<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Dear Parishioners and Friends of St Peter’s,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div>Last weekend we celebrated St Peter’s Day. It was very unlike any Patronal Festival
of recent decades, even recent centuries I imagine. But it was certainly most
memorable all the same. Our bishop, Genieve, presided at Mass and preached
an uplifting sermon on the importance of being “present in the midst of crisis”
(for the full sermon in YouTube see: <a href="http://bit.ly/2ZzEKG6" class="">bit.ly/2ZzEKG6</a>). We were only permitted a congregation
of 20 people, but many others were able to join us on-line. Although dispersed, we certainly flew the St Peter’s flag as vigorously
as we could.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Ahead of the weekend there were numerous planning meetings
and conversations aimed at solving the dilemma of Patronal Festival hospitality.
Usually we sit down for a meal or gather for a special lunch, neither of which are
possible under the current pandemic regulations. There was a glimmer of hope,
when it seemed that restrictions might have been eased, and a congregation of
50 permitted. But then the quarantine-hotel outbreak hit, easing was postponed
in Victoria, and we had to go back to the drawing board. Our Chair of the Guild
of St Benedict, Daniel Ferguson, and Secretary, Helena Williams, came up with
the solution: give them cake! At the start of the lock-down we missed out on
our Lenten Simnel Cake, so Helena baked a batch for St Peter’s Day, wrapping it
beautifully with a red ribbon. As we left the church we were greeted by Helena’s
warm smile and delicious cake. Appropriately spatially distanced, we gathered in
the car park for a delightful taste of St Peter’s hospitality, and were even joined
by a new parishioner who has recently moved to Melbourne. In these times the
simplest things that we might usually take for granted become the most glorious. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Another significant part of last weekend was very sad: on
the day before our celebrations,
a parishioner of some 50 years,
former Vicar’s Warden and Chair
of the Foundation, John Taaff,
died after a long struggle with
illness. Our hearts go out to his
partner Norman, their family
and close friends, and to all who will gather for John’s Requiem Mass
tomorrow. May he rest in peace … and rise in glory.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Warmest regards on this cold evening,</div><div class="">Fr Hugh</div><div apple-content-edited="true" class="">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; " class=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; " class=""><div class="">_______________________</div>The Rev'd Dr Hugh Kempster<br class="">Vicar, St Peter's Eastern Hill<br class="">Melbourne 3002, Australia<br class=""> T: +61 3 9662 2391<br class=""> M: 0488 960 022<br class=""> E: <a href="mailto:hkempster@stpeters.org.au" class="">hkempster@stpeters.org.au</a><br class=""> <a href="http://www.stpeters.org.au" class="">www.stpeters.org.au</a></div></span></div></span></span>
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