St. Bridget celebration of Faith, Hope and Love

By: Joseph Ng
Salesian Cooperator – St. Bridget Chinese Catholic Church

St. Bridget Chinese Catholic Church, a Salesian parish in Los Angeles, on 10/9/2021, returned to our annual celebration dinner organized by the Chinese Catholic Association of Los Angeles after taking a break last year due to circumstance beyond our control. With over 250 parishioners and friends present, the theme of this year’s celebration was Faith, Hope and Love:

Faith: Our pastor Fr. John Lam, SDB, celebrates his 50 years of faithfulness to the priesthood.

Hope: Welcome Fr. Peter Pong, SDB, joining the St Bridget Family.

Love: Building of Mary Help of Christians Community Center is an extension of our love for the Gospel and our fellow people.

Bishop Edward Clark warmly recalls his long relationship with St. Bridget.

We were honored to have had many distinguished guests, among them were Bishop Edward Clark, Auxiliary Bishop of Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region, Fr. Mel Trinidad, SDB, Provincial of Salesians USA West Province, along with several Salesian priests and Salesian family members, Sr. Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ, General Superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange and several sisters and others.

The celebration started with CCALA President Joseph Ng who recalled the two major challenges of St. Bridget in 2019.

The first one was our urgent need for a Cantonese speaking priest to succeed Fr. Lam when he retires. We had placed this hope on the hands of Fr. Ted Montemayor, SDB, and Fr. Joseph Ng, SDB. Respectively they were the two Provincials overseeing the USA West and the Mary Help of Christians Province of China. Now with the help of the current Provincial, Fr. Mel Trinidad, and our fervent prayers, our merciful Father answered our prayers. We are grateful to the three Provincials: Fr. Mel Trinidad, Fr. Ted Montemayor, and Fr. Joseph Ng who is not here today.

Fr. Mel Trinidad, encourages St. Bridget to go forward.

The second challenge was the plan of building the Mary Help of Christians Community Center. We had placed this seemingly impossible project in the hands of our Holy Mother. With our fervent prayers, Holy Mother and St. John Bosco’s intercession, thank you all for the generous donations, the building of the Mary Help of Christians Community Center is in good progress. Please continue to pray for this meaningful operation.

In the celebration, we presented a video summarizing Bishop Clark over 20 years of guidance and loving care to St. Bridget. A second video presentation highlights Fr. John Lam’s 50 years of devoted, tireless, compassionate priestly service. We welcomed Fr. Peter Pong wholeheartedly with a fun interview and game. The program concluded with Mr. Richard Cheung sharing the construction progress of the Mary Help of Christians Community Center. Following please find the link to the slide presentation, time lapse construction video and a Minecraft house tour of the Mary Help of Christians Community Center. https://youtu.be/pv7leSKVaQc

Full of gratitude, St. Bridget joyfully recognizes the blessings that God bestows on our community. We place ourselves before the Holy Spirit and humbly accepts the mission to bring Jesus’ good news to others.

(From left to right) Sr. Maria Lai, CSJ, Fr. Peter Pong, Fr. Mel Trinidad, Fr. James Nieblas, Fr. John Lam, Bishop Edward Clark, with parishioners Joseph Ng, Richard Cheung, Agnes Yeung, Amy Ho, raised a celebratory toast.
Fr. Jim Nieblas, SDB, and Sr. Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ. lead the assembly in a fun singing segment.
(From left to right) Mrs. Rosemary Wu, Fr. Pong’s sister, Fr. Peter Pong, Bishop Edward Clark and Fr. John Lam.
(Back row from left to right) Ms. Regina Lim, Fr. Lam’s niece, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lim, Fr. Lam’s nephew and his wife, (front row left to right) Bishop Edward Clark and Fr. John Lam.
Color Guard, St. Bridget Scout Troop 168.