But this brilliant life that St. Augustine is so known for was embraced only reluctantly after many years of study and soul searching. Like Jeremiah before him, he didn't want to let himself be "duped" by God into embracing something that would take him in a direction he didn't want to go. Augustine knew that when the prophets before him said yes to God they ended up in some very difficult places! He wanted to be sure. So he studied and searched. Little did he know that through all of his searching God was building a young passionate man into a spiritual, intellectual, philosophical and moral force to be reckoned with! Only when he finally surrendered to God did he discover that God was far more effective in building his life into something worthwhile than he was! When you and I want to renovate something like our church, we think of what we want and work toward the pattern that we have dreamed up in our heads. Spiritual renovation is different. Spiritual renovation is what happens to a man or woman who willing and trustingly surrenders him or herself to the skilled hands of God. On this Feast, let us commit our lives into the master builder's hands that we too may be God's newly renovated community of faith capable of transforming our world!