Pastor's letter for this week
November 26, 2025
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong. I’m sending this a little early since tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the office will be closed and on Friday I will be at the day of Recollection for young men considering a vocation to the priesthood.
First of all, I wish all of you a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving with your families tomorrow. Thanksgiving is an uniquely American holiday and is so appropriate for us who have been so richly blessed to express our gratitude to God not only tomorrow but every day. Please see below regarding our Thanksgiving Day Mass.
Last Sunday’s 5:00 p.m. Mass with the music of Mozart’s Coronation Mass was simply splendid. We had a lot of visitors and they were very complimentary of our music and liturgy here at St. Andrew’s. I think for those of us who hear it regularly it is easy to take it for granted. Also on Sunday we had the families from the Holy Land selling religious articles and they want expressed their deep gratitude to our parishioners for your generosity. Thank you!
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
THANKSGIVING DAY- Thanksgiving Day this year is tomorrow Thursday, November 27th. Please join us for our annual Thanksgiving Day Mass tomorrow which will take place at 10:00 a.m. It is our custom at St. Andrew’s to bring the bread and wine which will be shared at your dinner that night and have it blessed at the end of the Mass. We also have a food drive for that day, so please bring canned or boxed food to Mass that morning and simply place the bags in front of the altar of St. Joseph. Our St. Vincent de Paul Society will collect all that food after Mass and take it to the pantry for distribution during the Christmas season. May God bless you for your generosity!
PROMOTE VOCATIONS – On the Friday after Thanksgiving (this Friday, Nov. 28th) there will be a special Day of Recollection for young men to consider the vocation to the Priesthood. It will be at Alemany High School in Mission Hills. This is a great opportunity for young men in high school and above, to attend. There is no cost. Lunch and dinner are included.
There are flyers by the entrance of the church with the details. Please see the announcement about this in this bulletin and remember to say a special prayer for the young men who will be attending the conferences that day.
NEW LITURGICAL YEAR - Following last Sunday’s Solemnity of Christ the King which brought the Year of Grace 2025 to a close, this Sunday we begin the new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. The Church tells us that “Advent has a two-fold character: as a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming to us is remembered, and as a season when that remembrance directs our mind and heart to await Christ’s second coming at the end of time. Advent thus is a period of devout and joyful expectation.”
November 30th also happens to be the Feast of our patron, St. Andrew. Unfortunately, because this year it falls on the First Sunday of Advent, we cannot celebrate the feast day liturgically since the Sunday observance takes precedence. However, it is nevertheless a good day to renew our devotion to St. Andrew and especially imitating him in inviting others to know Christ as he invited his brother, St. Peter.
SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION - Our national feast day occurs on December 8th each year. It is always a Holy Day of Obligation, so we come to Mass as we do each Sunday. Due to it falling on a Monday this year there is no possibility of Vigil Masses the night before, so to fulfill the Holy Day Obligation, we must attend Mass on Monday, Dec. 8th. The schedule is as follows:
English Masses at 8:15 a.m., 10:30 a.m. (with the school community), 5:30 p.m. Spanish Mass at 7:00 p.m.
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE - This feast day falls on December 12th, and it is preceded by a Triduum which will begin on Monday, December 9th and continue for the 3 days until the 12th. On each day of the Triduum, we will begin after the evening Mass with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, we will then pray the Guadalupe Rosary and then conclude with Benediction.
On the feast day itself, there will be the Mañanitas celebration at 5:30 a.m. followed by a Solemn Mass at 6:30 a.m. The regular 8:15 a.m. Mass will follow then another Solemn Mass in the evening at 6:30 p.m. The 6:30 a.m. Mass and the 6:30 p.m. Mass will be in Spanish. The 8:15 a.m. Mass will be in English.
ORGANIZING OUR USHERS – The various liturgical ministries of our parish such as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Lectors and Altar Servers, all have guidelines and schedules for serving. The only exception are the ushers. Frankly, we don’t even know who our ushers are! There is no roster of ushers for any Mass nor contact information. As a result it is rather chaotic. I want to bring some order to that situation.
I’ve asked Fr. Villasano to coordinate the ushers at the 3 Spanish Sunday Masses and Fr. Josephraj to do so for our 5 English Sunday Masses. Over the next couple of weeks they will be meeting with the ushers after each Mass to collect contact information from them and provide some guidelines. I hope that will help to bring some order and efficiency to our usher ministry.
LEARNING THE PATER NOSTER – Since the Gloria is not sung during Advent (except on Solemnities), it is a good time for us to learn a new piece in our chant repertoire. We already have the Kyrie, Gloria, Mysterium Fidei, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. This year we will use the season of Advent to learn the Pater Noster. It is found in the chant cards in the pews.
THE MEASURE OF OUR GIVING – Continuing our Stewardship reflection from the last few weeks:
A. We Are To Give Proportionally - That is, everyone is expected to give the same amount. Not the same dollar figure, but the same percentage. God's ideal starting point for giving is 10% for everyone. This principle of giving is called the tithe ("tenth") and it is the Lord's - Mal. 3:10; Lev. 27:30. Any other use of this portion of money actually constitutes stealing from God!
B. We Are To Give Properly - There is a proper place that has been appointed by the Lord for us to give our tithes. Notice, Mal. 3:10, we are to bring our tithes into the storehouse, also called the "Lord's house." In our day, we call this place the church. God's plan is that the entire tithe is to be brought into the church and from there, it is to be distributed as the Lord leads.
C. We Are To Give Perpetually - According to 1 Cor. 16:2, we are to make our giving a regular part of our lives. Many give only when they have excess. Others do it when they are moved by conviction and guilt. When the feeling bad stops, so do they. The proper method of giving is when you have received increase, you are to give at least 10% of that increase to the Lord.
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Father Gonzalez
Virtue & Tradition Series
ETIQUETTE AND MANNERS IN CHURCH
CENTENNIAL ORGAN AT SAINT ANDREW CHURCH
HOW TO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY
PROCEDURE FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION