Our Lady of Perpetual Help cherishes community

Intermountain Catholic

Photo 1 of 2

Children at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish begin their religious education classes every Saturday with Morning Prayer in the church. IC photo/Marie Mischel

(Editor’s note: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish had the highest percentage of parishioner-paid subscriptions to the "Intermountain Catholic" during this year’s subscription drive. As a result, their parish is profiled in this week’s paper. See all winners on p. 2.)

KEARNS — Father Dominic Thuy Dang Ha has a simple explanation about what makes Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish a community. "Everybody works together," he said. "We don’t care much about titles, just service."

For example, all of the members of the parish council volunteer to teach religious education classes, which take place for three hours every Saturday: one hour of religious education, one hour of recreation and one hour of Vietnamese language instruction. (The parish’s 250 families are primarily Vietnamese and Hmong; many of them came to the United States as refugees.)

The children are required to enroll in the religious education classes from 1st to 9th grade; after they are confirmed in the faith they can volunteer as assistant teachers for the classes, Fr. Thuy said. The parish also offers a youth group for those in the 9th grade to age 23, "to keep them around the church," he said.

Once a month, the parish offers a free lunch for the entire congregation, which is another way to build community, said Steve To, chairman of the parish council. "It’s a time to meet, to get to share all the good news, the bad news, the feelings that you have. I like the kids playing with each other.... I think that’s one of the reasons our church bond is so strong, because people know each other so well. They help each other out, they work together, they play together, they watch football together, they go fishing together, camping together. It builds a tight-knit community."

Fr. Thuy’s example also strengthens the community, To said. "I dedicate my time to the church because of Fr. Thuy. One thing I notice the most is he has his own donation envelope every week [for the collection basket.] That really gets to me."

Also, "he’s willing to get dirty: cleaning the church, vacuuming, mowing the lawn, doing things he shouldn’t be doing, like cleaning the toilet," To said. "Two days ago, I was here trying to fix the sound system, and ... it was cold outside, and he was outside cleaning the windows."

Fr. Thuy offers to God the work that he does around the parish, said Theresa Nguyen, a parish volunteer. "He is very humble."

Like many in the parish, Nguyen has been a member since it was founded in 1994. "All of us have been involved in doing volunteer work since then until now," she said. "Everybody knows everybody here. We treat our church like a family, and Fr. Thuy is our leader."

Watching the parish over the years has been like watching a child grow, said Huy Ngo, a Parish Council member who teaches the confirmation class. "Our community starts with Fr. Dominic; he puts his heart into it and it rubs onto us, the people who work with him."

Another aspect that strengthens the community is that "we still keep what’s good from our culture, especially in the faith," said Nga Duong, the Parish Council’s vice chairwoman, who also directs the children’s choir. Celebrating Mass in her native language means "I can pray deeply with my own language."

Nguyen agreed. For her, having the homily in Vietnamese makes it easier to understand the priest’s deeper points, she said. "Fr. Thuy’s wording stays in your heart ... You take it and apply it to your family, and from there you reach out to your friends, and through your friends you reach out to the community."

Ngo came to the United States in the 1970s from a refugee camp, as did To. Those experiences that are common among parishioners also help build community, Ngo said. "Each of us has our own little problems here and there, but we come [to church] and Father talks about how he came with just a box and a T-shirt, and we have similar stories like that, and look at who we are now. I think that’s the blessing that we always try to hang on to, to know that anything is possible with God.... We come together because we have that common faith, and because of God we are here now."

Parish Winners

Our Lady of Perpetual Help – Highest percentage of parishioner-paid subscriptions; prize is a front-page article about the parish in this week’s Intermountain Catholic.

Saint John the Baptist – Highest number of new subscriptions; prize is a quarter-page color ad in the Intermountain Catholic, to be used at the pastor’s discretion.

Saint Vincent de Paul – Highest total number of parishioner-paid subscriptions; prize is 10 tickets to the 2013 Judge Memorial/Juan Diego Catholic high schools’ football game, to be distributed at the pastor’s discretion. The tickets were donated by Judge Memorial CHS.

Individual Winners

First prize of a round of golf with Bishop John C. Wester: Tom and June (Cookie) Epperley, Jr., of Saint Marguerite Parish in Tooele (The Epperleys have donated their prize to the parish.)

Second prize of a case of wine from Kiler Winery: Dudley and Mary Elliott of Saint Anthony of the Desert Mission in Torrey

Third prize of four tickets to the Christmas Carol Service at the Cathedral of the Madeleine: Robert and Pat Bayer of Saint Thomas More Parish; the tickets were donated by the Madeleine Choir School.