As the province lessens COVID restrictions, our parish offices will re-open to their regular weekday hours. They will be open Monday to Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Unfortunately, the reduced revenues that the parish has faced during the pandemic does not make it possible for the parish to pay a receptionist on evenings and weekends.
At our Sunday Masses beginning on February 26th and 27th, seating will be every other pew instead of every third pew. This decision was made by the pastoral council in consultation with other parishioners. As the province allows full capacity as of March 1, 2022, there will be further measures to open up seating in the coming weeks.
I am grateful to all those who have worked at the doors of our parish to maintain safe worship throughout the pandemic. This has been a time of frustration for many. All of the measures that have been implemented at the parish have been discerned in full consultation with the parish community. Apologies to the few who have been disappointed that the parish did not follow their individual instructions but rather implemented measures that were discerned through wider consultation with the entire parish community.
Masks must continue to be worn by all who attend celebrations at St. Peter’s Church.
Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022, marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. The highest point of the Church’s year is the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday) during which we recount the death and resurrection of Jesus the Lord. We prepare for this three-day period by the season of Lent, and prolong it for the great 50 days of the Easter Season. The celebration of Easter, of being reborn in the Risen Lord to a new life, will only have meaning to the degree that “we die to the old self.” Thus, the Church asks us to live this period of Lent, with Christ in the desert, as a period of forty days devoted to inward renewal through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Let us prayerfully consider before Lent how we might make the best use of this time to imitate the Lord in His dedication to the Father so that His resurrection may take deep root in our thoughts, words and actions throughout Lent and forever.
After being in the wilderness of Judea for forty days and forty nights, alone, famished, and weak, Jesus was tempted by Satan to make loaves of bread from the stones around him, to prove his power, to alleviate his suffering. The Lord turned to his tempter and answered, “It is written: man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 
The 40 days of Lent are a special time of spiritual renewal in the Church. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. The parish will have two Masses on Ash Wednesday with the distribution of Ashes. These will be at 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM in the Church. During Lent the Stations of the Cross will be prayed Friday evenings in the Church after 7:00 PM Mass.