SJN Neumann News
Volume Thirty-One
Issue One
January/February 2012
VOCATION AWARENESS
January is Vocational Awareness Month. Have you ever wondered what the word vocation means? The dictionary defines vocation as a particular occupation, business, profession, trade, or calling; a summons to, or fitness for, a particular activity or career. The church perspective on vocation is that we all have one. How we live out our vocation can take many different forms. Some are called to marriage or religious life. Some are called to be single throughout their lives. Regardless of our vocation, we all have gifts that we share and that we use to build up the Kingdom of God here on earth.
One understanding of vocation is the fulfillment of our baptismal call. Baptism marks the beginning of our initiation in the faith. As we grow older and learn about the faith we learn what it means to be disciples and what it means to live out our "baptismal call." At infant baptism our parents promise to teach us about the faith and what it means to love God and love our neighbor. With Confirmation, we continue what our parents started at Baptism. We live out our baptismal call when we model the love we have for God and for our neighbor in our words and our actions to build up the Kingdom of God.
As adults some of us might model this love through the Sacrament of Marriage. Christian marriage as vocation is a personal relationship of life-giving love in which two people make the love of Christ present to each other and become a sign of the love of Christ to those around them. Jesus gave the sacraments to his Church so that he could continue to touch us in our daily lives. In marriage, the relationship of the couple is the sacrament that reveals the love of God for people.
It's by discovering what love really means and being faithful to it that married Christians come closer to Christ themselves and show something of Christ's love to others. Marriage is not just the situation in which married people serve God. It is precisely their love for each other that is their service of God, the way in which they make Christ present to each other. That's why the ministers of the sacrament of marriage are the husband and wife themselves.
As adults some of us model our baptismal call through religious life. Some might be "called by God" to enter the convent or the monastery as religious brothers and sisters. Some are called to the permanent diaconate and to the priesthood. Some of us are called to a committed single life. All vocations are important in the ministry of the Church and building the kingdom. Please continue to pray for all vocations. I would like to share with you the following prayer from Archbishop Dennis Schnurr.
Almighty Father, You have created us for some definite purpose. Grant us the grace to know the path You have planned for us in this life and to respond with a generous "Yes." Make our archdiocese, parishes, home and hearts fruitful ground for Your gift of vocations. May our young people respond to Your call with courage and zeal.
Stir among our men a desire and the strength to be good and holy priests. Bless us with consecrated religious and those called to a chaste single life, permanent deacons, and faithful husbands and wives, who are a sign of Christ's love for His Church.
We commend our prayer for vocations to You, Father, through the intercession of Mary our Mother, in the Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
 Celebrating Saint John Neumann
John Neumann's feast day is January 5th. Let us remember with thanks, all of the good ministry he did in Christ's name, especially building up the Catholic School system, for whom he is the Patron Saint John Neumann lived from 1811 – 1860. He became the Bishop of Philadelphia and increased the number of pupils almost twentyfold within the short time in which he was bishop. John Neumann was buried in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Philadelphia and was canonized in 1977,
God has created me to do some definite service.
God has committed some work to me
which has not been committed to another.
I have a mission. I have a part in a great work.
I am a link in the chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
God has not created me for naught.
I shall do good. I shall do God's work.
St. John Neumann
Feast of St. John Neumann
PLAN TO JOIN YOUR
PARISH FAMILY ON THE
FEAST OF ST. JOHN NEUMANN
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Potluck Dinner in Daniel Hall
Following the 5:00 p.m. Mass
All are welcome to join in this feast day event as we celebrate
the founding of our parish and our call "to make the name of the Lord known in this place".
Watch the weekly bulletins
in the coming weeks for the details
about this important parish celebration.
In addition to this celebration, we will celebrate Mass on Thursday, January 5 at 7:00 p.m. on his actual feast day.
Ash Wednesday
We will celebrate Mass, with Distribution of Ashes at 8:30 AM and 7:00 PM on Wednesday, February 22. Also, we will have a Word Service and distribution of Ashes at 12:15 PM. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence from meat. You are invited to mark this day in a special way as we begin our Lenten journey. Please look for opportunities at our parish and in the pastoral area to participate in the three-fold discipline of prayer, abstinence, and almsgiving during this Lenten season.
Pastoral Area Celebrations during Lent
We invite everyone to come together with our neighboring parishes to celebrate Lent this year. One of the three-fold prongs of Lent is prayer. Through our prayer we continue to grow in our relationship with God and with each other. Our 2012 Lenten prayer service is still to be determined. We will have opportunities to celebrate Evening Prayer, Taize prayer, and Reconciliation. These services will be held on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM. Each of these services will begin with a simple meal at 6:00 PM so that we can celebrate fellowship with one another. In addition to the Wednesday nights, we will celebrate Reconciliation on Saturday morning. We hope to see you there!
Celebrating the Sacraments – Part One
As we approach the seasons of celebrating the sacraments of initiation more intentionally, it may be helpful for us as a parish to consider how we are called to celebrate the sacraments. Below is part one of the article.
Holiness is centered in Christ. We are made holy through Christ, who calls us into the community of the Church. In the community of believers we grow in faith and holiness. "No one can believe alone….You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life.
The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others." (CCC #166) We grow in faith, we worship and are made holy within the faith community. We know of Christ
through scripture and the prayer of the community — through the Liturgy, the Eucharist and through all sacrament celebrations. Our faith is not about individual holiness, but about our growth in holiness together as we worship in the assembly, especially at the Sunday liturgy.
There are other communities to which we belong. Our family is a community. Our religion or school class is a community. Any small group can be a community. Clubs, meeting groups (AA), or friends are examples of community. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, band and choir are also good examples of communities. Many of these groups we often enter into often in a very organic way.
In matters of faith we look to the Sunday worship as a community. This Sunday assembly is who we gather every week to celebrate our faith. Here we assemble to celebrate Jesus Christ, the foundation of our Catholic way of life and to celebrate the experience of God in our lives. This is where we gather to celebrate sacraments. Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist and Reconciliation are all celebrations of the worshipping community.
We would like to congratulate the newest members of our Christian family:
William Alexander Love, son of Michael & Heather and Paige Katherine Bryant, daughter of Nick & Megan
These children were all recently baptized at St. John Neumann. May they grow healthy, strong and steadfast in their faith with the love of one another and the Lord.
Weddings
We would like to congratulate the following couple who was married here at St. John Neumann: Mike Patella and Andrea Frye. May the peace of Christ be forever present in their hearts and home.
Confirmation Update
As the 8th Graders here at St. John Neumann are preparing for Confirmation, we ask everyone to pray for them, that the Spirit may set their hearts on fire, Luke 24:32. Below is a list of words from our first Confirmation Spirit Night meeting with the Confirmandi and their sponsor or parent. The young people were asked to come up with a list of words that came to mind when thinking "What it means to alive in Christ." The letters of the name C H R I S T were to begin each word. The focus of the night was on understanding Baptism as a sacrament of new life. Confirmation affirms or completes the Sacrament of Baptism, thus it is where we start Confirmation Preparation. The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on Thursday, April 26 at 7:00 pm at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral.
C H R I S T
Confession Happiness Reverence Integrity Strength Transform
Christian Helpful Renew Invitation Spirit Time
Cross Holy Spirit Reconciliation Initiation Service Treasure
Community Honest Respect Inspiration Salvation Trinity
Confirmation Honor Rite Involved Sacrament Talent
Chrism Hope Revelation Inspire Saint-like Thankful
Candidate Holiness Responsibility Incarnation Spiritual Teacher
Creation Heart Resurrection Immersion Sinless Tradition
Covenant Hymn Rose Intercession Sacradotes Truthful
Chosen Healing Religion Scripture Trustworthy
Catholic Right Judgment
Courage Rich in Spirit
Communion
Compassionate
Interested in Finding out more about the Catholic faith?
Have you thought about taking steps toward joining the Catholic Church? We welcome the opportunity to answer questions you have, pray with you and to support you on your journey of faith.
For more information, contact
Michael Montgomery mmontgomery@isoc.net or 742-0953
Eucharistic Adoration
Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist which we
Celebrate every Sunday, even every day. On Thursday evenings in Our Lady's Chapel from 6:00 7:00 pm there is a Holy Hour. The first Thursday of the month concludes with Benediction.
If you have an hour or only several minutes, spend some quiet time in prayer and devotion before the Blessed Sacrament. As the magi said, "We come to do Him homage." This is as real today as it was 2000 years ago.
High School Weekend Winter Retreat Happening in March
Our annual retreat will again be at Glen Helen on the weekend of Mar. 9-11th. This will be the sixth year that we have participated in this Senior High Winter Retreat. It is a collaborative retreat with other area parishes involved. As this retreat is peer led, the teen leaders facilitate discussions and prayer, share their faith in witness talks, and lead community building activities. Many weeks of planning go in to making this event a continued success. Please keep the young people in your prayers while on retreat. If you know of a high school teen that would benefit from a retreat experience, please contact Elizabeth Montgomery at emontgomery@isoc.net.
 We welcome new parishioners: Deborah Van Hise, Matt & Cheryl Luckhaupt, Scott & Erin Schmidt and their son Mason, Rob & Dawn Langdon and their daughter Lydia, Steve & Jenny Martz and their children Ben, Abby & Anna and Charles & Jean Fowler and their daughter Cerita who have recently joined our parish family.
Please join the St. John Neumann Women's Organization for our January 4th and February 1st meetings. The mission of the Women's Organization is to minister to the people of the parish, to create community, to promote self-development, and to direct spiritual growth among women.
The Women's Game Night is being held on Saturday, February 4. This is an opportunity for all women to gather and play games of your choice. Great fun, raffles, and food. Drinks will be served by the Men's Society of St. John Neumann. Call for table reservations to Mandy McNett at 238-4974. Watch the bulletin for further details.
We would enjoy the company of all women at our annual Women's Retreat on Saturday, February 25 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. when we are joined by Jeanne Hunt for a day on "Decluttering- Making Life Simple". Lunch will be catered and reservations can be made with Linda Stentz by calling 851-1604 or emailing her at stentzdm@fuse.net.
St. John Neumann Men's Society News!
You may not know it, but there have been many changes to the St. John Neumann Men's Society over the last few years. We've instituted some subtle changes to our meetings, including a speaker after each meeting. Thanks to Dan Clark, we've had several informative speakers come and talk to us about topics ranging from taxes and retirement savings to Brian Thomas from 55KRC, Tom Nichols, announcer for the Dayton Dragons, parishioner Dave Stentz and his trip to Africa, parishioner Brian Knollman's mission work in Slovenia, parishioner Keith Mitchel from WGRR, as well as parishioner and author Mark Schmetzer. This part of our meeting is open to anyone interested. We also took a trip to the Dayton Dragon's game in August, and had a great time.
We have developed a service committee that has helped several parishioners with minor "around the house" deeds, and are looking to expand this committee to do much more for those who need some additional help.
Also, with the help of the Women's Organization, we brought back the breakfast with Santa. We will again be holding our annual Monte Carlo on January 21st, and will be hosting the 3rd NFL football playoff celebration which will include the famous chili cook off on January 22nd. And don't forget our famous Lenten Fish Fries. These along with many other activities are being planned for the year to come.
So please plan on joining us as we welcome our new officers for 2012: President – Ryan Rothert, Vice President - Brian Rawlings, Treasurer – Dick Hackman, and returning as Secretary – Don Albrink.
The St. John Neumann Men's Society aims to combine fellowship and stewardship for all men of the parish by bringing fun events to our parish family and serving the needs of others within the community.
Our meetings are held the Second Thursday of every month in Daniel Hall at 6:30 p.m. usually followed by a speaker, promptly at 7:15. All men of the parish, 18 years of age and older, are invited to attend. If you would like more information, or would like to receive our monthly minutes and information, please call Neal Gellenbeck 858-2241, or send an e-mail SJNMO@fuse.net.
Congratulations to parishioner Rich Craig who was recently elected to the
Ohio High School Athletic Director's Hall of Fame.
Congratulations to St. John Neumann parishioners Maria Hale, Morgan Jones and Nicole Volpenhein for once again achieving Honor Roll status at Ursuline.
Congratulations to St. John Neumann parishioners Sydney Brown, Allison Cimino, Alyssa Fulks, Grace Jacobsen, Nicole Kuchenbuch, Sarah Pierce, Courtney Pomfrey, Danielle Reynolds, Megan Williams, Samantha Ballway, Hannah Marovich, and Avery Menke. They have all achieved honor roll status at McAuley High School.
McAuley High School Parish Ambassadors
Thanks to Ann Jacobsen and Amy Reynolds for becoming a McAuley Parish Ambassadors from St. John Neumann. Parishoners can feel free to contact them for any information about McAuley, a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence and home of the Best Latin Program in the State of Ohio. Their respective email addresses are: jakebeau@earthlink.net; breynolds4@cinci.rr.com.
Catholic schools tuition giveaway on Facebook
The Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office recently launched a Facebook-based tuition giveaway that offers $17,500 in tuition credits and prizes to families who will send their children to Catholic schools next year. Both current and prospective families are eligible to win. Entrants must go to http://facebook.com/mycatholicschool to register. The deadline for registration is noon, Feb. 3, the last day of Catholic Schools Week and the drawing for winners will be held that day.
For more information, contact Chris Pastura at 513-421-3131, ext. 2724, or cpastura@catholiccincinnati.org.
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