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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


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