising of the son of the widow of Canin and the pity the Lord had for the widow. He also spoke of Lazarus, dead for four days and brought back to life as well as the crucifixion, burial and raising of Jesus!

“The question is my friends, what do we believe! We read these stories but do we really know these stories? Take the time to read them all through the scriptural lessons of each day,” the Metropolitan continued.

“At the end of the Liturgy, you may have noticed the priests were loudly singing the last Allelulia! I told them to sing as if this were the last time we would sing together, for one day it will be the last time,” he noted.

“One day we won’t be here. Do you know if you will be here next Sunday for Liturgy? I don’t know what will happen between now and then but I remember when I was told as a deacon by my bishop, ‘Serve each service as if it is your first service and your last service!’”

“When you come to Liturgy, sing and engage for this is not a concert and each of you are part of the group! I wish you could be at summer camp when 100 of our kids are singing the Liturgy! It is so awesome! You hear all those little voices,” he noted.

Metropolitan Gregory spoke of the children, who unlike jaded adults, can see the angels flying by and singing. “The little ones are innocent and they see them and they talk to them,” he noted.

“I know that there are people in this town who are not here today. They may have good reasons for not being here, but if they don’t, pick up the phone and say ‘you know, we missed you! Where have you been? We love you! Come to church!’”

“This is where we should be on Sunday morning, in God’s house. We need to be here thanking God for what He has given us this week and asking Him for what we need. And guess what, He already knows what you need, but you’ve got to ask!

“If someone is missing call them when you get home. Check in on the ones who are by themselves, who are alone to see if they are alright,” the Metropolitan continued.

“And one more story. When I was in the Metropolis of Atlanta, I was asked by Metropolitan Alexis: ‘Father, when was the last time you talked to your parents? And when I said 10 days ago he told me clearly to use my phone and to call them every day.
“This became my routine. Every night between 9 and 11 PM, I call my mother to see how she is doing. If I can’t call, my mother will call me. So my friends, call your parents very day. If you have grandparents, do the same thing. This is what it means to be family, with our own loved ones and the family which is the community
of the Church!”

Visiting clergy participants in the weekend celebration joining Fr. Jim and Deacon Charles Ellis included: Protopresbyter John Fedornock, linked to the parish through his marriage to Pani Marge Soperak from St. Michael’s in 1962; Fr. Nathaniel Choma
from St. Mary’s in Endicott; Fr. Ivan Synevskyy of St. John’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Johnson City; and parish vocations, Protopresbyter Thomas Kadlec, retired; Fr. William Bennett from St. Nicholas in New York City; and Fr. George Ellis from St.
Mary’s in Cheektowaga. Congregational responses were led by David Dervay and St. Michael’s Plain Chant Singers with the assistance of Subdeacon Dylan Kelemecz and Seminarian Robert Lombardo.

Jubilee Brunch
Following Liturgy, faithful gathered at St. Michael’s Recreation Center for the Jubilee Brunch. A highlight of the meal was the presentation of flowers to His Eminence, Metropolitan Gregory by six women of the parish who were all over the age of 90. They included: Irma Petras, who once had presented flowers to Bishop
Orestes on his visit to the parish in1941, as well as Mary Puzakulics, Olga Bovan, Mary Duke, Dolores Kundrat and Helen Demetry. Their warm words of greeting reflecting decades of their lives and service to the parish over many years were
warmly received by Metropolitan Gregory and all who were in attendance.

The program concluded with performances by the Young Carpathian Dancers guided by Cheryl and Kaitlin Dutko, the Young Sword Dancers directed by Will Marusich and the Hopak by the Alumni and Young Dancers!

Members of the Jubilee Committee included: Sara Trott, Cheryl Dutko, Christina Dutko, Karen Randall, Mickey Gdovin, Shelli May, Jimmy Campbell and Dr. Bill Marusich.

John Puzakulics was the Jubilee photographer

“Days have now passed since we had the privilege to share in this gentle joy,” Fr Jim Dutko noted. “What a blessing this celebration was for everyone! Thanks be to God, Slava Bohu!”