This lecture addresses the theme in St. John Henry Newman of the gradual—some would even say ordinary—pursuit of holiness throughout the course of the course of our human lives.

John Thompson’s post entitled “Newman High: Some Notes on Newman for Secondary Educators,” raises some important and timely questions for those teaching at the pre-college levels. We write to share one resource and three additional lessons from Newman that may further help secondary educators strengthen their professional practice. 

Composed in 1900, a decade after the Cardinal’s death, Elgar’s Gerontius is not a collaboration but a new interpretation. What, then, did Newman’s poem mean to Elgar, and how did the composer articulate Newman’s vision musically?

One of the most significant contributions of the Second Vatican Council lay in its appropriation of the tria munera—that is the threefold office of Christ as priest, prophet, and king—as an architectonic structure for reflection on the church. 

It's one of Newman's most notorious lines, and a claim I for one wish were untrue: "The Catholic Church holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die of starvation in extremest agony, as far as temporal affliction goes, than that one soul, I will not say, should be lost, but should commit one single venial sin, should tell one wilful untruth, or should steal one poor farthing without excuse."

The Grammar of Assent, published in 1870, represents Newman's last major work. As a religious epistemology, it provides systematically thought-through answers to questions that had preoccupied him since his early twenties

This month, many teachers like myself will be returning to our classrooms. It will be, like many things right now, challenging and uncertain. While some about our schools will be unfamiliar and new, much will remain the same.

Newman tended to talk about wealth and commerce in two ways: one prophetic and denunciatory, particularly of nations of shopkeepers, and one with applause—this is the nation of free enterprise.

Recently, a friend and I realized over a beer that we did not know what a good confession looked like. We had seen good (and bad) Masses; we had witnessed the efficacious baptism and confirmation. 

A deep dive is not required into Newman's writings to find his sober assessment that in Christianity, and particularly in the Catholic Church, we can, sadly, find ample incidents of corruption and failure.