Saint John Neumann

10/23/2026

“You don’t need hours of free time. You do not need perfect silence. You don’t need a monastery. All you need is willingness. Willingness to invite God into what you are already doing. Willingness to speak to Him honestly. Willingness to trust that He is nearer than you think.”
—Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

10/22/2026

Saint Pope John Paul II, who taught us to be not afraid as we open wide the doors to Christ—pray for us!

Father all-powerful, you sent the Holy Spirit into the world to set our hearts on fire. May the grace we receive through your Spirit help us to heal the divisions that separate us from our brothers and sisters. Help us to be zealous advocates of your undying love for humanity, so that all people will work to make you known, loved, and served. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
-Members of the Holy Cross Novitiate

10/21/2026

For the past five years as a Ph.D. student at Notre Dame, I’ve been incredibly spoiled by the availability of the sacraments on campus. With more than 160 daily Masses celebrated each week, the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the chapels of numerous academic buildings, and plentiful opportunities for confession, this may be one of the times of my life when I have the easiest access to the sacraments.

Paradoxically, I’ve found that if I’m not careful, my easy access can actually make me more complacent. Since they’re so available, it can be easy to say “I’ll go later” and then never make it. Recently, I have found this to be particularly true with the sacrament of reconciliation. While I’ve discerned that monthly confession is the right cadence for me, in the past year I’ve found myself consistently procrastinating on this goal, taking on a mindset similar to that of the “master of the house” Jesus warns about in the parable from today’s gospel.

The gospel ends with Jesus saying, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” Having such easy access to the sacraments means more is entrusted to me than to Catholics who live hours away from their nearest church. This entrustment is not a burden. Rather, taking advantage of the sacraments is a response of profound joy and gratitude to the God who has freed us from sin and gives us foretastes of heaven on Earth.
—Daily Gospel Reflections

10/20/2026

The fall fest is THIS Sunday! God looks to be gifting us a perfect autumn day - 65° and sun for our revamped fall festival!

If you’re still interested in volunteering and have not yet signed up, please visit the link below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D4EADAA28ABF85-66231716-volunteering #/

Will we see you this Sunday?

We are excited to reinvent the “Trunk-or-Treat” event of past, as we roll out the Saint John Neumann Fall Festival!

Taking place after the 11:00 AM Mass on Sunday, October 25, we will be diving into all of the best aspects of autumn: hayrides, apple c***r, carnival games, and the best community! And yes, there still will still be trick-or-treating intertwined into the day!

To support the event, please consider dropping off bagged candy to the parish office anytime prior to the Friday before the event.

If you’d like to volunteer at the event, please visit the link below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D4EADAA28ABF85-66231716-volunteering #/

Fall Festival 2026 is going to be a special day full of memories for all of our parish! Send this to someone who should grab their loved ones and meet at SJN!

10/20/2026

Gird” is an antiquated word to most of us modern listeners. In Jesus’ time, long tunics would have been the common form of dress. These tunics would often prevent someone from running or doing hard labor without the risk of tripping. Thus, when you had to prepare for a difficult task, you would have to secure your long garments with a belt around your lower back and waist area.

So, we can treat “gird your loins” as synonymous with prepare yourself. With this in mind, I think two prevalent themes break forth in this gospel passage—a lack of certainty and preparedness. We are not very good at preparedness. We become complacent and distracted by all of the busyness of preparing for our lives. And who can blame us? We have to eat, to drink, to pay the rent, the utilities, the health insurance. We have to plan for the future. These are not bad things.

But what if we stay prepared? Is God asking us to abandon it all, to sell everything and wait on a hillside for the clouds to part? I don’t think so. Notice that the servants in this parable are not sitting idle. They are in their own house, doing the work of the household, with their belts fastened and their lamps lit. Readiness is not the opposite of ordinary life. It is a way of living ordinary life with our eyes on the door.

To gird our loins, then, is to hold our daily responsibilities loosely enough that we can drop them the moment he knocks. It is to do the dishes, pay the rent, and raise the kids with an open hand and an attentive ear. We don’t know the hour. Jesus says it might be the second watch or the third. So we keep the lamps burning, not out of fear, but out of love for the one we’re waiting for.

And here is the astonishing part. When the master arrives and finds his servants awake, he doesn’t ask them to hurry up and serve him. He girds himself. He sits them down at the table and waits on them. The God of the universe puts on the apron. Our preparation does not earn a paycheck from a distant employer; it opens the door to a Master who delights in turning the whole order of things upside down.
—Daily Gospel Reflections

10/19/2026

Father, creator of all, you are the center of all life. Everything in this world points to you and leads us to you. Today we ask you for the grace to keep you at the center of our lives, to use you as the reference point of all our thoughts, words, and actions. Help us to get ourselves out of the center of attention, and put you there. In serving you, we hope to give our best selves to all whom we encounter this day. Amen.
—Rev. Herb Yost, C.S.C.

10/18/2026

“Abel‘s sacrifice by a spotless lamb points forward to the ultimate sacrifice: Christ, the spotless Lamb, who lays down His life for us. At every mass, you have an opportunity, like Abel, to offer sacrifice and unite the aspects of your life to the Eucharistic sacrifice on the altar so that God can transform them.”
—Fr Jonathan Meyer, The Stations of the Eucharist

10/17/2026

Have you seen the transformation of our chapel into the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Level 2 Atrium?

The new atrium will further enhance the program’s growing needs for expanded space and depth of growth/learning.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd uses a Montessori approach to help young disciples embrace their faith through Scripture, the liturgy, and prayer!

Take a tour of the atrium and see all of the works and ways our young disciples are growing in faith!

https://youtu.be/pglrG5JEC_I?is=GUtR3oHmwexWkQhc

10/17/2026

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus promises that divine aid will assist us in defense of persecution. From the earliest centuries into modern times, the Church, especially when it shows itself clearly, has been persecuted.

Do you know the principle that if someone brings bad news people will “kill the messenger”? In some ways, that’s why the Church is persecuted. We bear the message of a new world. And the old world never likes that message, which threatens it. Therefore, the instinct to kill the messenger kicks in. The Church will be persecuted as long as it speaks the words—the liberating words—of Jesus Christ.

So, what shall we do? How should we live during this period? Listen to the Lord: “When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be. . . . For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” We have a simple job during the in-between times. We announce the Gospel with courage. Why? Because we’re speaking with the authority of the Lord. And the power of the old world cannot overcome us.
—Bishop Barron’s Daily Gospel Reflections

10/16/2026

Shortly after my wife and I were married, I recall the stirring of a fear in my heart—a concern that along with the prayed-for blessing of children comes the very real possibility of miscarriage. I silently prayed that God would spare my wife (and me) that suffering, knowing how painful that would be for us to endure. But suffering is interwoven with love and part of life. After the blessing of two beautiful girls came the grief of three successive miscarriages, each one a gut punch.

Suffering and grief can bring fear and a resulting “paralysis” that can shake our sense of stability and predictability. Trusting can feel like a risky proposition, and we can be tempted to create greater space between our heart and God.

But God isn’t a deal maker offering to reward us with a life free of pain and difficulty in exchange for our faith. Instead, God promises a transformative relationship of love—a communion—walking with us hand in hand through our struggles. How close must God be to us that Jesus tells us that “even the hairs of your head have all been counted.”

Although fear can tempt us to forget that God is closer to us than we are to ourselves, Jesus seeks out our wounded hearts to transform them by his own. Doing so heals and frees our hearts to love more fully, knowing that with God suffering and grief are not simply endured but, through grace, are transformative. We become more attuned to the call to be Christ to others, making our very lives a gift by accompanying a grieving friend or simply being present to someone navigating the struggles of this life.

Do not be afraid.
—Daily Gospel Reflections