Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010512.cfm

Saint John Neumann

Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God.

Saint John’s first letter, like his gospel, draws a sharp distinction between good and evil. It is a line which runs through thoughts, words, deeds and people. Some are good; some are wicked. In today’s passage he lays down a heavy teaching about our relations with one another: anyone who hates is a murderer; anyone who denies compassion to someone in need does not have the love of God within him; we should love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.

And then he concludes these sobering remarks with reassurance, “…if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God.”

No one is perfect; no one needs to claim perfection. We should strive daily to do the right thing; we should daily admit our failure and daily renew our efforts. Discouragement is a fruit of self-indulgence and we don’t have time for that. (Or not more than a few minutes each day.) 

Saint John Neumann died on this day in 1860, at the age of 48. The bishop of Philadelphia, he oversaw the construction of hundreds of parishes in his diocese, helped religious women to establish their communities and created national parishes for Italian immigrants. He founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in the United States, a foundation which remains extremely influential to this day. When he wasn’t hurling himself at good works he suffered the usual doubts, fears and misgivings of our human nature. Discouraged by violent opposition from the Know Nothings, he applied to Pope Pius IX for a transfer and was refused. A modest man, he was sure of his unworthiness to be a bishop. He complained that he could not carry himself with the gravitas a bishop should have. Rather, he lived simply among the poor Catholics who flocked to America. 

Born in Bohemia, he is the only male citizen of the United States to be canonized. 

Saint John Neumann teaches us how to set aside our anxieties and attend to the works of God. He reminds us that self-esteem is not half as important as the love of God and neighbor.