Greetings dear brothers and sisters, confreres, Redemptorist Lay partners on mission, associates, and collaborators,
We welcome to the triduum in honour of St John Neumann a Redemptorist Missionary Bishop and whose feast we celebrate each year on the 5th January.
This year Fr. Ivel Mendanha, CSsR, the General Consultor, reflects during this triduum on different aspects of the life and Spirituality of St John Neumann in the context of the year dedicated to Mission in the Redemptorist family and also keeping in mind that in the month of March this year we will be beginning the year dedicated to leadership in the Congregation.
Therefore we will begin with a first reflection on St John Neumann a Missionary Bishop, then on the second day we will reflect on St John Neumann a leader after the example of Jesus our Servant leader and on the third day we will reflect on the cross of suffering in the life of St John Neumann keeping in mind that the cross is part of the life of a Missionary and of a leader today. Finally, on the feast day we will reflect on the inspiration St John Neumann offers all of us in the Redemptorist Family and to all Christians in our following of Jesus today.
Introduction:
Triduum Day 1: Fr. Ivel Mendanha, CSsR, reflects on St John Neumann a Missionary Bishop (2 Jan. 26)
Who is a missionary? According to Pope Francis in his personal comments to the members of the XXVI General Chapter on the 1st October 2022 he said that a Missionary is one who is ready and willing to leave his or her comfort zones so that we can draw closer to the abandoned poor to whom we are sent. Fr. Ivel reflects briefly how St John Neumann was a Missionary of Hope, constantly leaving his comfort zones to be Mission, to proclaim God’s abundant Redemption to the poor and the most abandoned.
The very first exodus, a leaving or departure from one’s comfort zone for a missionary life as seen in the life of St John Neumann is his decision to join the seminary and be a priest. The second exodus happens at first in his heart and mind as he nears the end of his study of Theology in the seminary. The third moment of Exodus happened as a young diocesan priest serving in upstate New York. After four years of tireless missionary work among German Catholic immigrants in upstate New York Neumann felt a certain loneliness. The fourth moment of Exodus was his life as a Redemptorist Missionary itself where he lived in constant exodus, a constant giving of himself and moving out of his comfort zone to dedicate himself to the mission of the Congregation. Neumann entered the Congregation in 1840 and immediately he was sent in rapid succession to parishes in Baltimore,
The fifth moment of Exodus came rather unexpectedly and was a total shock to him. Without warning, in 1852, Pope Pius IX commanded the Redemptorists to accept Neumann’s appointment as bishop of Philadelphia.
Newmann was truly a Missionary in every sense of the word, as seminarian, Diocesan priest, Redemptorist and finally as a Missionary Bishop always on the move at the service of the poor and most abandoned and seeking to reach out to the existential peripheries of his diocese.
Let us now pray, seeking the intercession of this amazing Missionary, St John Neumann that we too may follow his example to be truly committed missionaries on mission and being mission to the poor and most abandoned of our time.
Triduum Day 2: Fr. Ivel Mendanha, CSsR, reflects St John Neumann a Leader after the example of Jesus the Servant Leader.
Today on the second day of the Triduum for the feast of St John Neumann we reflect on St John Neumann as a leader after the example of Jesus the Servant Leader. This year in our Redemptorist Congregation beginning from the month of March we will be reflecting on the theme of leadership for mission. It is opportune therefore to turn to John Neumann who was truly an exceptional leader in the style of Jesus himself. The question we ask is, what marks the leadership style of Jesus? A good leader in the style of Jesus possesses qualities like humility, compassion, and integrity, with a core principle of servant leadership.
There are five core qualities from Jesus’s style of servant leadership. These are. Humility and Servanthood, Compassion and Love, Integrity and Faithfulness, and Selflessness.
As a Bishop Neumann was much like the founder St. Alphonsus. He chose to be a true shepherd and pastor who knew the smell of the sheep. Being close to the sheep was his priority, especially the poor immigrants and suffering sick and underprivileged. It is for them and their children that he opened orphanages, Catholic Schools, visited their parishes, and did whatever it took to be close to the poor and suffering.
All of us can take a leaf out of the book of life of St John Neumann be it Redemptorists who are in leadership roles, the entire Redemptorist family and all the people of God who exercise leadership in some form to be selfless, humble and simple, faithful and with integrity serving with compassion and love those entrusted to our care.
Let us pray for this grace of true service seeking the intercession of St John Neumann.
Triduum Day 3: Fr. Ivel Mendanha, CSsR, reflects on St John Neumann and the Cross of Suffering
In the Gospel of Luke, 9:23, Jesus says to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” These words are truly seen in the life of St John Neumann as a missionary and as a leader but above all as a disciple of the Lord Jesus seeking to be follow him and to carry out his mission. Any missionary who seeks to live the mission of the Lord and carry out that same mission is bound to face the suffering of the cross. The same is true for leadership in the example of Jesus the servant leader. Sufferings and the cross are inevitable for a Missionary and a leader in the Church today.
Fr Ivel begins with a quotation from St John Neumann from a letter he wrote to his parents before setting out for New York in 1836. He wrote consoling his parents over the fact that he was going away from them and that they might never see him again.
“The greater our sorrows now, the greater will our joy be hereafter. God would not impose such a sacrifice on us, did he not deem it salutary for us and were he not willing to impart the necessary strength. (Neumann’s letter to his parents, February 11, 1836)
We learn from ‘The Little Bishop’ St. John Neumann that as Redemptorists today we must be men with zeal, with fire for the mission of the Lord, willing to leave our comfort zones to reach out as Missionaries of Hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer and to serve as leaders after the example of Jesus the servant leader. All of this will naturally entail suffering, but leaning from the Little Bishop, John Neumann we unite our sufferings with the sufferings of the Lord and we will be strengthened in the mission of the same Lord.
Let us pray the prayer of St John Neumann for all of us in the Redemptorist family called to be missionaries and leaders today for the grace to bear the cross of suffering with serenity, so we pray, “Passion of Christ Strengthen me.”
Feast Day: Fr. Ivel Mendanha, CSsR, reflects on St. John Neumann – an Inspiration
Fr. Ivel spends a little time letting Neumann himself speak to us today on his feast day through his spiritual journal that he kept very faithfully.
His Journal reveals the depth of his depression as he came to the end of his seminary days and for months he lost all enthusiasm for life. Neumann seemed to have come to a point where he not only theoretically but also experientially knew he could trust only in God; still, he did not excuse himself.
The ascetical life is expressed in ministry.
The spiritual life looked toward heaven.
St John Neumann is an inspiration for all of us in the Redemptorist Family as well as for all Catholics who seek to live as Disciples of Jesus. As Pope Benedict XV said, “All find in the new hero an example not difficult to imitate.” All of us are called to be saints and not necessarily by doing spectacular deeds but rather doing the ordinary things we are called to do in an extraordinary way. Whether we are single, married, lay, religious, priests, all of us are called to live our calling daily in an extraordinary way with our gaze fixed to heaven, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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