Welcome to
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
St. Mary’s Catholic Church
Albany, Oregon

LIMITED REOPENING!

Thanks to some WONDERFUL people, we are able to continue with our limited reopening.  Mass and confession times have been adjusted, extra Masses have been added during the week.  All weekend Masses are filled.  If you did not call in or receive a call back, you are not on for this weekend.  We have also called the weekday attendees, but there is still room if you have not yet had a chance to attend a Mass.  Call us at the office to add your name in an available slot.  We only put a parishioner’s name down once per week at the most, so if you are already scheduled for a day this week (our “week” runs Saturday evening through Friday morning), you will not be added for another day.  However, if you happen by the church and there is still room available on a weekday morning, we would let you in up to our limit.

REMEMBER:  Wear your masks to mass.  Be on time!  Doors open 15 minutes before mass time and close as soon as mass starts.  Late arrivals will not be able to enter the church.

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU, to all those who signed up to help disinfect after each mass.  May God bless you as much as you are blessing our parishioners by enabling us to hold extra masses.  You are the treasure of our parish!

We rely on you!  As a parish, we depend on your contributions and stewardship.  If you are able, we ask that you continue your generous support. Options are:

1. Mail checks to the office at 815 Broadalbin St SW, Albany, OR 97321
2. If you would like to set up online giving, please click HERE
3. You may set up auto withdrawal from your bank account

Need help for options 2 or 3?  Email   stmarysbusiness@comcast.net   and Joy DeCastro will contact you at her earliest convenience.

Thank you to those of you who have already continued giving.  Your loving hearts are cherished!

The Blessing of Our Graduates

If you are a graduate, or have one in your family and would like to attend, please contact David Lake to sign up. 

LIVESTREAMED MASSES & Weekend Homily

Anyone who is unable to attend, or for health reasons is wisely staying safely at home, IT’S OKAY!  The dispensation is still in place.  We will continue posting weekend masses in FaceBook.  For this weekend, the masses will be posted by 10am for the English Mass; 1:30pm for the Spanish Mass.

Please check us out on our FaceBook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/St-Marys-Albany-292524563038/  

You do not have to log in, just click “Not Now” (takes a minute to pop up) and then click into the mass you wish to view.

Here are copies of the homilies for the English Masses this weekend: Vigil Mass 5 30 2020 and Sunday Mass 5 31 2020

Father Leonard Omolo is appointed to return to his Religious Community in Africa

Beloved Community of Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
 
As spiritual shepherds of God’s people, we priests need always  to be open to obey the commitments we are encouraged to do by our superiors, and to go where the Church asks us to go in order to serve God, and minister to His people.
 
Since this is the season of transitions for some priests to move to new appointments, our parish has received a formal communication from the Archdiocese of Portland which announces that father Leonard Omolo, the priest vicar of this parish community has been appointed to return to serve his Religious Community in Tanzania.
 
According to father Leonard, his Religious community works in several areas of the U.S. There is a possibility he can come back in the future and work in a parish here in the states. For now, he will return to his home country and arrange his immigration documents.
 
Following the words of the Apostle Peter who says “Each of us should use whatever gift we have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” Father Leonard has offered many spiritual gifts to our parish community and has made people love him due to his kindness, humility and his strong priestly commitment.
 
Likewise, knowing that priests are called to be missionaries anywhere, father Leonard has been a perfect example of being a missionary in the Church of the U.S. Father Leonard has remained in the U.S for almost six years, and five of those six years, he has been serving as the vicar of this parish community. It has been a real blessing to have father Leonard among us as a missionary priest.
 
As a parish community, we will feel sorrow for father Leonard’s departure, yet we rejoice with him in anticipation of his new phase and commitment as a priest of Christ.  We know father Leonard will add much to the lives of those who will be his new church family, as he has added to the lives of this community.
 
Regularly following legal policies of the Archdiocese, priests are asked to begin their new commitments by July 1st; however, due to the Crisis caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, international airports could remain closed, which would impede father Leonard’s ability to travel by July 1st. Therefore, father Leonard could possibly spend extra time with us on campus until international airports are open.
 
Finally, due to the lack of gatherings of big groups, it will be complicated to do a farewell ceremony and appreciation event for Father. However, while father Leonard is still with us, I invite all  parishioners to offer your messages, contributions or any sign of appreciation to him in a more personal way. I know he will appreciate it.
 
We will pray for father Leonard as we appreciate everything he has offered as a priest to the people of God.

In Christ,
Father Edwin L. Sanchez Romero
Priest Administrator
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Mary’s Albany

EL padre Leonard Omolo se le ha asignado regresar a su comunidad religiosa en Africa.

Querida comunidad parroquial de Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro,
 
Como pastores espirituales del pueblo de Dios, los sacerdotes debemos estar abiertos a obedecer todos los compromisos que se nos piden hacer por parte de nuestros superiores. Así mismo estamos llamados a ir a donde la Iglesia nos pida ir, para servir y administrar los sacramentos.
 
Ya que este es el tiempo en que muchos sacerdotes son enviados a nuevas parroquias, nuestra parroquia ha recibido un comunicado por parte de la Arquidiócesis de Portland y el cual anuncia que el Padre Leonard Omolo ha sido asignado para regresar a su comunidad religiosa en Tanzania, Africa.
 
Siguiendo las palabras del apóstol Pedro quien dice que “Cada uno de nosotros debe usar los dones que hemos recibido para con los demás como fieles servidores de la gracias de Dios” el padre Leonard ha ofrecido muchos de sus dones espirituales para con nosotros a través de su cariño, bondad y especialmente de su compromiso sacerdotal.
 
Así mismo, sabiendo que nosotros los sacerdotes somos llamados a ser misioneros, puedo afirmar que el padre Leonard  ha sido aun excelente ejemplo de ser un misionero aquí en Los Estados Unidos. El padre Leonard ha permanecido por casi seis años en este país, y cinco de ellos sirviendo en nuestra parroquia de Santa Maria.  Estos años han sido llenos de bendiciones al tener al padre Leonard con nosotros como un verdadero misionero.
 
Como comunidad parroquial, extrañaremos al padre Leonard por su partida, pero a la vez nos sentimos felices por los nuevos compromisos obtendrá como sacerdote en otro lugar.  Sabemos que el padre Leonard dará mucho de sí mismo a su nueva  comunidad, así como ha dado lo mejor de si mismo a esta comunidad.
 
Según nuestra Arquidiócesis, los sacerdotes deberán iniciar en sus nuevos lugares y asignaciones para Julio 1del 2020; sin embargo, debido a la crisis causada por la pandemia del COVID-19, varios aeropuertos internacionales se encuentran cerrados, lo cual impediría que el padre Leonard viajara para esta fecha. Así que, es posible que el padre Leonard permanezca por algunos días más en nuestra comunidad, hasta que los aeropuertos internacionales re-abran sus vuelos.
 
Así mismo debido a la restricción de no realizar eventos en grupo, se nos hará difícil realizar una fiesta de despedida para el padre. Sin embargo esto no impedirá que ustedes cómo buenos parroquianos le expresen el cariño y el agradecimiento al padre atreves de llamadas, mensajes o contribuciones económicas, de una manera muy personal.  De seguro el padre Leonard se los agradecerá de corazón.
 
Unamonos en oración por el padre Leonard y por esta nueva etapa que va a iniciar en su vida acerdotal.
En Cristo,
 
Padre Edwin L. Sanchez
Parroco
Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro
Albany, Oregon
 

Archbishop Sample issued a new decree extending the suspension of the public celebration of Holy Mass and issuing a corresponding dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday and Holy Day Masses. The Archbishop has made this extension until further notice and with the intention to reinstate the public celebration of the Holy Mass at the soonest date possible, following the recommendations of public health and other civil officials. Cover letter and decree can be found here in ENGLISH, SPANISH and VIETNAMESE.

Watching Mass:
Archbishop Sample invites you to Mass

EWTN (both on TV and online)
St. Cecilia in Beaverton (FB)
St. Joseph in Salem (YouTube)

Bishop Barron (online)

Prayers:
Stations of the Cross  video   printable or, EWTN has stations at 11:30am

Magnificat (free online or download the app) 

Bringing the Grotto to you daily

Lenten Resources

Other Resources:

Click here to get FORMED free for 40 days.  Catholic Netflix with movies, bible studies, ebooks and more.

Resources for Prayer and Engagement during Coronavirus  

Want to meet with your groups electronically?  Here’s how

Stay tuned to catholicsentinel.org, elcentinelacatolico.org or our Facebook and Twitter feeds for the latest news  @CatholicSentnl  and  @CentinelaEC . Multiple stories are posted daily. 

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