Pastor's letter for this week
June 13, 2025
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. St. Anthony is one of the most beloved Catholic saints as he is frequently invoked for assistance in finding lost items. His statue is found in our All-Saints Chapel. Personally, he’s never let me down!
The academic year for St. Andrew School ended this Thursday and we also bade farewell to Mr. Jae Kim that morning in a beautiful gathering with the children of the school and parents. We will certainly miss him around here!
We did get good news this week as I met on Wednesday with Fr. Carlos Villasano who is now scheduled to come to our parish as Associate Pastor effective July 1st. It is not official yet (until I receive the letter from the Archdiocese) but it’s looking good. This is a giant relief as now I can plan the Mass schedule for the next few months knowing we have sufficient coverage. Fr. Villasano is a 55 year old priest originally from Jalisco, Mexico. He was a Scalabrini Father originally but is now in the process of incardination into the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Father’s most recent assignment was Associate Pastor at Santa Clara Church in Oxnard. Most of his assignments have been in rural parishes so St. Andrew’s will be change for him. He is also rather limited in English so there will be a learning curve but please be patient with him. I’ll have more information in a couple of weeks.
Tomorrow evening I’m looking forward to watching the “Lucha Libre” event at the parking lot of the parish school. Please see information below.
I’m sure that we’ve all been disturbed by the protests and demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles and elsewhere these past several days. The media has been showing these images constantly and this has caused people to think that this is a widespread phenomenon (which it is not) and thus causing fear in the community. I’ve had phone calls and emails from all over the country and world worried because of the news reports. I’ve reassured everybody that this is very isolated and hasn’t affected us at all.
At the same time, there is also quite a bit of fear in some segments of the community. Please know that churches are respected and we’ve never had any issues with immigration enforcement. You can feel at peace coming to St. Andrew’s to pray and worship.
Finally, I am attaching a very informative “fact sheet” of our new organ. Portions of it are currently being restored while others are in storage in our large parking lot. I think you will find it very interesting as this is really the organ always envisioned to be at St. Andrew’s. Please note that we are still fundraising for this project and I need your help in getting the word out to donors. Thank you!
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY – Last Sunday with the celebration of Pentecost, the Easter season came to a close. We now enter Ordinary Time. But this Sunday and next are beautiful celebrations as well: Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi. This Sunday's solemnity asks us to reflect on the central mystery of our faith: that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three Divine Persons yet only One God. It is a good day for us to especially reflect upon our personal relationship with God in prayer. Do we pray each day? Do we pray with our family? Do we pray with the rest of the community in the Sacred Liturgy?
Next Sunday is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi - the Body of Blood of Christ - the Feast of the Holy Eucharist.
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.
LUCHA LIBRE AT ST. ANDREW SCHOOL – Last year our school hosted a “Lucha Libre” night (rather theatrical wrestling) since one of our parents is a Lucha Libre star and he brought his friends. It was a tremendously fun evening! This year we’re doing it again (check flyer in bulletin):
When: Saturday, June 14th, 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Enjoy delicious food, and world class lucha libre. This is a family friendly event.
Tickets are on sale now! Purchase online.
Enjoy a special performance from our School Choir and Baile Folklorico (Folkloric Dance) Students!
ANNUAL RECOGNITION OF GRADUATES – It is our practice to honor our young parishioners who are graduating from high school or college during the month of June. We will have 2 special Masses of recognition next Sunday, June 22nd. At the 9:30 a.m. Mass in English and at the 2:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish we will recognize these wonderful young men and women and give them a special blessing as well as a small gift from the parish. If you have a member of your family who is graduating this year from high school or college, please let them know about these Masses and encourage them to come and attend dressed in their graduation gown and sit in the front pews. This is a wonderful way for us to thank God for these young men and women and to highlight the importance of education.
END OF SCHOOL YEAR – The end of the academic year 2024-25 came to an end this week so now is the time to register your children for the next academic year. Please check the Parish School website: www.saspasadena.com for information. Remember that a Catholic education is an "advantage for life."
FAREWELL, MR. KIM – This week upon the closing of the academic year, we also bade farewell to Mr. Jae Kim, who has been Principal of St. Andrew School for the last 5 years. Mr. Kim took over the school at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic and carefully maneuvered the school through the various restrictions placed upon us yet managed to maintain our academic standards and keep the school community together. It was an amazing accomplishment. After the pandemic was over he has grown the school enrollment and strengthened our entire formation program to the point that we received high accolades upon our most recent WASC accreditation report earlier this year. We are tremendously grateful to him and will miss him very much. We wish him well in his future endeavors as Principal of St. James School in Redondo Beach which is very close to his home.
On July 1st, Mrs. Licette Gonzalez takes over as Principal of St. Andrew School and we are excited to embark on this new stage in the history of our wonderful school.
LET'S TAKE CARE OF OUR GROUNDS – Last week I received a concern from those staffing the donuts and coffee tables on Sunday morning after the 9:30 a.m. Mass. Apparently, some unsupervised children were running amuck and pulled flowers from the flower bases, the decorative plants and threw them into the water fountains.
Ordinarily I would not be too concerned regarding children playing like children. However, this time it concerns the piazza decorative gardening which costs money and makes things ugly in a space we all share and enjoy. It also costs money when the water fountains get clogged and must be cleaned and repaired.
Parents: Please instruct children on respect for church property and supervise them accordingly. This is God's house, and we should all take care of it.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Father Gonzalez
CENTENNIAL ORGAN AT SAINT ANDREW CHURCH
HOW TO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY
PROCEDURE FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION