SJNInsightsAdvent 2012Saint John Neumann Parish

ADVENT PENANCE SERVICES

December 10 St. John Neumann

December 18Sts. John & Paul

December 19St. Alexis

December 20 St. Alphonsus

All Begin at 7 PM

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

December 7 (Vigil), 7 PMDecember 8, 9 AM

CHRISTMAS EVE

4 PM, 8 PM & 11 PM

CHRISTMAS DAY9 AM & 11 AM

BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

MOTHER OF GOD January 1, 10 AM

John Neumann was proclaimed a saint in 1977 and our parish was established just two years later in

1979. He was sainted as a Mission-ary and Little Bishop, because of his 5 ft. 2” stature. An immigrant from Bohemia, he hoped to minister to the Indians, but was sent to NY wilderness German communities in a diocese that covered several states. Ordained as a priest, he soon joined the Redemptorists. Fr. Francis Gargani, a recent SJN visitor, is a Redemptorist, and our Hurricane Katrina crews stayed at a Redemptorist parish in Mississippi. Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos was the name of this parish in Biloxi.John was in Baltimore then was sent to Pittsburgh. He made sure the first St. Philomena’s (Liberty & 14th St.) in Pittsburgh was built in what is the Strip District. Blessed Seelos came here to be his assistant. In Seelos’ biography, it says that housing was tight so John Neumann curtained his room in half to share. There are also stories of Neumann ministering on horseback at St. Al-phonsus Church, Wexford. While Bishop in Philadelphia, he started the first Catholic School System with 34 schools. It is also said he had a part in writing most of the Baltimore Catechism

Saint John neumann’S FeaSt Day, JanuaRy 5 Date of his Death from stroke BY sarah sChNeiDer

used in those schools and for many years. To learn more, go to stjohnneu-mann.org to see a descriptive slide show and the location of the National Shrine of St. John Neumann in Phila-

delphia. There are many stories,

photos, and paintings to see there as well as visit the portrait of

John Neumann in our parish

chapel.

www.stjohnneumannpgh.org2

On October 21, 2012 Pope Benedict XVI formally welcomed seven holy women and men into the ranks of the canonized saints of the Roman Catho-lic Church. Among them were two of American heritage and regional interest.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the Mohawks, is the first Native Amer-ican woman to be venerated by the Roman Catholic Church. Tekakwitha — She who bumps into things — was born to Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief and Tagaskouita, a Roman Catholic Al-gonquin woman in Ossernenon (near modern Auriesville, New York) in 1656. Her parents and brother died in a smallpox epidemic that afflicted the Mohawk people from 1661 to 1663. The disease left Kateri with weakened eyes and a scarred face. Tekakwitha was living with her maternal uncle and others of her mother’s Turtle Clan when the Jesuit priests—the “Black-robes”—came to her village. She told them that she wanted to become a Christian. Kateri (Catherine) was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith on Easter Sunday, April 18, 1676 after two years of religious study with Rev. Jacques de Lamberville, SJ. Kateri left her family and traveled many miles to Canada, where she found refuge at the Jesuit mission, Kahnawake, near Mon-treal. Kateri cared tenderly for chil-dren, the sick, and the elderly. After a long illness, she died in 1680. Because Kateri had consecrated herself to Jesus and had lived a chaste life, she became known as the Lily of the Mohawks.

Those who knew her during her lifetime experienced her spiritual

presence following her death. Kateri inspired great devotion among her peers. Tradition holds that Tekak-witha’s smallpox scars vanished at the time of her death in 1680 (the first mir-acle). Many accounts of healing have been attributed to Kateri’s intercession.

Based on accounts of two Jesuit priests who knew her personally, at least 300 books have been published in more than 20 languages about her life.Catholics in the United States initi-ated the canonization process for Kateri Tekakwitha in1884 and were soon joined in their effort by Canadian Catholics. Pope Pius XII declared her venerable on January 3, 1943; Pope John Paul II beatified Kateri Tekak-witha on June 22, 1980. On December 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI approved the second miracle needed for Blessed Kateri’s canonization. In 2006, Jake Finkbonner, a boy of Caucasian and Native American descent was healed from a flesh-eating disease after medical personnel had exhausted all possible interventions and advised his family to prepare for his death. Fam-ily and friends sought the intercession of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. The progression of the disease was halted.St. Kateri Tekakwitha is the patron saint of the environment and ecology, Native Americans and orphans. Her feast day is July 14th in the United States and July 17th in Canada.

Maria Anna Barbara Koob (later changed to Cope) was born January 23, 1838 in Heppenheim in the Grand Duchy of Hesse (modern-day Ger-many) to Peter and Barbara (Witzen-bacher) Koob. Her family emigrated to the United States the following year. They settled in Utica, New York and became parishioners of St. Joseph Church. Later, Peter became a US citizen which granted citizenship to the entire family. By her 8th grade year, Maria’s father had become an invalid. Maria, being the eldest child, became a factory worker to help support the family. Following her father’s death in 1862 and with her brothers and sisters able to support themselves, Maria en-tered the novitiate of the Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York. She received the

neW CanoniZeD SaintSKateRi teKaKWitha anD SR. maRianne Cope BY aNDrew james

religious habit of the Franciscans after completing her year of formation and was given the name Marianne. She became a teacher and then a principal in the parochial schools serving the lo-cal German speaking immigrants.

By 1870, her ministry changed focus and Sr. Marianne became

involved in hospital ministry. She was appointed by the Superior General of the order to govern St. Joseph’s Hospi-tal in Syracuse, the first public hospital in central New York. In 1882, Sr. Marianne, now Superior General of the congregation, received a plea for help from King Kalakaua of Hawaii to help with the care of those suffering from leprosy. Over 50 religious institutes had already declined his request for as-sistance. With six of her Sisters from the Syracuse community, she respond-ed to the call and arrived in Hawaii in November of that year. She ministered to the victims of Hanson’s Disease (leprosy) on Oahu and Maui. By 1888, she had moved to Moloka’i which had become the official exile for lepers. Sr. Marianne supervised the care for the dying Father Damien, SS.CC. already known throughout the world for his heroic work. She assumed the various responsibilities of his ministry upon his death on April 15, 1889.Sr. Marianne Cope, OSF a.k.a. ST. MARIANNE OF MOLOKA’I, died on August 9, 1918 of natural causes. In 1993, Pope John Paul II decreed the healing of Katherine Mahoney from multiple organ failure due to the intercession of Sr. Marianne Cope as a miracle. She was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on May 14, 2005 and was canonized as St. Marianne Cope, OSF on October 21, 2012. She is the 11th American citizen to be so honored by the Catholic Church. Her feast day is January 23rd in the Roman Catholic Church. She is the patron for lepers, outcasts, those with HIV/AIDS and the Hawai’i.

www.stjohnneumannpgh.org 3

maRy’S pRoVenanCe a LoVinG WoRK oF aRt

BY aNDrew james aND april Brouwer

As a fan of Antiques Roadshow I have learned that the story or provenance behind the treasure may be as impor-tant as the possession itself. With this in mind as the first anniversary of the portrait of the Immaculate Concep-

tion of Mary displayed in the narthex approaches, I thought it was appropriate to share the story of its origin. Andrew James

From April BrouwerWhile I was working in

Ghana during the summer of 2011 (I was interning at USAID’s West Africa Trade Hub-- an NGO working to facilitate greater trade between West Africa and the US) I had been living at a Catholic Church called Christ the King. I was struck by a beauti-

ful grotto that they had on their property, where people could come day and night to pray to Mary. The space inspired me, and I wanted to bring something back to our parish in appreciation of the Blessed Mother.Knowing that there are many fine young artists located in the central market, I went there a few different times to commission a painter to paint the image. I went with a few images of Mary print-ed out on paper and some of my own ideas for what I was hoping he could do. He came with many ideas of his own as well, and after about two hours of discussion and negotiation, we came to agreement on the im-age he would try and create- how we wanted it to feel (warm and peaceful)

and look (colorful and vibrant, like Africa!). After about a week and a half, I returned to the market to retrieve the painting. I was quite nervous because I had no guarantee of how it would look. When he unrolled it in the mar-ket, I burst into tears at its beauty and all the people milling about stopped and gathered around to take pictures on their mobile phones and admire it. I was very pleased with the result, and was happy to bring it back to St.

John Neumann. I wanted people to have a beautiful image of our Blessed Mother and also to know what beauti-ful things come out of Africa! The name of the artist is Osei Sonny Owusu, and I believe he was about 21 years old. He wrote me a short e-mail with a description of himself:I’m a prolific Artist who makes renditions of paintings in sev-eral techniques including murals. I make sculpture pieces of different techniques. And also, I make unique t-shirts with my African paintings printed on them. I believe art works are Universally cherished. Please if you could remember, you told me to send an artist’s statement to accompa-ny my painting.This is the statement:I WANT GOD ALMIGHTY’S WILL TO BE DONE IN MY LIFE. AMEN.Your’s faithful Osei Sonny Owusu.

April Brouwer, SJN parishioner

and Pastoral Council member

Osei Sonny Owusowith another one of his works

Portrait of the Immaculate Conception as it hangs at Saint John Neumann

WOW ! …….What an exciting oppor-tunity. Gentlemen, if you would like to afford yourself a peaceful, relaxing and spiritual escape from your daily

routine, then a weekend at the St Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center is for you ! Trust me when I tell you it is time well spent.I attended for the first time this past March, and to say that it was “all of the above” would not do it justice without maybe adding: “rewarding” and let’s not forget “just fun! “ By now you get my drift; I really enjoyed my time at St Paul’s so let me tell you about it. The weekend was designed to allow us to take advantage of the camaraderie and fellowship or to just enjoy reflective time to our-selves. The time was “our” time. For those that preferred the former, there were always enough planned activities to participate in. We had ex-cellent presenters at the conferences, including Bishop Zubik and yet there was still enough “free time” to allow use of the library, take a tour of the Monastery Crypt and go for medita-tive walks in the Monastery garden. Not to lose sight of the fact that this was a retreat offered to the men of our Catholic Faith, there were daily masses and prayer times, an opportu-nity for the Sacrament of Reconcilia-tion and an Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (Adoration).

www.stjohnneumannpgh.org4

FamiLy maSSeS BeGin DeCemBeR 19

Have you ever been to a Family Mass? These Masses are scheduled during a break from our regular Good Shepherd sessions to help the children con-nect what they are learning in the atrium to what happens when we gather as a community for the Holy Mass. Children bring with them their knowledge of church seasons and colors, prayer and gestures, parables and prophecy. Par-ents model full participation in liturgy through active listening, spoken prayer and song. We even train children who are usually considered “too young” to be altar servers and lectors, while the youngest children help bring up the gifts. All children – from preschool through 6th grade – are invited to sit at the foot of the altar for Father Al’s homily.We invite our Parish Family to join our Good Shepherd Famlies at these special Masses. Family Masses take place at both 4:30 and 6:30 pm on these Wednesdays: December 19, January 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30. Where else do you have the opportunity on a week night to join in worship with a church full of spirited adults and children? Let us come together in praise and thanksgiving for the great gift of “God-with-us” in Word and Eucharist.

BY BarBara matera

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention how welcoming the staff was. There was a passion (no pun) for our Catho-lic Faith being exhibited that had to be

admired. As should be expected with the “breaking of bread” among friends, the meal times not only provided excellent food, but also gave us the time to share our stories and get to know each other a little better. What struck me most about this weekend was having the op-portunity to be part of a group of peers; men of all ages and

walks of life sharing a little bit of ourselves with each other, “visibly and invisibly”. Whether it was us all singing as a group at mass, laughing together at meal times, or the sight of us all joined as one in prayer. In all, there were twelve of us from St. John Neumann that attended along with the members of at least five other par-ishes. I suspect that they, as well as any of you that have gone on previous Retreats, might share my feelings of

how those couple of days helped me to feel more “spiritually connected”. For those of you who have not yet attended one of the Annual Retreats at St. Paul of the Cross Monastery, please let this serve as an invitation to do so in 2013. There will be informa-tion in our Church Bulletin as the date approaches and please don’t hesitate to ask any of us (in the photo) about it if you’d like. We hope to see you there!

Faith anD FeLLoWShipCathoLiC men’S RetReat BY Bill romig

Upcoming Men’s and Women’s RetreatsHeld at St. Paul of the Cross

Women’s RetreatJanuary 11-13, 2013

Men’s RetreatMarch 9-10, 2013

Contact Andrew James at the parish office or via email

(ajames@stjohnneumannpgh.org) for more information.

When it was time to pick the St John Neumann “Mani-festing The Kingdom”

representative for 2013, Mike Con-roy’s name was at the top of the list. The Bishop gives this award every two years to both lay and religious people who live the Gospel in their everyday lives. Mike is a lector, Eu-charistic minister, serves as a sacristan and server for morning mass, directs the counting of weekend collections, the stuffing of bulletins, and is on the parish finance committee. This active volunteer has been an Appalachia work camper for a number of years, and went to Mississippi several times with the parish after Hurricane Katrina to work on housing.

www.stjohnneumannpgh.org 5

and domestic pilot for TWA for 32 years. Father Al says, “We should be light for others, so they may see things more clearly. We should live in such a way that they will see the good things we do and give glory, not to us, but to God who is in heaven. This is how I see Mike manifesting God’s kingdom. He knows it is not about himself, but about God, who has given us more than we could ever give.”

a Date haS Been Set BY riCk Caruso

Very active with the Knights of Co-lumbus, Mike is past Grand Knight and serves in a state office with the group. He is also an Eagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster active with a son and grandson, both Eagle Scouts. Weekend camping is high on his scouting activities. He says, “I have a certain number of gifts I can use. I give because of what I’ve received over the years.”After moving to different states for six years as an Air Force flight instructor, Mike and his late wife Pat returned to Pittsburgh to raise five children. There are four grandchildren. The couple was among the original members of SJN when established in 1979. Before retiring, Mike was an international

outStanDinG VoLunteeR ChoSen FoR DioCeSan aWaRD BY sarah sChNeiDer

My name is Rick Caruso. If you are a ‘first-time’ reader of this column, I wanted to let you know that I am a candidate for the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.I am simply amazed that the five year program of formation is quickly coming to an end. An ordination date for the 22 men in my class has been announced. IF Bishop Zubik calls me to Orders, I will be ordained to the Permanent Dia-conate on June 15th, 2013, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland.I use the term IF on purpose because if it is one thing that I have learned during this formation journey, it is only by God’s will and by God’s grace that any of what I have experienced over these past five years has hap-pened. And, it will be only by God’s grace that I am called to Orders by Bishop Zubik.

Regardless of the final outcome, I must say that I have been so very blessed by this experience. I have learned a great deal about the Catholic Church and the role of the Deacon. Part of what the Deacon is authorized to do is to proclaim the Gospel and preach on the Word. Cur-rently, I am coming to the end of my course in Homiletics which is a fancy term for how to give a homily. The course has given me a new appre-ciation for priests who are asked to preach each day when they offer Mass and sometimes 4 times on Sunday (thank you Fr. Al and Fr. Phil!).Just as if not more important have been my opportunities to encounter the people of God. I have been so privileged to pray with people in hos-pitals, prisons, office buildings, and parks. I have been given the opportu-nity to help people in their attempts to seek employment during my work at

Catholic Charities this past summer or seek closure on their marriage through the process of annulment, serving as their Advocate. I want to thank all of you for your support and for your prayers through-out my formation and for allowing me to serve you through the ministry of lector and acolyte. I would ask you for your continued prayers for me and for the men in my class as we continue to discern and listen to God’s call in our lives. I am richly blessed to have a family, my wife Carol, and my two daughters, Anne and Gina, who continue to sup-port me in my faith journey. May you all be richly blessed in your vocation as you help make the church in the Diocese of Pittsburgh ‘Alive in Christ’.Peace and blessings to you.

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SJNInsights

DiSaSteR ReCoVeRy CReWtusCaloosa, alaBama BY sarah sChNeiDer

Fourteen adult volunteers worked with Habitat for Humanity in Tuscaloosa, AL Nov. 11-17. They helped raised a new house from the foundation to the roof and also did finishing on a house next door, both for April 2011 tornado victims. This was on 7th St. in the Alberta City neighborhood, which had been de-stroyed (check YouTube). After six SJN Hurricane Katrina work trips to Mississippi, the most recent crew in-cluded: Charlie & Sarah Schneider, John & Iris Parks, Matt & Dianne Lutz, Bill & Rosemary McLaugh-lin, Fred & Sue Mohrbacher, Marie Minsky,Denise Schaults, Janet Stein, and Lou Gacek.