Page 7 - olph19441994
P. 7
Dear Fr Power and Parishioners of OLPH.
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge you on the Year Long Celebration of the Golden Anniversary of your
Parish. In this the year dedicated to the International Year of the Family, it seems most appropriate that we underscore the
importance of the Parish as Family
In exploring the Pope's key document on the Laity, Chirtifideles Laici, John Paul II
speaks of the parish not principally as a structure, a territory, or a building. He speaks
rather of the parish as "the family of God, a fellowship animated by the spirit of unity "
I congratulate the priests, religious, and laity who for fifty years, have made Our Lady
of Perpetual Help a community of the faithful, a family house, a fraternal and welcoming
home. My prayer is that you will continue to carry out the Church's task of spreading the
Gospel so as to enter into people's various life situations.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev Armando X. Ochoa
Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles
Dear Parishioners:
I join with you in the joyous celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. We have
reflected many times, especially this year, on the beginning of this parish. We have recalled how it has grown from only a
few families to the large membership we have today Only God can measure the torrents of grace which have flowed to
His people because Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish has been here these fifty years to meet their needs.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help has become a great parish because its parishioners always wanted it to be a great parish.
The people here had a vision of parish the universal Church in miniature and have tried, and keep on trying, to realize
that dream. The ideal parish does not come easily, it is a process, a growth process and we have continued to grow
The generosity of our parishioners defies description. You have not only given of yourselves, but you have provided
the parish with the families and resources it needs to carry out its ministry Our parish plant stands as a tribute to the
goodness of our people and their desire to give God's work their best effort.
Fifty years have passed. We must now look to the future. We must pass the legacy of
the Catholic faith and Catholic living to the future members of our parish. As your pastor
for the past 17 years, I thank all of you for your support and the cooperation you have
given me. I pay a sincere tribute and expression of gratitude to all the priests who have
served here. All have contributed to the growth of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. May
its growth especially spiritual growth continue.
Particularly on this occasion do we invoke our celestial patroness, Our Lady of
Perpetual Help. Her position as Queen of the heavenly court is mighty for she, too, has
known the pains of beginnings and the promises of harvest. May she now implore for this
wonderful parish a torrent of benediction and of grace as it reaches out towards its
diamond years.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev Patrick A. Power
Pastor
OLPH 50th Celebration - 5