From the Pastor's Desk - November 1, 2026

Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,

This Sunday we celebrate All Saints Day. The Servant of God (the title of one who is in the first stage of the canonization process) Sr. Miriam Teresa Demjanovich was a religious sister born in New Jersey in 1901 and who died in 1927. During her short life, she achieved mystical union with Jesus Christ, the highest degree of perfection in the spiritual life. At one point she wrote to her spiritual director, “As I understand it, God’s purpose in my life is this in general: to teach men that Our Lord’s promise ‘If any man love Me, he will keep My word; and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him’ is held out to every single soul, regardless of calling . . . Oh, if only men could realize that God holds out to them graces not only sufficient for salvation, but for sanctification, how differently they would not act.”

A saint is one who abides with God in love, whether that person be married, single clergy or religious. Sr. Miriam Teresa is spot on with her assessment: how differently we would act if we really believed with our whole being in the promises of grace that Christ offers us. At one point Our Lord told St. Teresa of Avila, “I have travelled all over the world seeking souls on whom to lavish my graces, but nobody wants them, so I am going to pour them all out on you.” God desires to pour out on us infinite graces of love, and a saint is one who opens their heart fully to Jesus to receive those graces. There is nothing greater and more important than to receive the Holy Trinity in the abode of your heart and let yourself be transformed and transfigured by His activity in your soul. I pray that our whole parish family may desire the heights of sanctity and be satisfied with nothing less.

I want to thank all of our ministries for being present at last weekend’s ministry fair. It was a wonderful display of the vitality of our parish and of the great work that the Holy Spirit is realizing through their charisms. Thank you to the women of the Catholic Women’s Association, who provided delicious food for our ministry groups and parishioners visiting the fair. If you’d like to discover the varied ministries in St. Martin’s, see the Ministry section of our website or stop by the parish office to obtain a copy of our Ministries booklet.

In Christ,

Fr. Dave