My Dear Parish Family,

    Over a hundred years ago, a great English preacher named Charles Spurgeon exclaimed: “Give me great sinners to make great saints! They are glorious raw material for grace to work upon and when you do get them saved, they will shake the very gates of Hell!” His belief—evidenced in story after story of great saints who’d once been great sinners—was that the very individuals who willfully embrace sinful behaviors often possess the passion and drive to become fearless, devoted champions of the Christian faith … once they’re transformed by grace.

    Next to the Apostle Paul, St. Augustine is the most famous sinner-turned-saint. Though Augustine was raised Christian, he dove headlong into a life of lust, heresy, and arrogance as a young man, even fathering a son out of wedlock. Augustine’s conversion finally came, but marked with anguished weeping over his inability to abandon such a sinful life. As the story goes, he then heard a child chant, as though an angel, “Take up and read.” Augustine opened his Bible to Romans 13:13-14, where he read from Romans 13: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” And the rest is history.

    The recently beatified (Sept 24, 2026) Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote in 1945: “Far better it is for you to say: ‘I am a sinner,’ than to say: ‘I have no need of religion.’ The empty can be filled, but the self-intoxicated have no room for God.” Or as Saint Augustine would say: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

    Our diocese has a wonderful resource which I feel is under-used and under-appreciated: The Monitor Magazine and TrentonMonitor.com. For many years, the Monitor was published as a weekly newspaper providing Catholic news and information, especially about our Diocese. Now we can receive information and inspiration for our faith journey through their monthly magazine and website. It costs just $30 for home delivery of the magazine, email delivery of the digital edition and unlimited access to the website. I encourage you to subscribe and stay in tune with the Church and our Faith. Go to TrentonMonitor.com to subscribe or call Parish Office.

    God bless you all and Oremus pro invicem.

   Fr. Scott Shaffer