The Cause of the Canonisation of John Henry Cardinal Newman

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Deacon Jack Sullivan to English Catholics: ‘Newman pointed to the supernatural, he saw beyond the limited vision of others’

Categorised as News and published Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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Deacon Jack Sullivan preaching in Westminster Cathedral, London (Credit: Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk)

Reverend Jack Sullivan, the Boston deacon healed through Cardinal Newman’s intercession, has spoken of the importance of Newman’s spiritual message in a sermon at Mass in London’s  Westminster Cathedral on Monday 9th November. Deacon Sullivan was preaching on the first full day of a week-long visit to England, anticipating Newman’s Beatification next year.

At the Mass, Oratorian Fathers from Birmingham, London and Oxford joined the Archbishop of Westminster, numerous other clergy and hundreds of faithful for a solemn Mass on the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Concelebrating was Archbishop Bernard Longley, who will be installed as the new Archbishop of Birmingham on 8th December, and will be closely involved in the preparations for Newman’s Beatification.

In his homily, Deacon Sullivan explained that the Lateran Basilica is “the Mother of all Churches, a sign of the Universal Church, because it is the Cathedral Church of our Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome.”

Speaking of the power and depth of Newman’s spiritual message, he said:  “Cardinal Newman was gifted with a most extraordinary sense of foresight, a supernatural vision enabling him to see far beyond the rather limited and worldly views of his contemporaries.”

Newman understood the great advantage of Faith over unbelief, which is its power to reveal the meaning hidden, as behind a veil, in ordinary life. Sullivan quoted Newman: Faith “is a practical perception of the unseen world. It is to understand that this world is not enough for our happiness. We must look beyond it toward God to realize His presence, to serve Him, to do His will, to surrender oneself totally to Him, who is the sovereign Giver of all good.”

Sullivan recalled that Newman had taught how “religious men cannot but feel in varied ways, that Providence is guiding them and blessing them personally.” Newman’s message to the men and women of today is therefore that “God may be teaching us and offering us knowledge of His ways, if we but open our eyes in faith to all the ordinary matters of the day.”

Deacon Sullivan, who at a press conference earlier on Monday had recounted the story of his healing, gave a remarkable illustration of God’s Providence in his own life : “On September 14, 2002, I was ordained a deacon at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. And without knowing the date of my ordination, Father Paul Chavasse, the Actor for Newman’s Cause, notified me on that very  day that the Fathers at the Birmingham Oratory had voted to formally initiate the process for the Beatification of their Founder, the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, and to take my case to Rome.”

At the end of Mass, Archbishop Vincent Nichols thanked the Fathers of the Oratories from Birmingham, Oxford, and London, for their presence at the Mass, and bringing Newman’s Cause to the momentous point of his Beatification.

Archbishop Bernard Longley, Revd Jack Sullivan, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Father Paul Chavasse Cong. Orat. (Credit: Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk)