By Anne DiBernardo - Florida Catholic
Photographer: ANNE DIBERNARDO | FC
Jesuit Father Thomas Griffin is seen here with retired nurse and dear friend, Dorothy Janine Butler, who flew in from Atlanta for his farewell Mass.
MIAMI — Father Thomas A. Griffin’s farewell Mass was a bittersweet occasion for friends and parishioners who took time from their work day to say goodbye to the man they consider a “living saint.”
As he enters his “second retirement” at the Jesuit provincial house in New Orleans, where he was ordained a priest in 1958, Father Griffin leaves behind a 50-plus year legacy of serving, in imitation of Christ, the sick and shut-ins of South Florida.
“And today we thank God for one of his saints among us, Father Thomas Griffin,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who celebrated the Jesuit priest’s farewell Mass at Miami’s Gesu Church on Feb. 23.
The archbishop cited from Epistle of St. James to note that Father Griffin modeled for everyone, clergy and laity alike, what a “religion pure and undefiled” looks like. Father Griffin entered the Jesuits in 1947.
For 37 years of his priesthood, he scurried through the halls of Jackson Memorial, one of the nation’s busiest hospitals, delivering the sacraments and ministering to patients, their families and their friends. With one pocket full of anointing oil and another filled with tricks to entertain sick children, he built a reputation as a priest who “doesn’t stop” and who, without hesitation and at a moment’s notice, was always available to anyone who was sick or in need of spiritual direction.
“Say, got a minute? I’ll tell you a joke,” was his signature greeting for everyone he encountered, be it in the confessional or over the telephone.
“This is like a piece of my heart being taken away,” said close friend Mary Forshey, adding that there are priests in the diocese who are calling him a “living saint.” Forshey said she would cope with her sadness by praying, attending daily Mass and following the instructions he gave her through the years.
“I will not only be praying for him but to him,” said another close friend, Dorothy Janine Butler, who flew into Miami from Atlanta for Father Griffin’s farewell. “I have beautiful family memories of this man," she said, recounting the days when she was a nursing student at Jackson Memorial in the late 1960s.
“Father Griffin was always with us in the emergency room, no matter what time of the day or night — he was always there. And when I became engaged, Father said, ‘I’ll marry you at my church.’ That was 38 years ago and I’m still married to the same man.”
Since then, Butler has had three children, all of whom were baptized by Father Griffin at Gesu. More recently, Father Griffin flew to Atlanta to marry Butler’s daughter, and then made return trips to baptize her two grandchildren.
“Father Griffin has always been a priest that’s been there. You didn’t have to be in the hospital,” said Rose Carol Bechamp, adding that he also spoke Spanish and English, which was perfect for the multicultural archdiocese.
Father Griffin was spiritual director to his former golf coach, Salvatore Mangiaracina. When Mangiaracina found out his friend was moving to New Orleans, he was broken-hearted. His wife, Rosemarie, said he cried and wanted to try and keep him here so he could be with all of his friends who love him. It wasn’t long before Mangiaracina realized that he needed to say goodbye and that Father Griffin would be in good hands.
“It’s a hard thing for me to convey in words; saying I’ll miss him doesn’t come close. When I see Gesu and he is not there, it will be hard. He was all that a saint could be; he was kind, obedient and humble,” said Mangiaracina.
“Father Griffin is one of the finest human beings I’ve ever known,” said Paul George, Miami’s historian and author of “The Gesu in Miami.”
“His saintliness is unparalleled. He lives the message that Christ laid out for all of us. I’m sad that he is leaving but happy because of all the special things he has done for so many people,” George said.
Forshey mentioned a television commercial whose tagline is “We are Miami.”
“They forgot to put Father in the commercial,” she said. “For us at Gesu, he is Miami.”
She noted that many of the people who have known the priest for 30, 40 or 50 years were alarmed, frightened and even angry that Father Griffin was moving to New Orleans.
“People are asking why he can’t stay in a facility that is closer. There is true heartfelt love and concern for him and even the selfish factor of ‘I can't bear not to be able to see and talk to him,’” Forshey said. “What has been forgotten is that Father had been on loan to Miami. He belongs first to God and then to his Jesuit brothers. We are but adopted and must return him — through our tears and broken hearts. We all need to pray for vocations such as his.”
Archbishop Wenski consoled the congregation by reminding them that Father Griffin “is beginning a new phase of his priestly life — we might say a second retirement as he returns to the city where he was ordained a priest — and where his Jesuit confreres will offer him the necessary care that the years have imposed on him. And, yet, while we see that age might have slowed his gait a bit, the courage with which he embraced his vocation is undiminished.”
“Yes, Father Griffin still remains a priest — and retirement or not, I am sure that he will continue to live out this priesthood embraced some 53 years ago with that same characteristic courage and evangelical simplicity that has edified those of us who have had the privilege to know him here in Miami these many, many years,” the archbishop said. “Of course, as he understands, this active priesthood will not be as ‘public’ as before — but he will continue to pray, he will continue to celebrate Mass, he will continue to unite himself to the Lord; especially as the acceptance of the limitations of age and of infirmity as a means of sharing in Jesus’ passion becomes a new apostolate, a new ministry.”
“We are going to miss him. He is an outstanding priest and an outstanding Jesuit,” said Jesuit Father Eduardo Alvarez, Gesu’s pastor.
Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado also attended the celebration and honored Father Griffin for his outstanding community service by giving him a commemorative plaque. Jesuit Father Pedro Suarez, president of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, also honored Father Griffin with a commemorative plaque on behalf of the Jesuit community at the high school.
Father Griffin's forwarding address is:
St. Ignatius Retirement Community House
6321 Stratford Place
New Orleans, LA 70131-7325
Photographer: ANNE DIBERNARDO | FC
A long line of friends and well-wishers waits to receive a blessing from Father Thomas Griffin at the end of Mass.
