Happenings

1. Recent changes at the Department of Catholic Schools are not in any way tied to the Gender Identity Theory document or its related controversy.  
2. There are no plans to close any school. Our Catholic schools are an essential part of our mission of evangelization. The importance of the mission and our dedication to our families is unchanging. 
3. No student has been excluded from any Catholic school or parish. Our doors are open to everyone and always will be. As Catholics, we joyfully abide by the Church’s teachings and moral principles when we are forming the consciences of our children. This includes those moral principles articulated in the Gender Identity Theory document.  

In Christ, 
Archbishop Alexander K. Sample

Knights of Columbus Essay Winner, Audrey Birkland

Read the winning entry in the Knights of Columbus Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest!

Young Catholics can evangelize! Mark 16:15 says, “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” Even though this quote was said thousands of years ago, it still has meaning to my life today. As a fourteen year old girl, I first wondered Can I evangelize? How can I spread the word? When I think of the word evangelize I imagine a preacher in church. But really thinking about it, I realize no matter who you are, or what your age, you have the power to make change and bring people back to the faith. It can be simple, small steps. It doesn’t have to be inside a church, it can be everyday things. Looking at my life, and how I could evangelize my faith, one person stands out. This person is my Aunt. A few years ago, after a series of hard events in her life, she turned away from the faith. Our family was heartbroken, and I am using my Aunt as inspiration as I write. I found many ways that I can try to bring her back to the faith and these ideas can be used by other young Catholics to encourage others to come back to the faith.

The first idea that I had about evangelizing to others was just showing others God’s love through my words and actions. Kind words, loving actions to show that God is working through me; that he loves everyone, and he wants those people who have turned away from him to come back. I could be kind to my Aunt and not judge her for her past.  

Another thing I could do is invite my Aunt to Mass. There she would be surrounded by a community of people who are believers, and she may be much more likely to pick up the faith again after feeling the love of the community and seeing the beauty of the Eucharist. I think another thing that can bring people back to the faith is immersing them in Catholic culture. For example, inviting a person to parish events or Catholic traditions. My brother is going through First Communion this year and I can invite my Aunt to that. 

Another thing that I can do is to inspire happy memories of their past Catholic life. For example, if that person used to enjoy a brunch with family after Mass, then an effective way to bring them back might be to replicate that kind of experience. Another way is to invite them to a service project like feeding the hungry or helping people. The person would be surrounded by people who want to do good in the world for their faith. I think people that volunteer can be very inspiring to the people who have turned away. 

I think another way to bring people back to God would be to normalize talking about the faith. If the faith is never talked about, then it can fade off of people’s radar and they won’t think about it. For example, you can tell the person how thankful you are that God brought them into your life. Even this short sentence can inspire thoughts about God and the faith.

The last way you can bring people back to the faith is to tell them about your personal experiences. Personal experiences can have a huge impact on people because the stories are real and not made up or in a movie. For example, when my grandfather was young he had a tumor in his ear; he prayed and his church prayed over him and the tumor went away. This story deeply affected me and I could only imagine the impact a story like that could have on a person who has turned away from the faith. 

In conclusion, there are many ways that a young person can evangelize to people who have turned away from the faith. I think that even though a situation like this might seem like a huge mountain to climb, there is always hope and there are many small ways that can impact these people’s lives in a good way. These situations can seem uncomfortable for both people, but we have to do what God wants us to do. I encourage you to go out and spread the word to those people in your life who have turned away from God. 

June 11, 2023

Remember the description of the life of the first Christians two thousand years ago, which we find in the Acts of the Apostles?  One of the things to which those earliest Catholics devoted themselves was what they called the “breaking of the bread.” (Acts 2:42).  This is the way the early Church described the celebration of the Eucharist. 

Think about that.  Jesus has only recently ascended back to the right hand of the Father.  The Apostles are still alive.  And the Church is already celebrating the Eucharist — celebrating Mass!  They were doing this because they took to heart what Jesus himself had said: “This is my Body…this is my Blood…DO THIS in remembrance of me.”  They also understood what Jesus said in the Bread of Life Discourse as recorded in the Gospel of St. John, chapter 6: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 

The most holy Eucharist has, from the beginning, always been absolutely central to the life of a Catholic.  The Second Vatican Council reminded us that the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Christian life.  The Council also taught clearly that within the Eucharist is contained the entire spiritual good of the Church — namely Christ himself. 

Pope St. John Paul II’s very last encyclical letter was about the profound mystery of the holy Eucharist.  In it he said that he wished to rekindle in the Church a “Eucharistic amazement.”  We should be amazed — in awe and wonder at so incredible and holy a mystery!  In the Eucharist the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ is truly present.  This is his profound gift to us. 

As we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi this year in the midst of a national Eucharistic revival, I wish to remind everyone of this centrality of the Eucharist in our lives.  To be more specific, I wish to remind us of the importance of participation in the celebration of the Holy Mass. It is our grave moral obligation to participate in the Mass on every Sunday and Holy Day of obligation.  Maybe some of us have forgotten this. 

But why should we have to speak of “obligation?” If Jesus himself had invited you to the Last Supper (the first Mass), or to stand by his mother at the foot of the cross, would you have had something better or more important to do?  Yet that mystery is exactly what is celebrated and made present at every Mass. I pray that God will reawaken in you that awe, that you will find joy in the invitation to the Mass.  

Blessed Corpus Christi to all! 

In Christ,
Archbishop Alexander K. Sample

Alleluia! Jesus Christ is Risen, Alleluia! He is truly risen, Alleluia!

My Brothers and Sisters,

A joyous, glorious, and happy Easter to you all. Our Savior has broken through the gates of death! At this most sacred and triumphant time of year, we rejoice in Christ's victory. We have come with Jesus through the penitence of Lent, through the darkness of Good Friday, through his suffering and death, and into the victorious light of hope for life everlasting.

Jesus brings the victory of the cross to all of us— every single soul. After his death on the cross, before his Resurrection, what did he do? We say it in our Apostles Creed, “he descended into hell.” He sojourned to the shadow of death to awaken all those souls who had died from the beginning of time. Why? Because God loves us. He loves every single person who has ever lived. He suffered and died on the cross out of his love for humanity to free us, you and me, from that shadow of death.

We are all acutely aware of the shadow of death in our world. Everywhere we look, there is pain, division, injustice—so much suffering. Maybe you are suffering as you read this. And I want you all to know you are not alone. Jesus has not forsaken you, just as God did not forsake Christ on the cross (if there’s any confusion on that, here’s the theologian in me reminding you to read Psalm 22). And before ascending into Heaven, our Lord, ever the loving shepherd, did not forsake those in the shadow of death. Christ, in his humanity, experienced the depths of human suffering. We know God understands our suffering and accompanies us in that suffering, because Jesus truly embraced his suffering on the cross. He gave up his life, not for himself, but for love of us, so that he could rescue us from darkness and resurrect us from death to life eternal.

As we celebrate his Resurrection, I want you to remember Jesus brings us hope in the midst of our suffering. He has rescued us from the shadow of death. How will you respond to his gift of hope?

In Christ,
Archbishop Alexander K. Sample

Hispanic Ministry leaders from the Archdiocese of Portland gathered Feb. 16, 2023, at the Pastoral Center, for a morning of prayer, praise, and team building with the goal of closer collaboration and outreach to the Hispanic community.

In the meeting, convened by the ministry’s new director, Father Mike Kueber, leaders from more than 32 parishes were among the approximately 80 participants from different cities and locations in Oregon.

February 22, 2023

Praise be Jesus Christ!

"Brothers and Sisters: We are ambassadors for Christ!" These words of St. Paul implore us to conduct ourselves as if God were appealing to his lost sheep through us. On a day like Ash Wednesday, this may seem obvious. By taking the ashes on our foreheads, we are literally marking ourselves as disciples of Christ; but what about the other days of the year? What marks us as representatives for Christ then? As Catholics, our words and actions should be like the ashes that declare us disciples of Christ every day.

Embrace these 40 days, embrace this opportunity to renew and strengthen your connection to Christ through prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and penance. Don’t think of these things as items to add to your “to do” list, but as gifts - because they are gifts of God’s grace. The Prophet Joel tells us, "Even now, says the Lord, return to me, with your whole heart." I urge you, my brothers and sisters, embark on this Lenten season with your whole heart. If you commit to one thing this Lent, commit to going to confession. God is all merciful, all loving. He created you out of love and for love. Jesus sacrificed himself for us. Lent is our opportunity to surrender ourselves to him.

I invite you to pray the Surrender Novena with me, together as an Archdiocese, starting today on our social media channels. I know many of you have heard me expound on the grace and transformative power the Surrender Novena has brought to my life. Won’t you join me by surrendering your heart and life to Jesus this Lent?

In Christ,

Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland in Oregon

The Rev. Michael Kueber lifts his palms skyward and smiles. Always upbeat and encouraging, he is the new Hispanic Ministry director in the Archdiocese of Portland.  “God is building something in the Catholic Church here in Oregon and it comes from all of us,” he exclaimed.  “We are different, we come from different histories and countries, but we are one in Christ,” he stated. “When we have unity in Jesus Christ, in the Eucharist, in the Word of God and can be reunited, our unity is the most important thing.”

 Fr. Mike, as he is known to his congregation, has long been preaching to first generation  Hispanic immigrants and their children and spreading the Gospel, from the St. Anne Parish, in Gresham, where he served for more than seven years, first as a deacon in 1999, then as a Pastor from 2002 to 2009, to The Church of the Assumption, in Richfield, Minnesota, a parish with a large Hispanic population where he served from 2014 to 2020.

Since 2020, Fr. Mike was an adjunct professor of Preaching at the Catholic University of America. Currently, in addition to leading the Hispanic Ministry, he teaches Homiletics to seminarians at Mount Angel Seminary.

His new book, Preaching to Latinos: Welcoming the Hispanic Moment in the U.S. Church was released earlier this month. In it, Kueber provides readers with best practices for preaching to and leading their churches.

As the new Director of Hispanic Ministry at the Archdiocese of Portland, Fr. Mike stated that he will use the methodology of Seeing, Evaluating and Acting in the process of reflection and action. 

 Fr. Mike looks forward to continuing to learn with the Hispanic Catholic community. “My experience has taught me that the Catholic Church is 'a community of communities,' as Pope Francis explains.  “In a parish there is a community of faithful with many lay groups and movements, for example, groups of St. Juan Diego, of the Legion of Mary, of a variety of ministries, and all can flourish in the parish.” He explained that in these groups people build relationships,, study the Word of God together, share their lives, strengthen their faith, and community flourishes.. “In a church that lives in community, everyone is brothers,” he said.

 Fr. Mike added that one of his main focuses will be on families, “since parents are the first educators and transmitters of the faith to their children,” he said. “The proper and most fundamental place where the person receives education is in the family,” he added and invites parents to strengthen their personal relationship with God so that they can educate their children not so much by what they say but by how they live, he concluded.  

Preaching to Latinos: Welcoming the Hispanic Moment in the U.S. Church is available in paperback. 

Click to Buy...

 

January 21, 2023

On January 21st the Vietnamese Catholic Community marked the Lunar New Year 2023 at Our Lady of Lavang, in Happy Valley. Happy Year of the Cat (Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar)!

The celebration began with a greeting to the faithful who attended dressed in formal and traditional attire for the major occasion of Vietnamese heritage. The beats of a drum and a bronze gong followed the initial prayers before the Mass.

Archbishop Sample in his homily expressed his joy for the New Year celebration and congratulated the community for beautifying the temple with recent improvements. “You, this parish family, have done a marvelous job,” he said before an audience of about 1,200 people.  “Every time I come, there is something new,” he said referencing the new Stations of the Cross added to the sanctuary.  
Archbishop Sample reflected on the challenges of the past three years shaped by the pandemic. “We have gone through one of the most difficult times that I think any of us will ever live,” he said. “I know some of you have experienced far worse just in getting here to this country and seeking your freedom, new life, the hardships and the sacrifices for sure.”

He went on to reflect on the last few years, “As difficult as it has been, it is time for a new beginning not just because we gather here to celebrate the Lunar New Year, but because of what we have been through in these years…I've been praying and wondering what it is that God allowed us to go through and for what purpose…As we move to the future to this new year, I think God has been purifying and strengthening us through this hardship when we remember what it was like not to be able to come to church to celebrate the Eucharist, the source and summit of our life, a greater longing for the Eucharist, a hunger for the Eucharist,” he said referencing the Eucharistic Revival called for by the bishops.

Archbishop Sample concluded that it's time for us as the church, the people of God, to revitalize our faith, to revitalize our parish community, to revitalize our families, our homes, imbuing them with the Spirit of Christ.

After Mass, Archbishop Sample, Bishop Peter Smith and other concelebrants distributed red called lucky money (li xi), a Lunar New Year tradition. 

January 5, 2023

Hundreds of faithful gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Portland Thursday evening as they joined millions around the world in mourning the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Archbishop Alexander Sample, during his homily at this evening's Mass also pointed to Benedict's deep love of the Liturgy, reflecting that Pope Benedict's "love for Jesus Christ was the hallmark of his papacy. His legacy will live on--a legacy centered on Jesus Christ." Archbishop Sample went on to share his personal recollections of meeting then Cardinal Ratzinger first as a seminarian and later as a priest and bishop, remembering his treasured conversations with "this holy man, this humble man, this deeply spiritual man."

Archbishop Sample addressed the numerous priests concelebrating the Mass when he reminded them that Pope Benedict once said, "The yes that a man says on the day of his ordination as a priest is a yes to everything that follows." And Benedict demonstrated that pure surrender and selfless response to God when he was called to be pontiff, a role never sought but graciously accepted.

Archbishop Sample closed his homily on an emotional note when he quoted Pope Emeritus Benedict's final words, "Lord, I love you!" And added his wish that "he opened his eyes on the other side to Jesus saying, 'I love you too!'" 

December 2022

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, it was St. Francis of Assisi who gave rise to and popularized the idea of the dramatic representation of the Christ’s birth. In 1223, St. Francis visited Rome and asked Pope Honorius III for permission to produce these plays.

When the Franciscans and Jesuits arrived in New Spain, they used theater as a tool for the evangelization of native peoples to the Catholic faith, presenting productions that mixed biblical scriptures.

In 1530, the first bishop of New Spain, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, issued an ordinance to celebrate a 'Farce of the joyful Nativity of Our Savior'.

One of the first Pastorela that is registered in Mexico was entitled Adoration of the Magi and was written by Fray Andrés Olmos. "It was written in the Nahuatl language to facilitate its understanding... Through music, dances and the profusion of flowers, Father Olmos reached directly to the hearts of the natives, who considered these elements indispensable for any celebration."

Virginia Lopez, a parishioner of St. Anne's Church in Gresham, has been organizing las pastorelas in her parish for 15 years. She wrote the screenplay for the Pastorela The Birth of the Child God', held on December 17, 2022, in Santa Ana, in which 27 parishioners participated.

Virginia said the most rewarding part was witnessing the participation of entire families with their children in this faith story. 

Guillermina Hernandez, of St. Henry Church in Gresham, announced that the Pastorela "Entre pastores te veas", starring 22 parishioners including children, youth and adults will be held on January 6. If you would like more information, see St. Henry’s Facebook page.

December 2022

Parishioners of St. Joseph’s in Salem, gathered in the church gymnasium on Friday Dec.16 to celebrate Las Posadas, a Latin American Christmas festival. The event, organized by parishioner Max Díaz, catequist of the Catechism in Spanish, included a procession, prayer, recitation of the Rosary, singing, the piñata, gifts for children and food.

After this, the "host" offers prayers, songs, and the recitation of the Rosary. The piñata is a key element used in Posadas. Beautiful and bright, it is shaped like a seven-pointed star. “The piñatas represent the temptation to fall into sins,” Díaz explained. “Each pointed cone symbolizes the seven deadly sins: envy, sloth, gluttony, lust, anger/wrath, and pride” he said. “The act of breaking the piñata has a meaning too. “It is to break with the deadly sins in order to be able to receive Jesus in our heart” Díaz added.