The fifth Sunday of Lent is the tradition when Development and Peace proclaims its social justice message. This year the symbols remind us of the Amazon region and the challenges the people there are facing. The symbols used on March 29 at the Abbey include a burnt branch, a feather, a pot of soil with some stones and a plant.

Abbey guest Joseph checks the weather and makes a report twice a day. This continues a tradition of almost 120 years at Saint Peter’s Abbey.

As the March 28 temperature indicates, spring is on the way and that makes everyone happy.

The season of Lent started on Ash Wednesday, February 26. The flowers around the altar in church were replace with a cactus. The cactus reminds us of the desert with John the Baptist preaching repentance and where Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days.