Tag Archives: Catholic Church

St. John Neumann

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Saint John Neumann

St. John Neumann

Click here for today’s Scripture readings.

1 Jn 3:11-21
Jn 1:43-51

Learning the 4th R

Long before texting and tweeting, abbreviations had entered our English vocabulary to sum up a great deal in a few words. Learning well “the three R’s” meant getting a good education through mastering the basic skills of readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic.  But in addition to helping young people master these imperative doors for entrance into the world of future study, the Catholic Church in the United States in the 19th and 20th century placed a great emphasis on the academic study of religion as an important fourth R to foster a young person’s maturity.

St. John Neumann was an immigrant among so many others who came from Europe in the 19th century.  As a religious in the Redemptorist community of St. Alphonsus Liguori, he served as a missionary-bishop when our country was still in its infancy under the care of the Propagation of the Faith. He died in 1860 and eventually he would be the first canonized bishop from the United States.

Bishop Neumann, along with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Mother Mary Lange and so many other women and men, were truly pioneers in Catholic education at the primary, secondary and tertiary level.  Throughout these many decades, many more religious orders, such as the School Sisters of Notre Dame for example, accepted the invitation to establish schools in the expanding dioceses of the Eastern Seaboard of New England, the Mid-Atlantic States, and the Midwest.

Catholic schools initiated young people into the arts and sciences which they would need in the industrial world into which they had been born. At the same time, they were absorbing the faith witnessed by their religious and lay teachers. As today’s reading from 1 John says very powerfully, “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…Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth” (3:16, 18).

Today would be a good day to thank God for all those who contributed in any way to the heritage of Roman Catholic schools. If you attended one of those Catholic schools it might be a good time to contact and thank one of those teachers who helped you become who you are today.

(Father Paul Zilonka, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Preaching Team of St. Paul of the Cross Province).

 

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Answering Your Call to Greatness

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Click here for today’s Scripture readings.

Sirach 39:6-10
Matthew 16:13-19

Pope John Paul II had a long and influential time as Pope during which he left a legacy of writings on a wide range of subjects, as well as a record of political actions confronting world leaders, particularly the Soviet Union. His use of modern communication and widespread travel greatly extended his power.  Following his death, many raised chants of ‘Pope John Paul the Great’ to celebrate his impact on the recent history of the modern world.

Today the universal church remembers the first Pope ever to be called “Great.”  Pope St. Leo also enjoyed a lengthy papacy (440-461), and was at the forefront of doctrinal developments by calling for the Council of Chalcedon in 451.  This Council affirmed the sacred mystery of the Incarnation, which speaks of the union of the divine and human natures in Jesus.

Leo the Great also took on some of the international warlords of his day. He successfully bargained with Attila the Hun to prevent him from sacking Rome. Closer to the domestic matters of the fifth-century Church, Leo emphasized the leadership role of the Bishop of Rome among the other bishops, and influenced the liturgy through the formation of the Leonine Sacramentary. A collection of 143 of his letters offers much insight into the mid-first millennium of the Roman Catholic Church. St. Leo’s 100 extant sermons still nourish the piety of modern-day Catholics.

One generation or another of churchgoers may extol a particular Pope as “great” in their esteem.  However, the true greatness in serving as ‘the servant of the servants of God’ is to reaffirm the confession of faith, which St. Peter made in Jesus. “You are the Christ, the son of God.” This faith comes to maturity in a life of virtue, which flows from dedication to our Lord, the son of Mary and the son of God. In this we recognize authentic greatness in a Christian believer, and to this we all are called.

(Fr. Paul Zilonka, C.P. is a member of the Preaching Team of St. Paul of the Cross Province)


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Speaking to Power

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Apostle Paul in the apse

Image via Wikipedia

Click here for today’s Scripture reflection.

Rv 7:2-4, 9-14
1 Jn 3:1-3
Mt 5:1-12a

It’s hard to speak out when you’re talking to people who are authorities on one thing or another. I’m sure the Apostle Paul found it hard to write to the Church at Rome, a community at the center of Rome’s powerful empire, which could draw an apostle like Peter to come speak to them about Jesus of Nazareth.

In his Letter to the Romans, which we read today, Paul is deferential before the Roman community which, even then, was respected throughout the Christian world. Yet, he speaks out; he’s an apostle and he has something to say. Since we’re still reading his letter, we presume the Romans must have heard and honored his words.

It’s important to speak to power, whether you’re a notable figure like Paul or someone no one knows.

The Shakers, a Protestant religious community founded in our country in the last century and now mostly extinct, had the practice of sharing together in the morning what God inspired them to share with one another and then go out to their various shops and farmlands nearby. It was all a way of sharing gifts.

One day–a story goes–closing the chapel door, a community leader noticed a small child sobbing on the steps. “What’s wrong?” he asked the child. “Nobody wanted to hear my gift today,” the child replied.

The leader went back to the chapel and rang the bell calling everybody back from their work. “The child has a gift and we need to receive it,” he told them. And they listened.

Today we’re witnessing demonstrations throughout the world by many ordinary people speaking to power. Some may dismiss these demonstrations as childish or foolish or uninformed. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

But it’s always important to hear the words spoken to power. They may be God’s gift to us all.

- Fr. Victor Hoagland,CP is the Director of Passionist Press and a member of the Passionist Community in Union City, NJ.

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