Three decades into his marriage, neither Bob Neiman nor his wife, Mary Beth, would have guessed that he would enter into full communion with the church.
“We both grew up in Maryland, and I was raised Catholic my entire life,” said Mary Beth. “Bob actually was Methodist. We got married in the Catholic Church and moved to Virginia because both of our jobs were there.”
The Neimans’ lives and faith community were completely changed in 2011 after an invitation to Our Lady of Hope Church in Potomac Falls instead of the parish they usually attended.
“My daughter and her boyfriend at the time, who’s now her husband, would go to church there and she said, ‘Mom, you and Dad should try Our Lady of Hope.’ So, we did. Father Saunders’ homilies were something that you just carried with you through the week and thought about,” Mary Beth said.
After attending Mass at Our Lady of Hope for six months, the Neimans’ decided they would make it their home parish. Something else sparked inside Bob: a call to the Catholic faith.
“During that first year, Bob had made the decision on his own that he wanted to convert to Catholicism. He took the RCIA classes with Father Saunders and in May of 2012 he became a Catholic,” Mary Beth said. “In December of that year, our daughter got married, and he was able to take Communion at her wedding.”
Father William P. Saunders now the pastor of St. Agnes Church in Arlington and episcopal vicar for faith formation played an integral part in Bob’s learning about the faith.
“Father Saunders was really inspirational and was instrumental in Bob making the decision to convert because we never talked about it. We went to church every Sunday, but he just didn’t take Communion,” Mary Beth said.
From then on, the Neimans’ were eager to join the vibrant community at Our Lady of Hope. The couple recently celebrated 43 years of marriage, the births of two grandchildren and 12 years since Bob entered the church.
“It was no sooner did I become Catholic in 2012 that I joined the Knights of Columbus, and I became active within the Knights. There were just so many functions that they did. I really enjoyed the camaraderie and getting to know so many different members,” Bob said.
Along with participating in events through the Knights, the couple also serves at events organized by the Catholic Charities St. Lucy Food Project.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been active in the delivery of food out to the food bank, here in Sterling,” Bob said. “Since I’ve retired in the last two or three years, I’ve volunteered out there one day a week and still help with delivery of food twice a month out to the food bank. I just love it.”
In partnership with Our Lady of Hope Catholic School and the Daughters of Erin division of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Mary Beth has spearheaded a poetry contest for students during the feast days of Irish saints. The contest allowed students throughout the elementary school to submit their writing to Mary Beth and other judges.
Reflecting on the ways God has worked in their lives at Our Lady of Hope, both Bob and Mary Beth believe that fostering fellowship has changed their faith. From their experiences, the Neimans’ have seen the number of young people grow in their parish community.
“One of the things that I would say to younger couples is to get involved,” Mary Beth said. “They have so many different programs, and groups. I’ve never seen anything like it. The Knights of Columbus are constantly putting on functions and anyone can be involved in them.”
Other groups at their parish include a women’s group, a mother’s group, a young adult group and the school Parent Teacher Organization.
We do a lot for the church, but we enjoy it,” Mary Beth said. “It’s very refreshing to have friends that you meet, who have children, similar ages, similar life challenges we all go through. It’s like one big family. We’ve been very fortunate to have wonderful priests at Our Lady of Hope and it really is a church community.”
