Pastor's letter for this week
February 6, 2026,
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! Last week I was unable to send you my usual weekly letter since I was on retreat in Texas. It was an excellent retreat although the weather was very cold.
This week we had the Blessing of the Throats on Tuesday. At the school Mass that day we also hosted members of the Order of Malta who have donated $22,000 to our school to assist in scholarships for the families who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire. We are tremendously grateful to the wonderful Knights and Ladies of Malta for their generosity.
Today was a rather unique day here at the parish as we hosted a retreat day for the Los Angeles college seminarians which I was invited to present. (Yes, I’m just as surprised as you are. How times have changed!) I have to admit that I greatly enjoyed it and was honored to do it. I was also very impressed with these young men. If they represent the generations coming up I am very hopeful for the future of the Archdiocese!
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
THE “TOGETHER IN MISSION” CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF THIS SUNDAY!- In 1993, this campaign was founded for a very important need: namely to keep our poorest churches and schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles open. These parishes and schools are located mostly in the inner city and in the lowest economic areas of the Archdiocese. There are 75 schools and 64 parishes which benefit from this campaign.
In my previous parish of St. John Chrysostom in Inglewood, I was also the Dean of Deanery 16. That Deanery contains most of the poorest parishes and schools, so I know from personal experience how very important this campaign is. During my years as Dean, I would regularly visit those parishes and would meet the parish priests as well as the school faculties who work so diligently to ensure that our less fortunate brothers and sisters in Christ receive the Sacraments and that their children receive a good education.
Here at St. Andrew’s, we are very fortunate that we are able to pay all our own bills, maintain a beautiful parish plant and a successful school. We are truly blessed. But with that blessing comes the responsibility to care for others. This campaign does precisely that. It is especially important this year due to the damage of last year’s wildfires. Our neighbor parishes of Sacred Heart and St. Elizabeth were affected due to a large number of their parishioners losing their homes. It will take time and resources to rebuild.
Most of you have already participated in the Campaign in the past and, as such, have already received the annual letter from Archbishop Gomez requesting your participation. If you've already sent in your commitment card or done so online: thank you! If you have not yet done so, please drop it in the collection basket today, send it through the mail or go to TimGive.org
It is very important that our parish meet its complete goal of $ 75,322.00 which is our portion of the total amount of $17.7 million, which needs to be raised in order to maintain the funding for the needy parishes.
I urge you to prayerfully and carefully consider how much you are able to pledge this year to the Together in Mission Campaign this year. Some people are able to give a large amount. Others, a smaller amount. The important thing is that all of us participate according to our means. If every one of our parishioners participated, even in a small way, we would meet our goal immediately. All of us have been blessed by the Lord in one way or another and know that we need to reach out to those who are needy. It is part of our responsibility to answer the Lord’s call to care for our neighbor.
This Sunday, we will hold our annual pledge drive at all Masses. May God reward you for your generosity!
LENT WILL SOON BE HERE! – As always, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. This year it falls on February 18th, a little earlier than usual. The Ash Wednesday schedule will be included in next Sunday's bulletin. We will also have Stations of the Cross each Friday of Lent as usual. This year we are again having a daily Mass at 12 noon to allow more people to be able to attend daily Mass and especially for the working crowd in Pasadena.
We will also once again have the “Lenten Soup Nights” most Fridays of Lent. The schedule is as follows for weekdays of Lent:
Daily Masses: 8:15 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. (both in English);
6:30 p.m. (Spanish)
Confessions:
Tuesday: 7:00 p.m. during the Holy Hour
Friday: 9:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Friday schedule:
8:15 a.m. - English Mass followed by English Stations
9:00am - Confessions
12:05 p.m. – English Mass (no Stations)
5:30 p.m. - English Stations and Benediction followed by Lenten Soup Supper in the School Auditorium
6:30 p.m. - Spanish Mass followed by Spanish Stations then Lenten Soup Supper in the School Auditorium.
7:00 p.m. - Confessions
As part of our Lenten practices we always have a Parish Mission which consists of a series of conferences to help renew our spiritual life. This year’s mission weeks will be conducted by Fr. Ricardo Pineda, CPM of the Fathers of Mercy. Fr. Pineda last visited us in 2024 when he did the Spanish Mission. This year he will be doing both, English and Spanish. The Spanish Mission will be Feb. 22-26. The English Mission will be the week of March 1 to 5. Please mark your calendars for those days.
PENDING PROJECT IN SACRISTY CHAPEL FINALLY COMPLETED THIS WEEK- Way back in 1998 when I first arrived as Associate Pastor at St. Andrew’s I remember we had a long discussion in the Restoration Committee regarding the lighting in the Sacristy chapel. The lighting there was inadequate and had rather ugly light fixtures along the side walls. It was decided to replace them with the beautiful sconces we have now. However, one portion of the project was never realized: adding recessed lighting in the ceiling over the sanctuary portion of the chapel. We finally completed that project this week.
Our long-time parishioners will remember that both of our daily Masses used to be celebrated in the Sacristy Chapel. This continued until the pandemic shutdown in 2020. After that shutdown we were told we could not use the chapel because we would not be able to have the proper “spacing”, so we moved daily Mass to the church. Interestingly, after we did that we ended up having so many people at daily Mass that we could no longer use the Sacristy Chapel for that purpose. However, we still use it for various smaller Masses such as funerals and weddings. We also use it for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on First Fridays and, occasionally, for Baptisms. Now we have beautiful new illumination of the sanctuary in the Sacristy Chapel. Only 28 years of waiting!
RECOMMENDED SPIRITUAL READING FOR LENT – Since we are only a short time away from the beginning of Lent, I encourage you to pick a good spiritual book now to read during Lent. I recently read the latest book by Cardinal Robert Sarah entitled The Song of the Lamb: Sacred Music and the Heavenly Liturgy, while I was on retreat. It is simply wonderful and I’m delighted to see that our liturgical practices at St. Andrew’s are in conformity with what the Cardinal recommends, although we still have more to do. I recommend it heartily. I also recommend his other excellent books:
Catechism of the Spiritual Life
The Power of Silence
The Day is Now Far Spent
God or Nothing
and several others. All are excellent and would be wonderful spiritual reading for Lent.
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Father Gonzalez
ETIQUETTE AND MANNERS IN CHURCH
CENTENNIAL ORGAN AT SAINT ANDREW CHURCH
HOW TO RECITE THE HOLY ROSARY
PROCEDURE FOR THE RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION