3rd Sunday of Advent

Dear Parishioners, 

Testing and experimentation give us valuable information with which to make future plans and decisions. Such was the case this past Monday when we gathered in the “north arm”, the daily Mass chapel of St. Peter Church. I wanted to see if this space would provide enough seating for the noon and the 6 p.m. Masses for the holyday of obligation. I’d like to first say “thank you” to you Massgoers who readily moved to the chapel after your arrival, and to all who attended Mass here at St. Peter’s on this transferred feast of the Immaculate Conception. My test/experiment results tell me that, for future holydays of obligation, we will use the entire church rather than just the north chapel. Even though there actually was space for all attendees to sit down, and people were really not packed like sardines in the pews, the space was quite full, but I needed to see and know this before making the decision for future holyday Masses. Hopefully, our numbers for all our Masses here might increase. May I mention at this time that our 6:30 a.m. weekday Masses always have room in the chapel for anyone who would like to start their day and join us for Mass – there is ample room for more, and we still won’t be packed like sardines. So don’t let the fact that we were quite full in the chapel this past Monday deter you from coming to St. Peter’s for Mass on any day or at any time. I was conducting a test, an experiment, and I needed to actually have the attendees there in the chapel to see if it was feasible and practical to have holydays Masses there. I conducted the test, got the result, and made my decision: Masses on holydays will continue to be held using our entire church, our full worship space.