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From the Archdiocesan Archives

Thanksgiving with Cardinal Cushing

Friday, November 28, 2025Culture

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As the leader of an eminent social institution during a time of such prosperity, Cardinal Cushing walked the walk by breaking bread with people of all backgrounds: rich and poor, young and old, across class and racial lines.

Among the numerous sermons and speeches that Cardinal Richard Cushing gave during his episcopate is a Thanksgiving Day statement given on Thursday, Nov. 25, 1965. Cardinal Cushing calls Thanksgiving the "most typically American" holiday, tracing its roots back through three (now four!) centuries of forebears who "proposed that prosperity should not encourage us to forget the God 'from whom all blessings flow.'"
As the leader of an eminent social institution during a time of such prosperity, Cardinal Cushing walked the walk by breaking bread with people of all backgrounds: rich and poor, young and old, across class and racial lines. He met these people as they were, from flashing peace signs with hippies to emceeing his annual Thanksgiving dinner for the elderly.

Blinstrub's, a longtime nightlife hotspot in South Boston, became Cardinal Cushing's dining room every November around Thanksgiving for over 15 years. By inviting elderly and underprivileged guests, Cardinal Cushing gave hundreds who might not have otherwise had a Thanksgiving meal the opportunity to enjoy "a day of good cheer, good food, and pleasant companionship with the Cardinal as their own maitre d'hotel," as described in The Pilot on Nov. 27, 1965. These dinners evolved to include a talent show, with attendees, mainly between the ages of 60-90, encouraged to perform. Reporting on Nov. 27, 1967, The Boston Globe lauded such highlights as accordion solos, a recitation of the Gettysburg Address, and Cushing's own demonstration of "a few of the latest rock 'n roll steps" during the dance portion of the event.
Beyond his affable, charismatic nature, Cardinal Cushing was not blind to the social issues of his day. His 1965 address recognizes the efforts of American troops in Vietnam, for whom "Thanksgiving Day will be one more day of trial and toil," having "placed their honor and their life in the scales of human freedom." He goes on to acknowledge the inherent progress achieved by the 1964 Civil Rights Act while lamenting the generational inequity and prejudice that hold Black Bostonians back. In housing, in employment, and in education, Cardinal Cushing asserts, "every subtlety is used to camouflage the inescapable fact that (the Black man) should go so far and no further, so high and no higher." Cushing condemns Christian inaction and urges reflection, care, and love for our neighbors. "No one of us will wish to admit that there is prejudice in his heart, or admit anything that resembles racial hatred toward his brother. But we are known by our fruits (M 7, 16) and the bitter product of these days is all around us," he reflects.
Never one to lose sight of Christian teachings, Cardinal Cushing proposes Thanksgiving Day as a good day for faith and self-reflection. He notes the act of sharing a meal together as a family is reminiscent of the Last Supper and the first sacrifice of Thanksgiving, the Holy Eucharist. "By this let all men know that you are mine, that you have love for one another," the cardinal says, Cushing quoting John 13:35. This love for one another, he asserts, is at the root of the "unmistakable moral issue," he presents in this address. "There is no tolerable status quo so long as men suffer and children are deprived. If we want a better world, we must make it so," he concludes, urging Christians to continue to work and pray for such change.
Cardinal Cushing was well-known in his time for his attention to civil rights and his care for those in need, as much as someone of his position and of that era might have been. His focus on ecumenism extended beyond the world of the church to advocate for the desegregation and racial equality for all, and he continued to walk the walk in this regard as well.
On Jan. 17, 1966, The Boston Globe reported on the creation of an Archdiocesan Commission for Human Relations, an ecumenical panel to advise Cardinal Cushing on how the church could address racial inequality and assist those impacted by it. Msgr. Russell J. Collins, then the pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in Roxbury, was named as the commission's chairman. His appointment, as well as the very establishment of the commission, was hailed by civil rights leaders. Rev. Gilbert Caldwell, chairman of the Boston Conference on Religion and Race, recognized the commission as a "concrete manifestation of what the cardinal has said in many of his statements particularly his Thanksgiving Day message," referencing Cardinal Cushing's 1965 address cited above.
The Cardinal Richard James Cushing Papers are housed at the Archdiocese of Boston Archives. To learn more about our collections, visit us online at bostoncatholic.org/archives.
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us in the Archives!