Pastor's letter for this week
June 19, 2026,
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! This week brought joy and sorrow. The joy was that Tuesday was my mother’s 91st birthday so we celebrated that as a family at home. When I posted the picture on Facebook one of my friends asked “Oh, no, does that mean YOU’RE going to live a long time?” with a scary face emoji. My answer: “Good genes, baby!” I saw the doctor today and all is well. But only God knows.
The sorrow was yesterday as I concelebrated Tony Santilena’s funeral. It was sad to say goodbye but also gratitude to see a life well lived in service to others. We will certainly miss him.
Construction continues this week on the choir loft and on the lower roofs of the church (see below). Please note this special announcement: next week, Monday through Friday, work will be on the roof directly above the main entrance of the church. This means that the front doors will be closed and everyone will need to enter and exit the church via the side doors on the north and south sides of the church on Monday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday there are morning funerals so they will work on the south side roof then return to the front. There will be signs indicating this but please be aware.
Tomorrow we have our annual Communal weddings. These are always wonderful celebrations and a beautiful occasion as these couples haven’t been able to participate in the Sacraments for many years but now will be. I take this opportunity to invite all couples who are only married civilly without the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony to contact the Pastoral Center so that they can speak with one of the parish priests to resolve this irregular situation.
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
FATHERS’ DAY – This Sunday we wish all of our fathers a very happy and blessed Fathers’ Day! May the Lord bless and reward each of you for positively answering His call to the beautiful vocation of fatherhood. There will be a special blessing for all fathers at each Mass. Our Novena of Masses for all fathers begins on Monday. If you would like to enroll your father, grandfather, etc. (living or deceased), please stop by the gift shop or the Pastoral Center to pick up one of the special cards for this purpose.
SPECIAL DISPLAY IN THE SOUTH VESTIBULE- Starting this Sunday until July 5 there will be a special memorial display in the south vestibule of the church. It is in memory of the famous soccer player Andrés Escobar. The background to this is that I was contacted by this Foundation several months ago and asked if we would host it. Our parish was chosen because he played at the FIFA World Cup the last time it was hosted at the Rose Bowl. It was shortly after he returned to his native Colombia that he was assassinated. It is an inspiration story called “Life Does not End Here.” Please read the flyer in the bulletin for the full story. I’ve also attached it to this email.
SAVE THE DATE: INDEPENDENCE DAY – SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL OF THE U.S.! - Saturday, July 4th, we will celebrate our nation's Independence Day with a special Mass at 10:00 a.m. Please join us for Mass to pray for our nation, its people, and leaders, and in gratitude for the gift of freedom in this great country. There will be only one Mass that day and the parish offices will be closed in observance of the civic holiday.
This year is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is a monumental milestone in our nation’s history and a great cause for celebration. We plan on making our annual Independence Day Mass particularly special this year and I urge all our parishioners to come to that special 10:00 a.m. Mass and pray for our nation. Please block that morning for this special Mass this year. There will be no 8:15 a.m. Mass but the regular Anticipated 5:00 p.m. Mass and confessions are scheduled as usual.
DON'T POSTPONE THE SACRAMENTS! - Now that First Communion "season" has ended I've had the chance to reflect on our celebrations. It was a great joy to celebrate the First Communions of so many children of our community. But I noticed that in each of the First Communion Masses there were far more children in higher grades than in 2nd grade, which is the norm. Please remember that children should be registered for First Communion when they enter the 1st grade. Since it is a 2-year program they then receive their First Holy Communion in the 2nd grade when they are 7 years old. This is a beautiful tradition so that children receive Jesus as soon as they reach the age of reason and are able to acknowledge the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Registration will begin on July 6 (after Independence Day) for Religious Education classes for First Communion and Confirmation. If your child is entering 1st grade this fall, this will be the time to register. If you have a teenager who is entering the 9th grade this fall, then this will be the time to register for Confirmation. In preparation for registration please locate your child’s Baptism certificate and First Communion certificate (if for Confirmation) to have ready for registration.
I've also noticed that we have a lot of baptisms each week but, again, these babies are not really babies anymore. They are usually toddlers or even older. The Church teaches that children should be baptized "as soon as possible" after birth. Ordinarily this should be within the first month after birth. Arrangements for Baptism should be made in the latter months of the pregnancy so they can be baptized right away. Preparation classes can be completed before the child is born. We should never delay the reception of the salvific grace of Christ to our children.
UPDATE ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS – As you know, we have construction projects in our parish practically all the time. I like to keep you posted on these, so you know what’s happening and where your money is being spent.
Right now we have two major projects ongoing: the first is the replacement of the lower roofs of our church. As I’m sure you recall, two years ago we completely replaced the very large upper roof on the church. This was almost 100 years old and had never been replaced. At this time, we are replacing all the lower roofs which include the baptistery, front porch, sacristy chapel, altar boy sacristy and all side chapels and side vestibules. Please see information above concerning church entrance diversions. This project is not as expensive as the $500,000 which it cost to replace the upper roof. Nevertheless, it will cost about half as much, which is still very substantial.
Fortunately, the cost of this new roof is being paid for completely from the Archdiocesan “Called to Renew” campaign in we participated several years ago. This is tremendous news and very welcome to all of us.
The other construction project is related to the installation of our new pipe organ: the removal of the very large shadow boxes which cover the openings to the organ chambers in our choir loft. You may never have noticed these, but they are quite large and very dirty. Scaffolding was installed last week to permit our workers to slowly and methodically remove each level of those structures. Eventually, organ pipes will be installed over these openings. It is slow and dirty work.
PARISH CHOIRS ENRICH OUR WORSHIP- On a regular basis I get compliments regarding the beauty of our liturgies here at St. Andrews. Most of these have to do with the music. Whether the children’s choirs at the 9:30 a.m. Mass or the adult choirs at the 12:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Masses, the singing greatly enhances our worship.
I would like to make two invitations today:
First for the children of the parish. We have wonderful “in house” choir called the Pueri Cantores of San Gabriel Valley under the direction of Mr. Patrick Flahive. Over a span of 30+ years, the graduates of this children’s choir have grown to be fine adult singers. And, though some have indeed become professional musicians, most are pursuing careers as broad and diverse as can be imagined. Many have attended the finest colleges and universities in the country and have even written about their choral experiences in the form of essays for admission to those schools. Upon being accepted to the universities they are commonly told by admissions officers that the quality of their essays, and their years long dedication to Pueri Cantores San Gabriel Valley, have been the determining factor for their acceptance.
If you have children, I strongly encourage you to enroll them in the Pueri Cantores. Please email Mr. Flahive at: pflahive@saspasadena.com
Second, for our adult choirs: Our parish Music Director, Mr. Steven Ottomanyi conducts the adult choirs on Sunday at the 12:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Masses. Our choirs sing selections from the treasury of the Church’s finest music. The style of the 12:30 p.m. choir and 5:00 p.m. choir is different from that of the 9:30 Mass in that the former sings a full, traditional Catholic choral liturgy, including the Ordinary (Kyrie, gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei). There are people who drive long distances just to listen to them singing at our Masses.
Currently our choirs are off for the summer, so it is a good time to audition new volunteer singers for the choirs. I know we have quite a few excellent singers in our parish, and I am asking them to volunteer to sing at our Masses as their singing would greatly enhance our worship.
So I also urge our adults to enroll in our choirs. Please email Mr. Ottomanyi at: sottomanyi@standrewpasadena.org
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Fr. Gonzalez
EUCHARISTIC CONCOMITANCE
ETIQUETTE AND MANNERS IN CHURCH
HOW TO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY
PROCEDURE FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION