Although he was born in Bohemia in 1811, in what is now the
Czech Republic, John Nepomucene Neumann is celebrated as an American saint. After studying in Prague, John Neumann came
to New York at the age of 25 and was ordained a priest just three weeks later. After several years of working among German
speaking immigrants, often alone, he joined the Redemptorist community, the
missionary community founded by St. Alphonsis Ligouri. As a gifted linguist who spoke 8 languages,
he was a popular preacher among the many immigrant communities, in Maryland,
Virginia, even here in Ohio.
By age 41 he had become the fourth bishop of Philadelphia
where he organized the parochial schools there into a diocesan system.
Today’s opening prayer refers to three tasks accomplished by
Saint John Neumann which we hope to accomplish by the help of his prayers. 1) To foster the Christian education of
youth, 2) to strengthen the witness of brotherly love, and 3) to constantly increase
the family of the Church.
Like Saint John Neumann, all of us are to foster the
Christian education of youth. Almost
50,000 children in this diocese attend Catholic schools, and at least that same
number are educated in parish PSR programs.
But the number of children attending weekly Mass is abysmal. We face a very difficult battle in winning
the hearts of these children away from the culture, and that is the task of
every Catholic. If there is a young person in our family not going to Church, each of us should ask ourselves, what can I do to get them to the altar.
Secondly, we must give “the witness of brotherly love”. Non-Catholics and weak-faithed Catholics
should look at us and say in the words of Tertullian, “look how they love each
other”. The brotherly love we have for
each other, the charity, the kindness, the patience we have for each other is
to attract others to our way of life—the way of Christ.
And the third task exemplified by John Neumann to increase
the family of the Church. Again not just
the work of priests, not just the work of bishops, but the work of the entire
church, to continue to draw souls to Christ.
And that is only possible, when we have truly been drawn to Him, when we
have left behind all worldliness, when we have sought him with the entirety of
our being.
May Bishop Neumann, “renowned for his charity and pastoral
service” spurn us on to holiness through the service of the Gospel of Christ,
for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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