Ordination day and the Feast of John Neumann
My Priestly Anniversary and the Feast of John Neumann
A priest’s vocation is to bless, absolve, and teach. These are not acts, but part of an attitude. We are to be present in the world in such a way that those we meet feel absolved without asking for absolution, feel blessed without asking for blessing, feel instructed without asking for teaching. And this attitude needs to be so intrinsic to our beings that there is never a moment of time when we are not this way. "From this task of absolving and blessing, both implicitly and explicitly, of living an absolving existence and a blessing existence, there are no days off, no vacations, no remissions.
Today I am celebrating eleventh anniversary of my Ordination. On January 5th, 1997, I was ordained to the priesthood.
There is a humorous story about a conversation between a recently ordained priest and his elderly pastor. Actually, it was a heated argument about a pastoral issue. In exasperation the pastor finally said, "Don't argue with me. I've had forty years experience as a priest."
The young priest looked at him and said. "No you haven't. You haven't had forty years experience. You had one year's experience and you repeated forty times!"
Well, I admit there has been much repetition in these past one decade:
But I always ask myself: What is required to be a happy priest? Or to be more precise, what can I do to be a happier priest?
St. John gives us one of the keys to happiness. When people came out to the desert to hear him, they asked John, "What should we do?" He replied that the person who had two cloaks should share with the one who has none. In some ways, that is pretty obvious advice. One of the keys to happiness is to share - or give away - as much as possible.
Of course, financial giving must always be accompanied by a deeper giving. St. Vincent de Paul said, "It is for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give them." To be able to give to another - whether materially or spiritually - is a great privilege. And we must always be open to receiving. No one is so rich that he has nothing to receive - and no one is so poor that he has nothing to give. I imagine that the man who had two cloaks thought of himself as poor: one cloak to wear and one cloak to wash. But St. John told him to give to the person who has none.
So as I speak to you on this day, the anniversary of the day when I celebrated my first Mass, I think I would like to say that the life of a priest is, can and should be a worthy one and a happy one. I have never regretted my decision to be a priest. I hope and trust the Lord will give me grace to persevere to the end. I believe that the vocation of a priest is a precious gift for the Church. But it makes demands on the man who gives himself to it. St. Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians, that he “handed over to God’s people and to the Church, not only the Good News, but his whole life as well”. (1 Thess. 2:8). That is what a priest is called to do. He must in an extraordinary way ‘put on Christ’, be like Him. By his words and example he must show Christ to others. There is a little passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, “Glory be to Him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20). I ask you, my dear sisters and brothers, to pray with me and for me to the good God who can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. He loves his Church. He loves his people. And he loves this world for which his Son, Jesus, gave his life.
Saint John Neumann
This American saint was born in Prachatitz, Bohemia (Czech Republic) in 1811. He was taken the same day to the parish church, baptized and named for one of the patron saints of his homeland, John Nepomucene.
In addition to his native German and Bohemian, he knew Italian, Spanish, Greek and Latin. In Prague, he undertook to learn English and French as well. In later life, he taught himself Gaelic in order to minister to Irish immigrants.
He was looking forward to being ordained in 1835 when the bishop decided there would be no more ordinations. It is difficult to imagine now, but Bohemia was overstocked with priests. John wrote to bishops all over Europe but the story was the same everywhere - no one wanted any more bishops. John was sure he was called to be a priest but all the doors to follow that vocation seemed to close in his face.
John didn’t give up. He was inspired by the missionary writings of Bishop Frederic Baraga in America, and because he had learned English by working in a factory with English-speaking workers, he wrote to the bishops in America. Finally, the bishop in New York agreed to ordain him. In order to follow God's call to the priesthood, John would have to leave his home forever and travel across the ocean to a new and rugged land.
John was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Bishop John Neumann chose the motto of “Passion of Christ strengthen me” in his Coat of Arms. As bishop, he was the first to organize a diocesan Catholic school system.
John never lost his love and concern for the people. In 1860, John Nepomucene Neumann died due to a stroke at the age of 48 while walking down a street in Philadelphia. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI on June 19, 1977, and became the first American bishop to be so honored.
A priest’s vocation is to bless, absolve, and teach. These are not acts, but part of an attitude. We are to be present in the world in such a way that those we meet feel absolved without asking for absolution, feel blessed without asking for blessing, feel instructed without asking for teaching. And this attitude needs to be so intrinsic to our beings that there is never a moment of time when we are not this way. "From this task of absolving and blessing, both implicitly and explicitly, of living an absolving existence and a blessing existence, there are no days off, no vacations, no remissions.
Today I am celebrating eleventh anniversary of my Ordination. On January 5th, 1997, I was ordained to the priesthood.
There is a humorous story about a conversation between a recently ordained priest and his elderly pastor. Actually, it was a heated argument about a pastoral issue. In exasperation the pastor finally said, "Don't argue with me. I've had forty years experience as a priest."
The young priest looked at him and said. "No you haven't. You haven't had forty years experience. You had one year's experience and you repeated forty times!"
Well, I admit there has been much repetition in these past one decade:
But I always ask myself: What is required to be a happy priest? Or to be more precise, what can I do to be a happier priest?
St. John gives us one of the keys to happiness. When people came out to the desert to hear him, they asked John, "What should we do?" He replied that the person who had two cloaks should share with the one who has none. In some ways, that is pretty obvious advice. One of the keys to happiness is to share - or give away - as much as possible.
Of course, financial giving must always be accompanied by a deeper giving. St. Vincent de Paul said, "It is for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give them." To be able to give to another - whether materially or spiritually - is a great privilege. And we must always be open to receiving. No one is so rich that he has nothing to receive - and no one is so poor that he has nothing to give. I imagine that the man who had two cloaks thought of himself as poor: one cloak to wear and one cloak to wash. But St. John told him to give to the person who has none.
So as I speak to you on this day, the anniversary of the day when I celebrated my first Mass, I think I would like to say that the life of a priest is, can and should be a worthy one and a happy one. I have never regretted my decision to be a priest. I hope and trust the Lord will give me grace to persevere to the end. I believe that the vocation of a priest is a precious gift for the Church. But it makes demands on the man who gives himself to it. St. Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians, that he “handed over to God’s people and to the Church, not only the Good News, but his whole life as well”. (1 Thess. 2:8). That is what a priest is called to do. He must in an extraordinary way ‘put on Christ’, be like Him. By his words and example he must show Christ to others. There is a little passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, “Glory be to Him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20). I ask you, my dear sisters and brothers, to pray with me and for me to the good God who can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. He loves his Church. He loves his people. And he loves this world for which his Son, Jesus, gave his life.
Saint John Neumann
This American saint was born in Prachatitz, Bohemia (Czech Republic) in 1811. He was taken the same day to the parish church, baptized and named for one of the patron saints of his homeland, John Nepomucene.
In addition to his native German and Bohemian, he knew Italian, Spanish, Greek and Latin. In Prague, he undertook to learn English and French as well. In later life, he taught himself Gaelic in order to minister to Irish immigrants.
He was looking forward to being ordained in 1835 when the bishop decided there would be no more ordinations. It is difficult to imagine now, but Bohemia was overstocked with priests. John wrote to bishops all over Europe but the story was the same everywhere - no one wanted any more bishops. John was sure he was called to be a priest but all the doors to follow that vocation seemed to close in his face.
John didn’t give up. He was inspired by the missionary writings of Bishop Frederic Baraga in America, and because he had learned English by working in a factory with English-speaking workers, he wrote to the bishops in America. Finally, the bishop in New York agreed to ordain him. In order to follow God's call to the priesthood, John would have to leave his home forever and travel across the ocean to a new and rugged land.
John was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Bishop John Neumann chose the motto of “Passion of Christ strengthen me” in his Coat of Arms. As bishop, he was the first to organize a diocesan Catholic school system.
John never lost his love and concern for the people. In 1860, John Nepomucene Neumann died due to a stroke at the age of 48 while walking down a street in Philadelphia. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI on June 19, 1977, and became the first American bishop to be so honored.
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