Jan 5 John Neumann

Jack and Thom
Good morning, I love you

We didn’t pick names because of the saint connection – although we wouldn’t have picked a name that wasn’t Catholic. We followed, by chance of God’s grace giving us two sons, the pattern my parents followed. First born named after his grandfather; though we named you after each of your grandfathers. Second born named after his father; though we agreed to the name we call you and its spelling to come from your middle name. You get to choose your patron saints from John, Kenneth, William, Thomas. A gazillion Johns; maybe more than one Kenneth, but I haven’t found them; a fistful of Williams; and some big ticket Thomases (More, Beckett, Aquinas, Apostle).



January 5
John Neumann b. 1811 d. 1860

John Neumann was born in Bohemia. He was on track to being ordained a priest in 1835 when the bishop decided he didn’t need any more priests. You can bet that was an economic not a spiritual decision. Too many priests? Or not enough money to go around? Wouldn’t want the priests of the day to go without privilege or power not to mention having to skip a meal every now and then.

The man is 24 years old. He had his heart set on being a priest for most of his entire life. All of a sudden, out of the blue, the plug is pulled on his vocation. What do you do? Go home to mommy? Run back to school for another major? It’s gut check time. Return to your discernment process. Is God calling you to be a priest? [insert the vocation you think you have] John Neumann determined he was and was determined to make that happen. Pray as if everything depends on God; work as if everything depends on you. John Neumann had plenty of work to do if he were going to become a priest.

John wrote to bishops all over Europe but the story was the same everywhere no one wanted any more priests; certainly didn’t want any imports from Bohemia. John was sure he was called to be a priest but all the doors to follow that vocation seemed to close in his face. The operative word here is ‘seemed’. Be sure there is no distortion in your discernment of vocation. Look into your heart; listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. Once that is clear, then if the doors to your vocation are closed to you, it only seems so. Don’t be misled by the world’s reaction to the word of God to you. St Elizabeth Seton called it The Will, God’s Will, the center of our lives. Let that be your compass and the source of your energy, motivation, desires.

John Neumann didn't give up. He had learned English by working in a factory with English-speaking workers. The shortest distance between two points is not necessarily a straight line. John Neumann, with a vocation to the priesthood, worked in a factory. Early nineteenth century factories were not the pristine clean and safely organized factory floor of GM or Lincoln Electric. The factories of early nineteenth century Bohemia were not where you found your parish priest. John Neumann was going to be a priest. Learning English was necessary for him to write to the bishops in America. Do what is necessary to pursue your vocation. Let it be God’s will and His time line, no matter how crooked it seems to be.

The bishop in New York agreed to ordain him. In order to follow God's call to the priesthood John left his home forever and traveled across the ocean to a new and rugged land: early 1800’s America. It’s a challenge when we move from one state to another to figure out the lay of the land, the way of the people. John Neumann was dedicated to his vocation. If God were calling him to America, the rest would work itself out.

There weren’t too many priests in America. In New York, John was one of 36 priests for 200,000 Catholics. John's parish in western New York stretched from Lake Ontario to Pennsylvania. His church had an earthen floor and no steeple. John Neumann spent most of his time traveling from village to village, climbing mountains to visit the sick, staying in garrets and taverns to teach, and celebrating the Mass at kitchen tables.

Look at a map of western New York State. Check the weather map – summers are hot and arid and winters are a bitch, even for men on foot from Bohemia.
Because of the work and the isolation of his parish, John Neumann longed for community and so joined the Redemptorists, a congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to helping the poor and most abandoned. A missionary of sorts became a missionary within his adopted country for real.

Catholic means universal. We are called to live our faith in a unique relationship with God. Our faith and our Church [we are church] offers us many ways to follow our vocation, an infinite number of way for our vocation to evolve. Discernment is not a one night stand. ‘What is your will for me today, Lord?’ should be part of our morning prayer. Don’t be like the rich young man who thought he had it all figured out when he told Jesus all that right stuff he’d been doing and asked ‘what else should I do?’ No way he expected Jesus’ answer. Keep asking. The Holy Spirit has a sense of humor. Dance with the Lord of the Dance!

John Neumann was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. As bishop, thirty plus years after St Elizabeth Seton opened schools in Baltimore, he was the first to organize a diocesan Catholic school system. A founder of Catholic education in this country, John Neumann increased the number of Catholic schools in his diocese from two to 100.

God calls us in many ways. He leads us along The Way for His purposes. We must do our best in the moment because we cannot really know ‘for what end?’ The bishop told John Neumann he would not be ordained. Who would have taken that moment to predict John Neumann would become a bishop in Philadelphia and become the father of our Catholic Diocesan Schools System?

John Neumann arrived in New York City, the bishop ordained him, then sent him to God’s country upstate New York. John Neumann, dedicated to his vocation and out of obedience, went. Who on the day he trekked out of The City would predict he’d become bishop of Philadelphia, maybe the largest city in the country at the time: certainly one of our most important? Follow your vocation one step at a time. Know that God is preparing you for Himself.

The diocese of Philadelphia stretched out into rural Pennsylvania. John never lost his love and concern for the people -- something that may have bothered the elite of Philadelphia. On one visit to a rural parish, the parish priest picked him up in a manure wagon. Seated on a plank stretched over the wagon's contents, John joked, "Have you ever seen such an entourage for a bishop!" A healthy ride with manure can remind us that the shit we shovel does have a purpose.

The ability to learn languages that had brought him to America led him to learn Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch so he could hear confessions in at least six languages. When Irish immigration started, he learned Gaelic so well that one Irish woman remarked, "Isn't it grand that we have an Irish bishop!"

We are blessed with many talents and the duty to develop them. Language is not one of my talents. I wrestle with English. I failed German as a sophomore in high school. I struggled through six years of Latin. I chose my Ph.D. program because I could substitute statistics and computer programming for the language requirement. I am blessed with a math head. It counts for something.

Once on a visit to Germany, he came back to the house he was staying in soaked by rain. When his host suggested he change his shoes, John remarked, "The only way I could change my shoes is by putting the left one on the right foot and the right one on the left foot. This is the only pair I own."

John died on January 5, 1860 at the age of 48.

I love you,
Dad
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