THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY

You should receive by now your Tax Receipt and Letter that we mailed to everyone a few weeks ago. Just in case I copy it below. 
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Dear Parishioners and Friends,

I sent you a letter at the beginning of this Pandemic in 2020 and I never thought that one year later I would be doing the same. This is the best way to reach out to all of our parishioners and friends who attend our church and make contributions and whose addresses we have on file. The first aim of this letter is to let you know that I am always concerned about your wellbeing and I pray for each one of you daily. I am receiving calls and emails from persons who are having difficulty coping with the Pandemic and the situation it creates. You are not alone in your struggles because as the sign in front of our church says, we stand for one another and “please pray for each other”.
Our prayer is very much like the prayer from Psalm 63, “My body longs for you in a dry, parched land where there is no water.” We are all exhausted and long to return to normal. As we embark on our Lenten journey we will be led by Jesus Christ in our prayer through the desert, abandonments, and the darkness of sin and cross to the new beginnings, to the new life that is stronger than evil and death. “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness” [Easter Vigil]
I am sending you some blessed ashes. Keep them in your Bible or prayer book as a reminder of this Lent that will make us new people of God. At this time, we don’t know if Ash Wednesday will be possible.
Your tax receipt for your 2020 donations is attached. I want to thank you for your continuous support, especially in these uncertain times. I am always touched to see offertory envelopes arriving, even when the church is closed. We use our funds wisely. We have limited our expenses as much as possible. I was very happy to see our stained-glass window project finalized. We used our savings to pay it off, but it will be reimbursed from the One Heart One Soul Campaign fund.  A special thank you to those who keep their pledges coming in.
Please note that One Heart One Soul Campaign and Canada Helps provide their own tax receipts for all donations made. Thank you for your generosity and please keep supporting your church! “God loves a cheerful giver” [2 Corinthians 9]. There are many ways you can submit donations, by mail, on-line via Canada Helps or in person through the mail slot on the rectory door from Murray Street, (Father’s house door located between the hall and the church.  Please do NOT leave anything in the office mailbox). You can always justify it as essential exercise if asked what you are doing there. :)
What lies ahead is unknown to us but not to God. We trust him and we believe that as much as we cling to him, we are safe. “The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer.” [Psalm 18] May our relationship with God become even stronger this Lent and Easter. “The best is yet to come.”
May God bless you!
 
Fr. Luke
Your Pastor