Pastor's letter for this week
August 14, 2026,
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! This evening we begin the celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Please see below regarding the Mass schedule.
This week has been quite busy getting ready for the opening of the school year next week. We’ve been having a lot of work done in the school building to get ready. The library is in the process of renovation, and all walls have been repainted. It looks great!
In the rectory it has been nice getting reacquainted with Fathers Cotter and Cillero. We only see them once a year for a month but it’s nice seeing old friends and hearing about what’s going on in Ireland and Spain.
Last night I had the wonderful experience of seeing for the first time the “Pageant of the Masters” down in Laguna Beach. Through the kindness of one of our parishioner couples, I was invited to join them for this evening. I had never seen it before and was quite impressed. The program consists of various “living tableaus” of famous paintings. Each year it’s somewhat different but this year it happened to be focused on the “Great Masters” and featured some of my favorite art pieces beginning with Michelangelo’s Pieta and finishing with Da Vinci’s Last Supper. It’s all accompanied by a great narration and beautiful music. It certainly was worth the long drive!
That was pretty much the last hurrah of a free evening because once school starts and the academic year begins, it’s back to the regular full schedule. I hope you’ve enjoyed your summer as well.
Here’s the rest of news from the parish:
SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION - Tomorrow Saturday, August 15 is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This beautiful feast celebrates our Blessed Mother's Assumption to heaven, the 4th Glorious mystery of the Holy Rosary. Ordinarily, it is a Holy Day of Obligation. But not this year because it falls on a Saturday.
However, we will still celebrate the feast at a special Vigil Mass tonight, Friday, in English at 5:30 p.m. and in Spanish at 7:00 p.m. as well as at the 8:15 a.m. Mass in English on Saturday morning.
This feast recalls the mystery of our Lady’s privilege of being taken up, body and soul, into heaven at the end of her earthly life. It is a great feast of hope for all of us because where Mary has gone, we hope to follow.
MISSIONARY COOPERATION WEEKEND – This weekend (Aug. 15/16) 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 Carmelite Missionaries of St. Therese of the Child Jesus who will be speaking to us at all Masses about their missionary work. The second collection this weekend will be sent to them to assist them in their ministry. Please see the insert in this week’s bulletin and attached. Let us welcome the Sisters to our parish this weekend.
SCHOOL RESTARTS VERY SOON! - The first day of school for St. Andrew’s School is Wednesday, August 19th. The following Tuesday we will have Confessions for children in grades 3 to 8. The opening Mass of the Holy Spirit will take place on Thursday, August 27th at 10:30 a.m. and everyone is invited. Please call the school for further information at (626) 796-7697 on how to enroll your child and check out the website at: www.saspasadena.com
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN – Please remember that if you have a child who has not received First Communion or Confirmation, registration is taking place right now at the Pastoral Center.
The age for reception of First Holy Communion is 7 years old. Since it is a two-year program, this means that when your child enters the first grade at the age of 6 he should be registered for First Holy Communion. In this way, at the age of 7 the child will receive First Communion. I have noticed for several years that many of our children receiving First Communion are much older, sometimes even as old as 13 or 14. This is a very sad situation because this means that these children have been deprived of the Blessed Sacrament for many years. Please ensure that your children start receiving formal religious instruction at the age of 6 so they are not deprived of the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist.
INVITE OTHERS TO THE FAITH! - Studies consistently show that the majority of converts to the Catholic Faith come to the Church at the invitation of ordinary Catholics. This is the time of year when we take registrations for our adult religious education classes called OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). These classes are specifically geared toward persons who want to become Catholics as well as for baptized Catholics who were not catechized and thus have not received their First Holy Communion and/or Confirmation. We are taking registrations for the OCIA program (for classes in English as well as classes in Spanish).
Think of your own family, neighbors, co-workers, friends, etc. who may not be Catholic and perhaps have been waiting for an invitation. Now is the time to invite them!
LITURGICAL POINTS – continuing my explanation from last week’s regarding the use of Latin, Gregorian chant and the organ during Mass:
There have been few topics of discussion as contentious in the post-Conciliar years as the use of Latin within the Mass. The near universal disappearance of Latin from the liturgical life of the Church has been one of the great casualties of the “spirit of Vatican II”. It is my hope that these reasons will lead some to reassess their bias against the use of Latin in the Mass. Much of what is written below comes directly from The Catechism Explained: An Exhaustive Explanation of the Catholic Religion by Father Francis Spirago.
7 Reasons for the Use of Latin in the Mass
1. The Latin language is venerable on account of its origin and its antiquity; indeed, it dates back to the earliest centuries of the Church and to the very Masses offered in the obscurity of the Catacombs.
2. There is an element of mystery about Latin. It is a dead language, not spoken by the faithful. The use of Latin conveys to the mind of the people that something is going on upon the altar which is beyond their comprehension; that a mystery is being enacted.
3. Latin is a liturgical language for Catholics. It is a fact that both Jews and pagans made use, in their worship of the Deity, of a language with which the multitude were not conversant. The Jews in fact made use of Hebrew, the language of the patriarchs; we do not see Our Lord or the apostles censuring this practice.
4. The use of Latin in the Mass is a means of maintaining unity in the Catholic Church, for the use of one and the same language in Latin Rite churches all over the world is a connecting link to Rome, as well as between nations separated by their cultures and native tongues.
5. Latin is a safeguard against error because of its immutability. The near exclusive use of the vernacular inevitably leads to heresies and errors creeping into the Church. Likewise, the use of Latin helps to define and defend orthodoxy.
As noted by Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at Sacra Liturgia (2013):
“The liturgical use of Latin in the Church…gives rise to a series of expressions which are unique and which constitute the very faith of the Church. The vocabulary of the Credo is quite clearly filled with expressions in Latin which are untranslatable. The role of the lex orandi in determining the lex credendi of the Church is very much valid in the case of its use of Latin in the liturgy. For doctrine often evolves in the faith experience of prayer…”
6. It is unnecessary for the faithful to hear, or understand, every ceremonial of the Mass. History has clearly shown, and experience teaches, that the fact of the prayers being in Latin does not at all hamper or interfere with the devotion of the faithful, or lead them to absent themselves from Holy Mass. As Saint Augustine instructed:
“If there are some present who do not understand what is being said or sung, they know at least that all is said and sung to the glory of God, and that is sufficient for them to join in it devoutly.”
7. The primary reason why the whole of the Mass was historically offered in Latin is because it is a sacrifice, not an instruction for the people. The celebration of Mass consists more in action than in words. This final reason cannot be overstated. A Protestant gathering which commemorates the Lord’s Supper is simply a service of prayers and instruction. For this reason the vernacular is a necessity. The Catholic Mass, however, is a holy sacrifice offered to God the Father by an ordained priest, in persona Christi. The action of the Mass, and the mystery of it, is reinforced by the use of Latin.
In his 1962 apostolic constitution Veterum Sapientia, Pope St. John XXIII observed that:
“The Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.”
May more priests and bishops in the coming years recognize that the use of Latin should not simply be limited to masses offered in the Extraordinary Form. Indeed, both forms of the Roman Rite have every reason to be celebrated in a language that is “noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.”
As I said last week, it is my hope that you find the information above helpful. I encourage you to always read the column in our bulletin written by our Music Director, Mr. Steven Ottomanyi, who writes an excellent column on music and liturgy each week.
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