Pastor's letter for this week
April 17, 2026,
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! We’re getting ready for tonight’s wonderful St. Andrew School Gala with the theme of “An Evening in Bloom.” It will be held at the Westin Pasadena tonight at 6:00 p.m. It promises to be a wonderful night of friendship, music, dancing and good food. This is the 23rd annual Gala and this year we are honoring the Christ Child Society of Pasadena which does so much for our community. I hope to see you all there tonight.
Here is the link to purchase tickets, book with our room block, and learn more about the event:
https://secure.qgiv.com/event/standrew2026galaauction/
This week we’ve been hosting Fr. Dyan Rivero at the rectory. Fr. Rivero is the pastor of my home parish of St. Joseph in Guira de Melena, Cuba. He was granted a 5 year visa to visit the U.S. (which is very rare right now) so it’s been my pleasure to host him. This Sunday he will celebrate the 11:00 a.m. Mass then flies to Miami on Monday for a few days prior to going home to Cuba next Friday. As I’m sure you know, the situation in Cuba is truly devastating so he returns to a very challenging situation.
This week I received a wonderful item in the mail: an invitation to the Solemn Profession of two young men from our parish on May 30th in northern California. They are Brother John Vianney Russell, O.P. and Brother Anthony Maria Akerman, O.P. I can’t tell you how overjoyed and proud I am that the entirety of the Dominican Profession class for this year is made up of parishioners of St. Andrew Parish! Beautiful! God willing, their ordination as deacons and priests will follow next year and we will have their First Solemn Masses here in the Centennial Year of our church. Please pray for both of them and their perseverance.
Following up on this wonderful news, next Sunday which is traditionally called “Good Shepherd Sunday” we will be hosting 4 seminarians of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles who will be speaking briefly after Communion at each Sunday Mass. And, of course, we have our own two seminarians studying at St. John’s Seminary, John Anderson and Jack Martinez. Let us renew our dedication to pray daily for holy vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life.
Here’s the rest of the news from the parish:
TALLIS SCHOLARS COMING BACK! – We are soon hosting an incredible concert: The world renowned Tallis Scholars is a British professional early music vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers. They specialize in performing a cappella sacred vocal music. They tour widely around the world performing over 70 converts in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. They’ve been to St. Andrew’s before to sold out crowds and we are very honored to host them once again. Their concert will take place on Sunday, April 26th at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are now on sale on our parish website at: www.standrewpasadena.org
This is a concert NOT to be missed!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES! – At any one point in the year, the parish is always looking for volunteers to assist in a variety of apostolates. Here are some we need at this time:
Bereavement ministers - these persons assist families to plan funerals. This ministry is called “Bereavement Ministry” and is one of the less visible but very necessary ministries in the parish. The members of this ministry work with the families who have suffered a loss in order to plan the Funeral Vigil and Mass and then assist at the funeral itself helping the lectors, offertory procession, etc.
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to the Sick – because we have a large acute care hospital as well as many convalescent homes in our parish, there is always a need for persons who can bring Holy Communion to patients. This is a beautiful ministry which is greatly appreciated by our parishioners.
And, of course, we can always use more Lectors, Ushers and Catechists!
If you are interested in helping out, please contact me directly at: FrGonzalez@aol.com or (626) 792-4183. Thank you!
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Fr. Gonzalez
St. Andrew School Gala - April 17th
ETIQUETTE AND MANNERS IN CHURCH
HOW TO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY
PROCEDURE FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION