Pastor's letter for this week
July 3, 2026,
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! Today is the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. He is often called “Doubting Thomas” for not believing the other apostles when they told him that they had seen the Risen Lord. But actually his doubts were perfectly reasonable after having witnessed the Passion and Death of the Lord. I prefer to remember him as the apostle who gave us the beautiful exclamation of belief: “My Lord, and my God!” He was the great evangelizer of India and suffered martyrdom there.
I am very much looking forward to tomorrow’s celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary. Please see the information below regarding our special Mass which will include beautiful music from our full choir. I hope to see you all there.
My brother and his family are currently in Washington, DC, for the week to celebrate Independence Day. They are having a wonderful time but enduring a heatwave. Meanwhile I go visit my mom daily to ensure that she’s eating. Her caregiver is very good but not too strict so I have to be rather firm until she eats everything. She did that to me as a child and now the roles are reversed. I even reward her with a chocolate at the end. That’s a great motivator!
We are also still praying for the people of Venezuela. I’m sure you’ve seen the same images I have on the news, and they are heart wrenching. Yesterday we received notice from the Archdiocese of a special collection to be taken for them. We will do that next week since this Sunday is a holiday weekend.
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
INDEPENDENCE DAY – SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL OF THE U.S.! – Tomorrow, Saturday, July 4th, we will celebrate our nation's Independence Day with a special Mass at 10:00 a.m. Please join us for Mass to pray for our nation, its people, and leaders, and in gratitude for the gift of freedom in this great country. The parish offices will be closed in observance of the civic holiday.
This year is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is a monumental milestone in our nation’s history and a great cause for celebration. We plan on making our annual Independence Day Mass particularly special this year with beautiful music and I urge all our parishioners to come to that special 10:00 a.m. Mass and pray for our nation. Please block that morning for this special Mass this year. There will be no 8:15 a.m. Mass but the regular Anticipated 5:00 p.m. Mass and confessions are scheduled as usual.
WOULD YOU CONSIDER SHARING THE FAITH? – Our Lord gave us the Great Commission to preach to all nations. We do this in a variety of ways but, one of the most beautiful is by teaching the faith to our children and teenagers. This time of year is when we recruit new catechists for our parish. Right now we are in need especially of parishioners who can teach our 1st and 2nd grade Religious Education classes on Monday evenings. It is a wonderful opportunity to share your faith, support our young learners and help nurture the spiritual growth of the children in our parish community. To learn more please contact our Director of Religious Education, Mrs. Maria Capodieci at: mcapodieci.standrew@gmail.com or by calling the Pastoral Center at (626) 792-4183. Thank you for considering this wonderful apostolate!
ADVANCE PLANNING IS IMPORTANT FOR EVERYBODY – Each summer, during the “quiet months” I like to review some procedures of things we all eventually face but often postpone. Questions regularly arise as to what the proper funeral customs for us as Catholics are. I thought this would be a good time to review procedures. The usual plan for the Funeral Rites is in 3 parts:
1) The Vigil (which includes the Rosary) - This is usually done in the evening prior to the Funeral Mass and is ordinarily celebrated in the Mortuary unless the attendance will be so large that use of the church is required. The Vigil may be led by a priest, deacon or even an authorized lay person.
2) The Funeral Mass - this is the most important part of the Funeral Rites as there is nothing more efficacious for salvation than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is ordinarily celebrated in the morning and must always take place in the church or chapel.
3) The Rite of Committal (Burial) - this ordinarily immediately follows the Funeral Mass and is done at the cemetery. A Catholic cemetery is always preferred as it is consecrated ground, and Mass is celebrated daily for those buried there. However, it is possible to also use a non-Catholic cemetery, and the priest or deacon will bless the grave.
While cremation is permitted, it is not preferred. If cremation takes place, ordinarily the cremation should occur after the Funeral Mass so that the body can be present for the Mass. If that is not possible then it is now permitted to have the cremains (ashes) present at the Funeral Mass. The cremains must then be taken to the cemetery for burial or location in a columbarium. It is never permitted to take the cremains home. It is strictly forbidden by the Church to “scatter” ashes anywhere.
I hope the above is helpful to you in planning. I know that it can seem morbid to talk about these things, but death is also a part of life. When we plan our funeral ahead of time, we are actually doing a great act of charity for those who will survive us and relieves them of great stress and doubt in a time of sorrow. I encourage you to plan ahead. I did my own funeral plans many years ago and pre-paid everything so that I am not a burden to anyone. I'm already enough of a burden as it is! You can contact any mortuary to inquire about advance planning as well as our Catholic Cemeteries. The closest ones to us are: Calvary Cemetery, Resurrection Cemetery and San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
It is also vitally important to have an up-to-date Will as well as Durable Power of Attorney for healthcare decisions as well as for property decisions. This is especially important today as sometimes healthcare decisions are made which may not be in accord with Catholic teaching. Frequently, people ask me about the various decisions of end-of-life issues. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has great resources on their website, and I strongly encourage you to review: https://lacatholics.org/ahcd (copy and paste to your browser).
In preparing your Will, I also hope you remember St. Andrew Parish. Our parish, like many others, relies on the bequests of its faithful parishioners in order to have long term financial security. Occasionally substantial donations which are left by parishioners to the parish upon their death are the funds used for major projects in parishes. These bequests speak of the person’s love for their parish over the years and their desire to leave a legacy for others. Two years ago we established a “St. Andrew Endowment Fund” with the Catholic Community Foundation precisely for this purpose to ensure the long-term financial stability of the parish. Their website is: www.catholiccf-la.org then click on “Give to a Fund” and type “Andrew” in the search bar and you will see our two funds: one for the school and one for the church. Thank you for your generosity!
SUMMER READING – One of the pleasures of a little extra leisure time in the summer is getting in some good time to read. I strongly urge you to get some good Catholic books to read this summer. Here are some valuable websites for excellent Catholic books: www.ignatius.com, www.osv.com, www.tanbooks.com, www.sophiainstitute.com, www.wordonfire.com. There are numerous others but these are some of the ones I use the most. Another great website is: www.catholicity.com which contains a wealth of information of Catholic resources including a wonderful listing of Catholic book publishers. Just follow their “links” page.
Have a very happy Independence Day tomorrow!
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