Pastor's letter for this week
August 28, 2026,
Feast of St. Augustine
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrew,
I hope you are all doing well and staying strong! Well as far as I’m concerned the summer is over now that I will not be visiting the Hollywood Bowl any more for this year. Tuesday was my last show of the season, and it was an excellent one with Beethoven’s Fifth which has been one of my favorites since I first heard it when I was 10 years old.
This has been a busy week at the parish with the formal start of the academic year at St. Andrew School and transitions in the rectory. On Tuesday, our school children (grades 3-8) all went to Confession in preparation for yesterday’s Mass of the Holy Spirit which formally opened the new school year. It was a beautiful Mass which included a special blessing for all students as well as a blessing for all teachers. Last evening I met with all our school parents for Back to School Night. It’s great having the school back in full session and seeing all the smiling children.
In the rectory it was a week of comings and goings. Last Saturday, Fr. Roberto Cillero left us to return to Spain. On Wednesday, Bishop Joachim Walder left us to return to India and yesterday, Fr. Donal Cotter left us to return to Ireland. And on Monday we welcomed Fr. Jaganathan Susai who will be staying with us for a month. He is an Indian priest studying in Rome. We have a very international house!
On Wednesday I had a rather lengthy meeting at the new Archdiocesan Catholic Center (Chancery Office). It was interesting to visit the new location. It is only about a mile from the old one but a huge improvement in location, parking, etc. The meeting was for all pastors with candidates for the Permanent Diaconate to meet with the Diaconate Formation team. We are blessed at St. Andrew’s that we now have two couples who have entered the aspirancy portion of the program to discern if God is calling the men to be Permanent Deacons. They are Noel and Ximena Toro and Salvador and Maria Farias. Please keep them in your prayers.
I leave next week to finish my summer vacation but will still be sending you my usual emails. This year I have the joy and honor to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. I’ve never been there and have wanted to visit for many years. I am very much looking forward to it. If any of you would like me to take your intentions with me and present them during my Masses there, please email them to me at this address: frmgonzalez@standrewpasadena.org and I will be happy to do so.
Here is the rest of the news from the parish:
LABOR DAY- Monday, Sept. 7th is Labor Day. The parish and school offices will be closed in observance of this civic holiday. Please note that there will be only one Mass celebrated that day at 9:30 a.m.
OUR CHOIRS WILL SOON RETURN- Our parish choirs which sing at the 12:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. English Masses as well as the Children’s choir at the 9:30 a.m. Mass will all soon be back after their summer break. We are also just about ready to debut our new Spanish choir at the 11:00 a.m. Mass and are still taking signups.
On a very regular basis I meet new parishioners who tell me that they drive long distances to come to Mass here specifically due to how we celebrate our liturgies. I consider the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to be the most important thing we do because it is the direct worship of Almighty God. And that celebration is greatly enhanced by good sacred music which is exclusively what we do here at St. Andrew’s. But having that quality of music requires good singers. While we do have some paid singers, we cannot afford to have many simply due to the high cost. We need volunteer singers.
I invite you to use your musical talents by signing up to sing at one of our choirs. I know we have a lot of talented singers in our parish, but the vast majority keep that talent to themselves. Please share with your fellow parishioners! Please contact our Music Director, Steven Ottomanyi at: sottomanyi@standrewpasadena.org or call (626) 765-3968 for more information.
A HOME FOR YOUR CHILDREN IN SACRED SONG - I would also like to take a moment to encourage all parishioners with young children in their families to explore involvement in one of our parish children’s choirs. For those who have children enrolled in our school, that would be the St. Andrew School Choir, and for all others, that would be Pueri Cantores San Gabriel Valley; both are under the direction of Mr. Patrick Flahive.
The Church reminds us that the musical traditions of the Universal Church are a treasure of inestimable value, greater than that of any other art. Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has spent his recent Wednesday Audience talks specifically on the Sacred Liturgy and has emphasized the importance of good music and especially Gregorian chant and the use of the pipe organ.
Children who sing in their parish choir have a unique opportunity to experience a transformation of the heart through the holiness of beauty. This experience is available through the magnificent combination of sacred scripture, prayer and exceptional music. I have seen this in the singing of our children with Mr. Flahive. They also have a lot of fun! After a few short weeks of preparation, they will all delight in the angelic singing of these two choirs, four Sundays each month at our 9:30 a.m. Mass.
Please contact Mr. Flahive either by email pflahive@saspasadena.com or by phone, 626-374-2410, and make arrangements for your children to lift up their hearts and their voices. There are more treasures of greater value than I can possibly list in this short announcement.
ARCHDIOCESAN FEAST DAYS – This week we celebrate several special feast days proper to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. September 1st is the feast of St. Vibiana, the secondary patroness of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. On Sept 2nd we celebrate the Anniversary of Dedication of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (this is celebrated in all archdiocesan churches) and finally on Sept. 4th we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels, principal patroness of the Archdiocese. These feast days are great reminder and opportunity for all of us to pray for all the members of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Let us pray especially for our Archbishop and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and Religious life.
In Christ and St. Andrew,
Fr. Gonzalez
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