Hawaii is a very special place. There is a unique openness of the people here, they are much more accepting and understanding of all kinds of situations and each other. I am not leaving because I do not like Hawaii. I love it a lot, I will miss it a lot. I really enjoy ministering to the wonderful people in this vibrant faith community and working with a wonderful church and clergy. It has been very life-giving. In my 40 years as a priest I have only been assigned to four parishes along with teaching in the seminary. This is a very good parish. Sometimes in life however you need to make changes for certain reasons. And when it comes to major life transitions, a lot of things just kind of happened for me.
I used to love administrative work and thought I would never retire. But when it came to the point that I would go to meetings and sit there thinking, “When is this going to be over?,” then it dawned on me that I cannot do what I need to do anymore. I realized that the administrative part of being a pastor was getting to be too much for me. I did not want to cheat the parish because I did not have the energy anymore to put into it. And because I could not put all of myself into the work as I really should, I felt it was time to retire.
My mother Dorothy was also living here with me. She was my only family until she passed away. She was so much a part of our parish community here that I hesitated to retire because I did not want to pull her out of such a supportive environment and change her situation at her age.
I still love celebrating the Mass. It is the main stabilizing factor in my life through which I find the most spiritual nourishment and refreshment. If all I had to do was to celebrate Mass every day, I would be fine. But that is not the case in the life of a pastor. So I do plan to help out in parishes in Las Vegas. And who knows? If I do not like Vegas, I might come back to Hawaii for good.
I pray that the parish will continue to be as welcoming, as faithful and as spiritual as it has been and continues to grow in these characteristics which I have seen during my time here. It has been a tradition in this parish to help and encourage people in their faith. This is good as it does not depend on me, it depends on the people. I am appreciative of the parishioners and just enjoy being a beneficiary of journeying with them along their road to the Lord.
Father Thomas Gross has been pastor of St. John Vianney Church and School the past 19 years. He retires on June 30. He celebrated his 40th anniversary of ordination on his birthday, Jan. 3, a birthday he shares with St. Damien. He has been ministering in the Diocese of Honolulu for more than 40 years.
