The Cause for the Canonisation of John Henry Cardinal Newman » Thought of the Day

Thought for the Day 7th July 2010

NewmanCause — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Had we any proper insight into things as they are, had we any real apprehension of God as He is, of ourselves as we are, we should never dare to serve Him without fear, or to rejoice unto Him without trembling.

From Sermons Preached on Various Occasions, Sermon 2. Click here for full text (leaves site)

Thought for the Day 6 July 2010

NewmanCause — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:32:07 +0000

If the Church, initiated in the Apostles and continued in their successors, has been set up for the direct object of protecting, preserving, and declaring the Revelation, and that, by means of the Guardianship and Providence of its Divine Author, we are led on to perceive that, in asserting this, we are in other words asserting, that, so far as the message entrusted to it is concerned, the Church is infallible; for what is meant by infallibility in teaching but that the teacher in his teaching is secured from error?

From the Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, Vol. 2 Click here for full text (leaves site)

Thought for the Day 5th July 2010

NewmanCause — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 23:00:38 +0000

They who make self instead of their Maker the great object of their contemplation will naturally exalt themselves.

From “Plain and Parochial Sermons” Vol. 2, Sermon 15. Click here for full text (leaves site)

Thought for the Day 4th July 2010

NewmanCause — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:00:46 +0000

[The] Church made you what you are, as far as you are Christian; and the Church that made you has a right to rule you, and to protest against you when you will not be ruled; she has a right to bid you follow her, and to claim jurisdiction over you, for you are hers.

From “Plain and Parochial Sermons” Sermon 14. Click here for full text (leaves site)

Thought for the Day 3rd July 2010

NewmanCause — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:00:15 +0000

If then the power of speech is a gift as great as any that can be named,—if the origin of language is by many philosophers even considered to be nothing short of divine,—if by means of words the secrets of the heart are brought to light, pain of soul is relieved, hidden grief is carried off, sympathy conveyed, counsel imparted, experience recorded, and wisdom perpetuated,—if by great authors the many are drawn up into unity, national character is fixed, a people speaks, the past and the future, the East and the West are brought into communication with each other,—if such men are, in a word, the spokesmen and prophets of the human family,—it will not answer to make light of Literature or to neglect its study; rather we may be sure that, in proportion as we master it in whatever language, and imbibe its spirit, we shall ourselves become in our own measure the ministers of like benefits to others.

From “The Idea of a University” Click here for full text (leaves site)

Thought for the Day 2nd July 2010

NewmanCause — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:00:18 +0000

Set about doing what it is so difficult to do, but what should not, must not be left undone; watch, and pray, and meditate, that is, according to the leisure which God has given you. Give freely of your time to your Lord and Saviour, if you have it. If you have little, show your sense of the privilege by giving that little … I am not calling on you to go out of the world, or to abandon your duties in the world, but to redeem the time; not to give hours to mere amusement or society, while you give minutes to Christ; not to pray to Him only when you are tired, and fit for nothing but sleep; not altogether to omit to praise Him, or to intercede for the world and the Church; but in good measure to realize honestly the words of the text, to “set your affection on things above;” and to prove that you are His, in that your heart is risen with Him, and your life hid in Him.

From the sermon ‘Rising with Christ’ (1836/7) Click here for the full text (leaves site)

(Reference: John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons Vol 6 (1842) Sermon no. 15, p. 220)

Thought for the Day 1st July 2010

NewmanCause — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:00:56 +0000

When the intellect is cultivated, it is as certain that it will develope into a thousand various shapes, as that infinite hues and tints and shades of colour will be reflected from the earth’s surface, when the sunlight touches it; and in matters of religion the more, by reason of the extreme subtlety and abstruseness of the mental action by which they are determined.

From the “Letter to the Duke of Norfolk” Click here for full text (leaves site)

Thought for the Day 30th June 2010

NewmanCause — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:00:56 +0000

And at this time of year especially are we called upon to raise our hearts to Christ, and to have keen feelings and piercing thoughts of sorrow and shame, of compunction and of gratitude, of love and tender affection and horror and anguish, at the review of those awful sufferings whereby our salvation has been purchased … You will ask, how are we to learn to feel pain and anguish at the thought of Christ’s sufferings? I answer, by thinking of them, that is, by dwelling on the thought. This, through God’s mercy, is in the power of every one.

From the sermon ‘The Crucifixion’ (1842) Click here for the full text (leaves site)

(Reference: John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons Vol 7 (1842) Sermon no. 10, p. 134-5)

Thought for the Day 29th June 2010

NewmanCause — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:00:35 +0000

It is not God’s way that great blessings should descend without the sacrifice first of great sufferings. If the truth is to be spread to any wide extent among this people, how can we dream, how can we hope, that trial and trouble shall not accompany its going forth?

From the sermon ‘The Second Spring’ (1852) Click here for the full text (leaves site)

(Reference: John Henry Newman, Sermons Preached on Various Occasions (1874) Sermon no. 10, p. 178)

Thought for the Day 28th June 2010

NewmanCause — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 23:00:45 +0000

A convert comes to learn, and not to pick and choose. He comes in simplicity and confidence, and it does not occur to him to weigh and measure every proceeding, every practice which he meets with among those whom he has joined. He comes to Catholicism as to a living system, with a living teaching, and not to a mere collection of decrees and canons, which by themselves are of course but the framework, not the body and substance of the Church. And this is a truth which concerns, which binds, those also who never knew any other religion, not only the convert.

From “Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching”, Vol 2 Click here for full text (leaves site)

(Reference: John Henry Newman, “Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching”, Volume 2, 2. Remarks on various statements introduced into the Eirenicon, p. 18)