Pastor's letter for this week
September 11, 2026
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! Today is the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks upon our country on September 11, 2001. Those of us who lived through that horrible day I’m sure remember it very well. I happened to have been at St. Andrew’s as Associate Pastor at that time. It was a Tuesday and I had just begun my annual priests’ retreat the night before at Poverello of Assisi Retreat House in San Fernando. Early that morning one of my fellow priests came pounding to my door and said to me: “There’s been a catastrophe!” We went running to the community room where the television was just in time to see the stunning image of a second jetliner slamming into the second tower of the World Trade Center. I’ll never forget that horrible image!
I decided to drive back to Pasadena to see how the parish was faring and confer with the pastor at the time, Fr. Frank Colborn, to see how we would address this. We decided to celebrate a special Mass that Friday, Sept. 14th, the Feast of the Holy Cross. President Bush had designated that day as a National Day of Prayer. Unlike today, we had no way to communicate with our parishioners electronically. So I simply relied on the President’s announcement that we should all pray at noon, and I scheduled a Mass for 12:00 p.m. We rang the bells for 20 minutes prior. And people showed up! In fact, the church was full.
From that horrible of 9/11, our response was prayer. As it should be today. Let us pray for peace in our world!
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
BLACK AND INDIAN MISSIONS COLLECTION – This second collection is taken up this weekend throughout the country. The Black and Indian Mission Collection exists to help local African American and Native American Diocesan Communities throughout the United States spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and respond to real and pressing needs on the ground.
THANK YOU! – We are very grateful to all those parishioners who read my announcement last week regarding our high cooling bills and have donated a bit more to cover the increased costs. It is very much appreciated!
IMPORTANT SAFETY ISSUE REGARDING CHILDREN – Please remember that unaccompanied children are not allowed to go to the church bathrooms. A parent or guardian should always accompany small children to the bathrooms. This is very important and I ask for your cooperation in this matter.
ALTAR SERVER TRAINING - If you have a son who is interested in being an Altar Boy you are invited to our next Server training classes which are ongoing now that school is back in session.
Altar boys must have already received their First Holy Communion and be at least in the 3rd grade. This class will also be a good review for our current Altar Servers as well.
We also have our group of servers called the Knights of the Altar. These are young men in high school and above who take the leadership roles during our liturgical services and act as Masters of Ceremonies. In addition to this, however, they are also formed in an informal fraternity which includes social activities as well as spiritual and doctrinal formation. Any young man from high school and above is eligible to join. For further information please contact me at: FrGonzalez@aol.com
GROUPS FOR GIRLS - We also invite the girls of the parish to join one of our two groups for girls:
"Girls with Goodness" for ages 8-12 and "Girls with Grace" for ages 13-18. They will be restarting their regular meetings this month, please call the pastoral center for more information at (626) 792-4183.
CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION? –Every once in a while, we hear from the media or sometimes in academic settings that there is a conflict between science and religion. Years ago, I recall attending a marvelous conference by Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ, who is the founder of the Magis Institute. His marvelous talk was about the myth that science and religion are somehow incompatible. I am hearing a great deal more about this in recent years from our young people who are in high school or college and hear their liberal and atheistic professors try to put a wedge between religion and science. As a result, a substantial number of our young people buy into the myth that this conflict exists. It is false! There is a 40% drop among college students in their practice of the Faith as a result of the bad influences they receive in college. Please check out the website of the Institute at: www.magiscenter.com. If you have children in college, urge them to read the material available on this website. It will be an eye opener for them!
It's also important to assist our young people in choosing good colleges. I strongly recommend the website of the Cardinal Newman Society which you can access at: www.cardinalnewmansociety.org then click on the “The Newman guide” link. You will find a great listing of authentically Catholic colleges not just the ones who pretend to be Catholic.
PLAN FOR THE FUTURE! – One of the chief sources of funding for major projects in most parishes comes from bequests which are left to it by faithful parishioners. In every parish I’ve been assigned, almost annually a large financial contribution is received from someone who has remembered the parish in their Last Will and Testament. It is usually not the full amount of the estate (although at times it is) but it is at least a portion. It is also common to name a parish as the beneficiary in a life insurance policy.
These types of bequests are vital to the long-term running of the parish as they are the means by which large construction and maintenance projects are funded. I encourage you to prayerfully consider the possibility of remembering the parish in your Will and/or naming it as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
A few 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 type “Andrew” in the search bar and you will see our two funds: one for the school and one for the church. May God reward you for your generosity.
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