From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The road to Christ   
      
   The road pointed out to you is not a long one; you do not have to   
   cross the seas or pierce the clouds or climb mountains to meet your   
   God. Enter into your own soul and you will find him, for his word is   
   near you; it is on your lips and in your heart. Go down deep into your   
   heart until you are stirred to compunction; make your confession, and   
   so at least turn your back on a conscience so defiled as to be   
   unworthy of entertaining the author of purity.   
   --Bernard of Clairvaux   
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   January 5th - St. John Nepomucene Neumann.   
   Also known as Giovanni Nepomuceno Neumann, Jan Nepomucký Neumann   
      
   Born in Prachititz, Bohemia (now Czech Republic), March 28, 1811; died   
   in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, on January 5, 1860; beatified   
   1963; canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul IV, the first American male   
   saint. John was the third of six children of a German father, Philip,   
   and Czech mother, Agnes. His parents owned a small stocking factory.   
   John was named after a 14th-century Bohemian martyr, John Nepomucene.   
      
   As a young boy he showed great intellect as well as a religious   
   vocation. He was educated in Budweis (original home of that now famous   
   American beer/swill) and began at the diocesan seminary there in 1831.   
   John was especially interested in botany and astronomy, in addition to   
   theology and Scripture. Two years later he continued his study of   
   theology at the Charles Ferdinand University in Prague. Because of the   
   overabundance of clergy, the Austrian government delayed his   
   ordination, so he decided to go to America as a missionary. He arrived   
   in Manhattan (New York) in June 1836, and was warmly welcomed by   
   Bishop John DuBois of New York, even though he was unannounced. On   
   June 28, 1836, John was ordained by Bishop James, who sent him to   
   engage in pastoral work among German-speaking Catholics, who were   
   clearing forests in the district of Niagara (upstate New York).   
      
   Four years of constant and isolated labor left him with a knowledge of   
   his own need for support and an appreciation of the value of community   
   activity in missionary work. Therefore, he entered the novitiate of   
   the newly-established branch of the Redemptorists at Saint Philomena's   
   in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1840. When he made his vows in   
   Baltimore, Maryland, in 1841, he became the first Redemptorist to take   
   his vows in the United States. He continued his missionary activities   
   as a mission preacher in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.   
   He became rector of Saint Philomena's in 1844. In 1847, John was named   
   vice regent and superior of the American Redemptorists, while he was a   
   parish priest in Baltimore. Most of his parish work involved the   
   establishment of parochial schools. Because of his outstanding   
   pastoral work, John was appointed the fourth bishop of Philadelphia in   
   1852 by Pope Pius IX--a diocese that had not accepted him when he   
   first came to America.   
      
   During his episcopate he followed the full spirit of the Redemptorist   
   founder, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, by making especially his own the   
   care of the materially and spiritually impoverished. Much of his time   
   was spent in visiting the remote and hitherto neglected areas of his   
   diocese. Diminutive in stature and lacking in 'charisma,' John Neumann   
   devoted time to encouraging others, especially nuns and other   
   laypeople, to lives of hidden sanctity.   
      
   He reorganized the diocese, inaugurating a widespread program of new   
   parish building (100 additional churches) and expanding the parochial   
   school system with 80 new schools. The population of his schools   
   increased 20-fold after he attracted a number of teaching orders to   
   staff them. He founded the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who observe   
   the rule of the 'active' Franciscan Third Order, for religious   
   teaching and to staff his orphanage. He also introduced the devotion   
   of Forty Hours and began work on a cathedral.   
      
   He made his ad limina visits to Rome and was there in 1854 at the   
   formal declaration of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the   
   Blessed Virgin Mary (American bishops in council at Baltimore had   
   already chosen Mary under this title as patroness of the United   
   States).   
      
   He wrote much during this time--including articles for newspapers--and   
   produced two catechisms that were very popular in the United States in   
   the 19th century. The catechisms were endorsed by the American bishops   
   at their first Plenary Council in 1852. He continued to compose his   
   most important works in German, although he was fluent in seven other   
   languages.   
      
   At the time of his sudden death in 1860 on Vine Street in   
   Philadelphia, he was worn out by his labors. Already he was renowned   
   for his holiness, charity, pastoral work, and preaching. Popular   
   devotion preceded the official investigation and approval of his   
   cultus. After over 100 years, with the continued support of both his   
   diocese and the Redemptorists, he was canonized (Attwater,   
   Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Walsh, White).   
      
      
   Saint Quotes:   
   Since every man of whatever race is endowed with the dignity of a   
   person, he has an inalienable right to an education corresponding to   
   his proper destiny and suited to his native talents, his cultural   
   background, and his ancestral heritage. At the same time, this   
   education should pave the way to brotherly association with other   
   peoples, so that genuine unity and peace on earth may be promoted. For   
   a true education aims at the formation of the human person with   
   respect to the good of those societies of which, as a man, he is a   
   member, and in whose responsibilities, as an adult, he will share.   
   --Saint John Neumann   
      
   A man must always be ready, for death comes when and where God wills it.   
   --Saint John Neumann   
      
   Bible Quote:   
    He hath put down the mighty from their throne, and hath exalted the   
   humble.  (Luke 1:52)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer:   
     "Lord Jesus, your love knows no bounds and you give without measure.   
   All that I have comes from you. May I give freely and generously in   
   gratitude for all that you have given to me. Take my life and all that   
   I possess--my gifts, talents, time and resources--and use them as you   
   see fit for your glory."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)