Pastor's letter for this week
July 18, 2025
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! I am away this week and enjoying some rest. But before I left I had a fascinating meeting with an art historian who has come to visit me various times. She has been doing tremendous research on Professor Carlo Wostry, who is the artist who did all the artwork in our church almost a 100 years ago. She just returned from Italy where she visited Wostry’s hometown (and place of death), Trieste. I had actually been in Trieste a couple of years ago, but I didn’t know it was his hometown otherwise I would have specifically looked for his artwork there which is found in the two major churches.
She left me a wonderful book with all his history as well as many examples of his art. These even included his preliminary pencil sketches of some of the artwork in our church. I am hoping to use this information for an upcoming pictorial book (and perhaps visitor guides) for our Centennial celebration in 2027. In our Archdiocese, Wostry also did work at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood as well as Precious Blood Church in Los Angeles. Both of these are magnificently beautiful churches as well. We had a wonderful visit!
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
MISSIONARY COOPERATION WEEKEND – The weekend of July 26-27 is our “Missionary Co-Op Weekend.” Each year the Archdiocese of Los Angeles assigns a Missionary Order to come to various parishes to speak on behalf of the Missions. This year we are hosting the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny who will be speaking to us at all Masses about their missionary work. The second collection next weekend will be sent to them to assist them in their ministry.
VACATIONS - Many of us take our summer vacation in the months of July and August and it would be good to remind ourselves that our spiritual lives must never go on vacation. Sometimes people mention that they have a hard time finding a church for Mass when they are away from home. I would like to recommend to you a wonderful website that can help you with this. It is called: www.masstimes.org There you can enter a city, an address, or a zip code and it will give you all the Catholic churches in the area along with the times for Masses, Confessions, etc. and the languages offered. It is a great resource when traveling. Please make use of it prior to your trip so you can plan accordingly. You can also go to the App Store and search for “Catholic Mass Times” there is a wonderful app that helps you find the closest Catholic Church.
PARISH EXPENSES- As I mentioned last week, expenses in the summer go up yet donations go down due to vacations. If you have not already done so, I urge you to register for automatic electronic donations to the parish. This is a very efficient way to fulfill your tithes to God and assists the parish in the budgetary process. You can register on the parish website: www.standrewpasadena.org then click on the “donate” button at the top.
ADVANCE PLANNING IS IMPORTANT FOR EVERYBODY – Each summer, during the “quiet weeks” I like to review some procedures of things we all eventually face but often postpone. Questions regularly arise as to what the proper funeral customs for us as Catholics are. I thought this would be a good time to review procedures.
The usual plan for the Funeral Rites is in 3 parts:
1) The Vigil (which usually includes the Rosary) - This is usually done in the evening prior to the Funeral Mass and is ordinarily celebrated in the Mortuary unless the attendance will be so large that use of the church is required. The Vigil (if in the mortuary) may be led by a priest, deacon or even an authorized lay person. If in the church, it is led by a priest or deacon.
2) The Funeral Mass - this is the most important part of the Funeral Rites as there is nothing more efficacious for the salvation of souls than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is ordinarily celebrated in the morning and must always take place in the church or chapel. It may also be celebrated in a Catholic cemetery.
3) The Rite of Committal (Burial) - this ordinarily immediately follows the Funeral Mass and is done at the cemetery. A Catholic cemetery is always preferred as it is consecrated ground, and Mass is celebrated daily for those buried there. However, it is permissible to also use a non-Catholic cemetery if necessary and the priest or deacon will bless the grave.
While cremation is permitted, it is not preferred. If cremation takes place, ordinarily the cremation should occur after the Funeral Mass so that the body can be present for the Mass. If that is not possible then it is permitted to have the cremains (ashes) present at the Funeral Mass. The cremains must then be taken to the cemetery for burial or location in a columbarium. It is never permitted to take the cremains home. Burial of cremains (in a proper container) may also take place at sea. However, it is strictly forbidden by to “scatter” ashes anywhere.
I hope the above is helpful to you in planning. I know that it can seem morbid to talk about these things, but death is also a part of life. When we plan our funeral ahead of time, we are actually doing a great act of charity for those who will survive us, and it relieves them of great stress and doubt in a time of sorrow. I encourage you to plan ahead. I did my own funeral plans many years ago and pre-paid everything so that I am not a burden to anyone. I'm already enough of a burden as it is! You can contact any mortuary to inquire about advance planning as well as our Catholic Cemeteries. The closest ones to us are: Calvary Cemetery, Resurrection Cemetery and San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
It is also vitally important to have an up-to-date Will as well as Durable Power of Attorney for healthcare decisions as well as for property decisions. This is especially important today as sometimes healthcare decisions are made which may not be in accord with Catholic teaching. Frequently, people ask me about the various decisions of end-of-life issues. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has great resources on its website, and I strongly encourage you to review: https://lacatholics.org/ahcd (copy and paste to your browser).
In preparing your Will, I also hope you remember St. Andrew Parish. Our parish, like many others, relies on the bequests of its faithful parishioners in order to have long term financial security. Frequently substantial donations which are left by parishioners to the parish upon their death are the funds used for major projects in parishes. These bequests speak of the person’s love for their parish over the years and their desire to leave a legacy for others.
A few years ago we established a “St. Andrew Endowment Fund” with the Catholic Community Foundation precisely for this purpose to ensure the long-term financial stability of the parish. Their website is: www.catholiccf-la.org then type “Andrew” in the search bar and you will see our two funds: one for the school and one for the church. The monies deposited in this account are restricted and may be used only by St. Andrew Church for the benefit of our parish. Thank you for your generosity!
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Father Gonzalez
ETIQUETTE AND MANNERS IN CHURCH
CENTENNIAL ORGAN AT SAINT ANDREW CHURCH
HOW TO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY
PROCEDURE FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION