By the time he was made bishop, in the 41st year of life, he was already a man of deep devotion, faith, trust, simplicity and humility; yet, he still looked to the cross to be his strength.
As we heard in our first reading, Jesus’ Passion is the model for the love we are to show toward our fellow man: “The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
“Deprive me of everything, my God,” Nuemann wrote in his diary, “but of the desire to unite my will to your will in perfect resignation!” For Nuemann, the purpose of the Christian life was to unite, to resign, to abandon the will to doing the will of God and furthering the kingdom of God. he urged all those to whom he ministered, whether immigrant farmers or wealthy aristocrats, to detach themselves from their worldly cares and devote themselves to God.
“Our great mistake,” he said, “is that we allow ourselves to be deceived by the spirit of [worldliness], the desire for fame, and the love of comfort…The principles of faith fade out of our hearts in proportion as we allow the principles of the world to come in.”
“Zeal, he wrote, “consists in the effort to detest, flee, to prevent or repel everything opposed to the will of God or the glory of his name.” He hoped and prayed that his people would be filled with zeal for the will of God. At the time, of his episcopacy, the Diocese of Philadelphia was the largest in the country, consisting of 170,000 Catholics scattered among 112 churches throughout the eastern half of Pennsylvania, the lower half of New Jersey, and all of Delaware. With only about 100 priests to serve this vast population, Neumann’s zeal, enabled him to travel miles on horseback through the wilderness to preach the gospel to poor farmers. He also established the first Catholic School system in the country.
His sufferings were many: the departure from his family and loved ones in Bohemia, the trying life of a pastor alone in the extreme cold and difficult conditions of the north eastern US, the anti-catholic sentiment he witnessed, the loneliness of a diocesan priest, the struggles of being a pastor as a bishop, the criticism he had to endure regarding his personality and way of life as a bishop. Yet, through all these he kept steadfast in his resolve to unite his sufferings to that of Christ.
May we look to the Passion of Christ to be our strength, and be filled with zeal in our willingness to endure our own passion for the sake of the kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
For Bishop Daniel Thomas, our apostolic administrator, for all bishops, and for our future bishop, they may be men of great pastoral zeal, courage, and faith.
For our president-elect and all civic leaders, that they may work to lead and build our society in conformity with the will of God.
For the Pope’s intention “That all Christians may be faithful to the Lord’s teaching by striving with prayer and fraternal charity to restore ecclesial communion and by collaborating to meet the challenges facing humanity.”
For all of our young people attending Catholic schools and faith formation programs, that they may grow in union with Christ and knowledge of the things of God.
For all whose share in the cross overwhelms them, that they may know God’s grace and strength in their share of the passion.
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