Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.


RESPONSORIAL PSALM          Ps 96: 1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8, 10

R.\ Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
R.\ Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation day after day.
Tell God's glory among the nations;
among all peoples, God's marvelous deeds.
R.\ Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and might;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts and enter his courts;
R.\ Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
The world will surely stand fast, never to be moved.
God rules the peoples with fairness.
R.\ Proclaim God's marvelous deeds to all the nations.


ALLELUIA          Jn 10: 14
Ego sum pastor bonus, dicit Dóminus; et cognósco oves meas, et cognóscunt me meæ.
I am the Good Shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.


GOSPEL          John 10:11-16
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”


PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Merciful Father,
look upon the gifts we have placed on your altar
and grant that we may reflect
the image of Christ your Son,
just as you granted to Saint John Neumann
to imitate what he celebrated.
Through Christ our Lord.


COMMUNION ANTIPHON          Mt 19:29
Omnis qui relíquit domos vel fratres aut sorores aut patrem aut matrem aut fílios aut agros propter nomen meum, centúplum accípiet et vitam ætérnam possidébit.
Everyone who has given up home,
brothers, or sisters, father or mother,
wife or children or property for my sake
will receive many times as much and inherit everlasting life.


PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Refreshed by our participation in the memorial
of the death and resurrection of your Son,
we ask, O Lord,
that by the example of Saint John Neumann,
we may experience the power of this sacrament
and remain constantly in the Church
by the bond of unity and truth.
Through Christ our Lord.

Indeed, I have apparently delayed too long in writing to the Holy See the letter promised by the Archbishop of Baltimore in the name of the council. However, this delay was not without reason. For the council was scarcely finished and I was discussing the division of Diocese of Philadelphia and my translation to a new see with one of the Fathers of the council, when the Father intimated to me [that he did not know] whether that could more probably be hoped for, since the Holy See thought that I would resign from the episcopate, or wished to resign. In the same way when the Archbishop of Baltimore informed me of the designation of a coadjutor, he added that in the event that I should persevere in the desire to resign, the Holy See would permit me to give the title of the ecclesiastical property to the same coadjutor.

I was no little disturbed by the fear that I had done something that so displeased the Holy Father that my resignation would appear desirable to him. If this be the case, I am prepared without any hesitation to leave the episcopacy. I have taken this burden out of obedience, and I have labored with all my powers to fulfill the duties of my office, and with God’s help, as I hope, not without fruit. When the care of temporal things weighed upon my mind and it seemed to me that my character was little suited for the very cultured world of Philadelphia, I made known to my fellow bishops during the Baltimore council of 1858 that it seemed opportune to me to request my translation to one or the other see that was to be erected (namely in the City of Pottsville or in Wilmington, North Carolina). But to give up the episcopal career never entered my mind, although I was conscious of my unworthiness and ineptitude; for things had not come to such a pass that I had one or the other reason out of the six for which a bishop could safely ask the Holy Father permission to resign. For a long time I have doubted what should be done….

Although my coadjutor has proposed to me that he would take the new see if it is erected, I have thought it much more opportune and I have asked the Fathers that he be appointed to the See of Philadelphia, since he is much more highly endowed with facility and alacrity concerning the administration of temporal things. Indeed, I am much more accustomed to the country, and will be able to care for the people and faithful living in the mountains, in the coal mines and on the farms, since I would be among them.

If, however, it should be displeasing to His Holiness to divide the diocese, I am, indeed, prepared either to remain in the same condition in which I am at present, or if God so inspires His Holiness to give the whole administration of the diocese to the Most Reverend James Wood, I am equally prepared to resign from the episcopate and to go where I may more securely prepare myself for death and for the account which must be rendered to the Divine Justice.

I desire nothing but to fulfill the wish of the Holy Father whatever it may be.


RESPONSORY           Matthew 25:21, 20

Well done, my good and faithful servant; you have been faithful in the little tasks I gave you; now I will entrust you with greater ones.
– Come and share my joy.

Lord, you gave me five coins, and see, I bring you back double.
– Come and share my joy.


COLLECT
O God, who called the Bishop Saint John Neumann,
renowned for his charity and pastoral service,
to shepherd your people in America,
grant by his intercession
that as we foster the Christian education of youth
and are strengthened by the witness of brotherly love,
we may constantly increase the family of your Church.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


The English translation of Psalm Responses, Alleluia Verses, Gospel Verses from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL); the English translation of Antiphons, Invitatories, Responsories, Intercessions, Psalm 95, the Canticle of the Lamb, Psalm Prayers, Non-Biblical Readings from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1973, 1974, 1975, ICEL; excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.