Pastor's letter for this week
May 1, 2026,
Feast of St. Joseph the Worker
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! Today we celebrate this beautiful feast day of St. Joseph. Unlike the Solemnity of St. Joseph which is on March 19th, today’s feast day focuses specifically on St. Joseph as a Worker in the vineyard of the Lord. This good and faithful man was also a laborer: a carpenter. His vocation as a worker gives us a good example of the dignity of human labor.
I’m sending this email to you from a “remote” location as I am away on my belated Easter vacation. I return on Sunday morning. People asked me “what exciting things are you going to do on your vacation?” My answer: SLEEP! Hopefully I will be rested upon my return.
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
SACRAMENTS "SEASON"- The Easter season is also the time for the reception of the Sacraments. On Saturday, May 9th the children from our parish school will make their First Holy Communion. On Thursday the children from our Religious Education Program will be making their First Confessions in preparation for their First Holy Communion on May 16th. On June 6th our teenagers will also receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please keep them all in your prayers.
MOTHERS’ DAY – Next Sunday, May 10th is Mothers’ Day. There will be a special blessing for all mothers at the end of each Mass. A wonderful gift for your mother (or grandmother or Godmother or sister, etc.) would be a remembrance in our annual Novena of Masses. The novena begins on the Monday after Mothers' Day. The cards are available at the Pastoral Center and at the church gift shop.
MONTH OF MARY – The month of May is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. During this month we will have the traditional “Crowning of Mary” by our School and Religious Education children. The May Crowning by the children of our Religious Education Program will take place on Monday, May 4th at 7:15 p.m. followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. This Friday, May 1st is First Friday so we will have our Eucharistic Holy Hour at 9:00 a.m. and then additional all night Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament following the evening Mass.
The St. Andrew School May Crowning will take place on Tuesday, May 13th Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, at 10:30 a.m. followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Everyone is invited to either or both of these beautiful celebrations. I encourage you this coming month especially to pray the Rosary which is the most wonderful of Marian devotions.
ARE YOU REGISTERED IN THE PARISH? - If you’re not, please consider doing so today.
It is vitally important that the parish have an accurate record of all of our parishioners for many reasons, among which are:
- The Archdiocese allots the number of priests to a parish depending on the number of registered parishioners.
- If you are going to receive a Sacrament, such as Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, or Marriage.
- If you wish to enroll a child in our School
- If you ever need a letter from the parish for tax purposes (IRS).
- If you ever need a letter from the parish for immigration purposes
- If you are going to serve as a sponsor for Baptism, Confirmation, or Matrimony here or elsewhere.
- We would have your email address in order to receive the parish emails. I send an email every Friday to all registered parishioners giving updates from the parish. You can register online on the parish website: www.standrewpasadena.org
FAKE EMAILS – What started as an occasional thing of one or two fake emails is now a flood. Every few weeks a parishioner or and staff member receives an email pretending to be from me or from a fake “FrGonzalez@.....(various domains)” or from a fake "St. Andrew" email address. In the email the recipients were asked to send in gift cards or to contact me about something. Of course, all these emails are fake. They are called “phishing” and try to get you to respond to get your personal email. It is a big scam to steal money from people. Please do not fall for it!
We will never ask you to send in information from gift cards or any other scam like that. All donations should be given in the usual way at Mass, via regular mail, online on the parish website or electronically via the donation kiosks in the vestibule of the church. It is very sad that some people waste so much time stealing from the innocent. If you have any doubt about an email you can always call the parish office to verify or simply email me at my regular email address: FrGonzalez@aol.com
OPEN ENROLLMENT – This is also the time of year in which our Parish School holds open enrollment for new students. St. Andrew School provides the finest Catholic education in our community. If you are interested in enrolling your child, please stop by the school office as soon as possible as spaces are limited.
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Fr. Gonzalez
ETIQUETTE AND MANNERS IN CHURCH
HOW TO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY
PROCEDURE FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION