Apart from Elizabeth Ann Seton, in his homily at St. Patrick Cathedral on Sept 24, 2015, Pope Francis also praised St. John Neumann for his heroic charity. John Neumann was born on March 28, 1811, in Prachatice, in the Kingdom of Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic). His dream was to be ordained to the priesthood, but his bishop decided that there would be no more ordinations as Bohemia had numerous priests and difficulty finding positions for them all. Neumann immigrated to the United States in 1836, in the hope of being ordained. God answered his prayers. He was ordained and later joined the Redemptorist order and became the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia (1852–1860). He is the first United States bishop to be canonized. While Bishop of Philadelphia, Neumann founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in the United States.
In the Gospel reading, we hear how there is much hope and enthusiasm around Jesus and his followers. He calls them to follow him and they go and find others who they think will be interested in Jesus. In our prayer today, we can look back at our lives to a time when we were young, filled with enthusiasm, and daring. Did we experience our call to a particular life-style or work through our dreams and desires at this time in our lives? Maybe, like St. John Neumann, who traveled thousands of miles across the Atlantic with a hope to be ordained as a priest, we went to extraordinary feats to achieve our dreams. We are not all called to be priests. Perhaps, we have had great zeal or motivation to change the world through a good family, to build a strong career, or to buy a nice house. Often times, life takes turns for which we are not prepared and we are called to set aside our dreams and readjust our plans. Health, age, missed opportunities, and failure might call us to adjust our dreams, careers, and desires. Nonetheless, we can still recall our enthusiasm and inspiration. Despite all of the failure and success, how do we feel when we recall our past inspiration? Let us then look at our current stage in life so as to see the moments of grace in our journeys or the moments of discipleship that impel us to follow the path of Christ.