January 5 2024 - St. John Nepomucene Neumann - You have been created for a purpose

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. He used his gifts to learn 8 languages so he could hear confessions for the different immigrant groups.

After several years of working among German speaking immigrants, he joined the Redemptorist community, the missionary community founded by St. Alphonsus Ligouri. While a novice for the Redemptorists, he served at St. Alphonsus Church in Peru Township in Huron County, Ohio, just a little over an hour West of Cleveland. 

At age 41 he was named bishop of Philadelphia where he was particularly committed to providing educational opportunities to immigrant children. He organized the parochial schools into a diocesan system and invited religious institutes to establish new houses within the diocese to provide necessary social services.

In 1854, Bishop Neumann traveled to Rome and was present at St. Peter's Basilica on December 8, when Pius IX solemnly defined, ex cathedra, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

While doing errands on Thursday, January 5, 1860, Bishop Neumann collapsed and died on a Philadelphia street. He was 48 years old. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council on October 13, 1963, and was canonized by that same pope on June 19, 1977. He is the only canonized American bishop.

In a sermon on the work God has for us, bishop Neumann said, “Everyone who breathes, high and low, educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not born at random; we are not here, that we may go to bed at night, and get up in the morning, toil for our bread, eat and drink, laugh and joke, sin when we have a mind, and reform when we are tired of sinning, rear a family and die. God sees every one of us; He creates every soul, . . . for a purpose. He needs, He deigns to need, every one of us. He has an end for each of us; we are all equal in His sight, and we are placed in our different ranks and stations, not to get what we can out of them for ourselves, but to labor in them for Him. As Christ has His work, we too have ours; as He rejoiced to do His work, we must rejoice in ours also.”  

Bishop Neumann was faithful to the work God had for him, may we do the same, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

That all Christians may grow in charitable attentiveness to the needs of the poor in our midst.

For the lukewarm and for all who are searching and longing for Christ, may they find him through the holy witness of His Church.

Through the intercession of St. John Neumann, for the success of our Catholic schools, that young Catholic families may be centered on Christ, and that all Catholics may be diligent in our evangelizing mission.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all widows and widowers, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

January 5 2021 - St. John Neumann - Education, Brotherly Love, Increase of the Church

 Although he was born in Bohemia in 1811, in what is now the Czech Republic, John 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 (a reference to Philadelphia--the city 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. Faith is so weak in their families that they are like "sheep without a shepherd", as our Lord says in the Gospel today.  We face a very difficult battle in winning the hearts of these children away from the culture. To feed the multitude with the bread from heaven. But that is the task, and the Lord shows that it is possible. So, if there is a young person in your family not going to Church, each of us should ask ourselves, “what can I do to get them to the table?”

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.

 

For a deeper devotion to the Eucharist among all Catholics, that our Eucharistic worship might inspire non-believers to seek and find the Lord.

That our Catholic schools and PSR programs may be places where the Lord Jesus is sought out and discovered, where faith is instilled and charity is inspired.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, that many young people may respond generously to the Lord’s call to ordained and consecrated service.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For our former bishop, Archbishop Nelson Perez and for the Church of Philadelphia, that through the intercession of St. John Neumann, they may be renowned for their charity and pastoral service.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

January 5 2018 - St. John Neumann - "Come and See!"

As the Christmas season draws to a close, our gospel readings over the past few days have had a similar theme. Wednesday, John the Baptist urged us to “"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Yesterday, John again points out Jesus to others, the apostle Andrew goes to his brother Simon Peter to tell him that he has found the Messiah, Jesus too makes the invitation, “Come and see.” Today, Philip goes to Bartholomew with that same invitation “Come and see”.

These readings help to prime us, to prepare us for the final feast of the Christmas season, the feast of the Epiphany, in which wise men travel from afar to seek out the Christ, to gave upon him, to adore him.

It is a good day for some quiet reflection, to reflect on the things we have seen throughout the Christmas season. What were the ways that I saw Jesus this season? Did I see him in a new light? What were the attitudes and behaviors that hindered me from seeing his face?

I saw an article this morning that discussed how more and more young people are describing themselves as joyless, useless, and depressed. The likely culprit is time spent in front of the screen. Time spent seeking out the face of Jesus is never wasted, but the constant pursuit of entertainment and superficial social communication brings a joylessness that even secular science is beginning to warn against.

The last of the saints of the Christmas season is bishop John Neumann. The Collect told us that Bishop Neumann was “renowned for his charity and pastoral service.” For his first few years as a priest he was devoted to working with German immigrants here in the States. After joining the Redemptorists, he was tirelessly devoted to preaching in parishes in the many immigrant communities throughout Maryland, Virginia, and here in Ohio. By age 41, he had become the fourth bishop of Philadelphia and was absolutely devoted to fostering education amongst the Catholic youth.

St. John Neumann also promoted the forty hours devotion, encouraging parishes to gather for the adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. When we seek out Jesus like the wise men, like the apostles, like the blessed mother, we are able to behold his face, and he is able to fill us with peace and joy that nothing in the world can possibly give.

The Lord invites us to put away our worldly distractions and our anxieties to come and see him in charitable service and in eucharistic adoration, let us take him up on his invitation for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For a deeper devotion to the Eucharist among all Catholics, that our Eucharistic worship might inspire non-believers to seek and find the Lord.

That our Catholic schools and PSR programs may be places where the Lord Jesus is sought out and discovered, where faith is instilled and charity is inspired.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, that many young people may respond generously to the Lord’s call to ordained and consecrated service.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

Homily: Jan 5 2017 - St. John Neumann - Strengthened by the Passion of Christ

As his episcopal motto, today’s saint, St. John Neumann, the 4th bishop of Philadelphia, took the beautiful words from the Anima Christi prayer”, “Passio Christi, conforta me”, “Passion of Christ, Strengthen Me.

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.