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Newman’s sermon “Faith and Experience” asks us to use the eyes of faith to consider the things of God, and understand that God’s ways are beyond our experience. We must not measure the things of faith by the things of this world. Appearances will deceive us, whereas God’s work takes place in hiding, in secret, in word and sacrament, in a way that surpasses the understanding of the world. 

We can learn to wait in God’s presence, to adopt the eyes of faith, by looking to the Blessed Virgin Mary as our model and mother in faith, as one to emulate, and one to be truly spiritually nurtured by in accordance with Christ’s will, who says to his beloved disciples from the cross, “Behold, thy Mother” (John 19:27). The Blessed Virgin lived an earthly life, and now lives eternally in heaven, gazing constantly upon her Son in adoration. To grow close to her is to join her in this gaze, to look with constant love and affection upon our Lord, listening constantly to do whatever he tells us (John 2:5). 

And yet, it is not infrequent to hear even men and women of faith and good will complaining that the Blessed Virgin Mary, because of her perfection and sanctity, is unrelatable. To be sure, in a good way, stories of saints whose early lives were marked by sin and error can inspire us to see clearly how we, too, may rise from our sins and cooperate with Christ’s work of redemption. Newman, in keeping with his sermon, suggests that the Blessed Virgin Mary is only unrelatable from the perspective of earthly experience. But from the eyes of faith, on the firm foundation of our baptisms, the Blessed Virgin Mary is not only the most relatable, but the most necessary saint to relate to in order to find ourselves on the path of salvation in Christ.

By a special, miraculous application of Christ’s grace in advance, Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin, just as Adam and Eve were created before their fall (CCC 491-3). This is the Church’s teaching of the Immaculate Conception. But perhaps even greater to consider is that the Blessed Virgin Mary never in her life fell into actual sin. This is not to say that she was a demi-goddess; she was and is a human being perfected by God’s grace. Her perfection was on-going; for her entire life, she grew in virtue, just as each one of us should. Teachers of the Church, from St. Athanasius to St. Augustine and St. John Henry Newman, draw upon Scripture to show that to sin is to negate our God-given humanity. Sin does violence against the image and likeness of God in us. So, to sin is to fail to be fully human; to sin is to be less-than human, and therefore the Blessed Virgin Mary was the most human person in history. We sin when we convince ourselves that we need not grow any better in this life; we fall into pride or apathy or vice. Newman was famously captivated by the notion that “growth is the only sign of life.” If something stops growing, it is dead. The Blessed Virgin Mary gives us the highest model of being fully alive: constant, unfailing growth in virtue, continually pondering in her heart the mysteries of her son’s life (Luke 2:19), and continually accepting the depths of grace God offered her. 

This life that she lived preeminently we also can live sacramentally. At our baptisms, and after stepping out of a good contrite confession, we are just as immaculate as she was at her conception and for her life, by God’s grace. And we can persevere in that holy state with careful habituation, sincere effort, and constant openness to God.

Mary models the perfect disciple who, simply, never stops following her Lord. And, as disciples of Christ must, she prays for other members of His body (James 5:16), constantly interceding for them as she constantly adores her son. Therefore, still in heaven, as the most perfect Christian disciple, she is also the most loving and most powerful prayer warrior, to whose recourse we can fly just as our earthly mothers are often the first we go to for comfort in our sorrows and trials. The word for “intercession” in biblical Greek literally means “to hit the mark,” just as the opposite meaning, “to miss the mark,” is evoked by the word for “sin,” hamartia. Mary, during her life on earth and now in heaven, always “hit the mark” by constantly adoring her son, and such excellent spiritual marksmanship, by a unique grace of God, explodes in a shower, a treasure-trove of intercessory grace for all of us. God, our good heavenly Father, longs to give good gifts to us His children (Luke 11:11). And as a good father would love to see His children sharing their gifts with each other, he entrusts to his disciples spiritual gifts that they in turn share with each other (Psalm 149:6-7). This is why we pray to the saints, and pray especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose role as spiritual mother exceeds in kind the role of the rest of God’s spiritual adopted children. By praying to saints in heaven and for each other, we are simply being what we are as the Body of Christ, enjoying the mutual benefits of belonging to a heavenly family across time and the grave.

We can only rise to perceive these truths if we acknowledge that without God and His revelation, “we are very blind,” that we need His teaching and what He reveals; we receive all things as gifts from Him. Newman’s conclusion to “Faith and Experience” invites us, like the Apostles, to pray, (indeed, to never cease praying), “Increase our faith:”

Let us come to Him honestly: we cannot help ourselves; we do not know ourselves; we need His grace. Whatever perplexity the world gives us, whether about the doctrine of regenerating Baptism, or about the Church Apostolic, or about the necessity of maintaining the Gospel faith, or about the doctrine of everlasting punishment, let us come to Him with pure and sincere minds; imploring Him to reveal to us what we know not, to incline our hearts when they are stubborn, and to make us love and obey Him honestly while we seek, and not to seek mere barren knowledge, “which perisheth with the using.

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The sensum fidelium is a confirmation of authentic doctrinal development in contrast to corruption of doctrine. It can also be described as a spiritual instinct for Catholic truths.

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About Cardinal John Henry Newman

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A Guide to John Henry Newman will interest educated readers and professors alike, and serve as a text for college seminars for the purpose of studying Newman.

Review by Catherine Maybanks
(Catholic Herald, April 1, 2023)

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(Antiphon, April 2023)

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Fr Peter Conley takes us on an exciting journey into the spirituality and inner life of Saint John Henry Newman.
 

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Endorsement by Neyra Blanco (Amazon)
I bought this book for my son and he loved it, he wrote this review and urged my to submitted: “I think this book has a very beautiful message, because it shows how the young Newman was so determined to achieve his dream of becoming a priest, but even after his dream he continued to work in the church with passion until the day he died, it’s so admirable that even Newman so old and so weak still had that urge to continued his work of being a priest. And the book is well written with words not too complicated with very enjoyable texts and well illustrated pictures. I highly recommend this book for a 5th grader.  

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What is a Classical Liberal Arts Education? Why is it so important for the development of a person?

Fr. Juan R. Vélez answers these and more questions you might have about University Education in the 21st century. This book is aimed for parents, prospective University students, and educators. It will help you discern why adding Liberal Arts electives to your education will help it form it better, and help the student learn to reason, and not just learn.

He also explains how many Universities have changed the true meaning of Liberal Arts, and the subjects, and gives advise on how to choose College Campus, Subjects, and Teachers.

A wonderful book that every parent should also read way before your children are College bound. A Liberal Arts education can start earlier in life, even from home.

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Endorsement by Christopher Moellering (Goodreads, September 14, 2019)
In Passion for Truth Fr. Vélez gave us an outstanding biography of Cardinal Newman. In this work, he provides a concise overview of his thought and his devotion. This is a great work for someone who, perhaps hearing of Newman for the first time because of his beatification 13 October, 2019, wants to know more about this English saint.Vélez is a wonderful writer in his own right, and the frequent quotations from Newman round out the work nicely. I especially appreciated the frequent citing of Newman’s Meditations and Devotions, which show a different side of his spirituality than his more well-known works, Development of Christian Doctrine and the Grammar of Assent.

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Take Five: Meditations with John Henry Newman, endorsement by Illow M. Roque (Amazon, September 3, 2010)
“There is a time to put direct inquiry on hold and give ourselves to prayer and practical duties.” Sound advice from one of the earlier, thought-provoking reminders in this sparkling gem of a book: Take Five | Meditations with John Henry Newman, written by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan R. Vélez and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This particular paragraph, referenced above, which begins with a direct quote from soon-to-be canonized priest, cardinal and poet, John Henry Newman: “Study is good, but it gets us only so far . . .” is actually the 15th in a series of 76 concise, logically organized meditations moving from the elementary to the sublime. Each meditation–one per page–is built upon the great man’s writings and remarkably rich spirituality. Whether taken whole in one reading or in part page-by-page over a course of weeks and months, these wonderfully insightful meditations will open up, even to the busiest reader in the midst of the world, a unique pathway into prayer and contemplation. My advice to spiritual inquirers at all levels, from the novice to the spiritually adept, is to follow the authors’ recommendation to use this book as a guide for daily prayer and meditation. The structure of the book itself is ideal: first, the authors introduce us to Cardinal Newman, the man, where we are given the opportunity to get to know him through a brief sketch of his life and spirituality at the beginning of the book. This is something readers will likely find themselves referring to again and again, prompting many, I suspect, to even wider explorations of this most gifted Christian leader. Then comes the meditations, consisting of a short summary of Newman’s thoughts on subjects taken, as the authors explain, from various salient points for which Newman is justly remembered: The pursuit of objective religious truth; Teaching on the Virtues; Defense of the Catholic Church; A devout spiritual and moral life; and Generosity and loyalty in his friendships, which sets the topic and tone for each meditation to follow. Each meditation consists of an excerpt taken from Newman’s thirty-plus volumes of writings and diaries. Next comes three brief and extremely useful sections entitled: “Think About It,” which establishes a prayerfully resonant tone throughout the book; “Just Imagine,” which provides a vivid, prayerful experience of the Scriptures that tie in, and finally, “Remember,” a pithy summation which the authors suggest may be used as a daily aspiration. Each meditation is given its own page, which makes it ideal for daily reflection for readers on the go. This book is a must have for every serious Catholic who wants to take their faith to the next level, which is to respond appropriately to the universal call to holiness and seek interior union with God.
Fr. Juan Velez

The sensum fidelium is a confirmation of authentic doctrinal development in contrast to corruption of doctrine. It can also be described as a spiritual instinct for Catholic truths.

Prof. Barb H. Wyman

We became more intimately acquainted with the daily life, prayer, and study of Newman, the simple yet pleasant home where he and his Oratorian brothers lived.

Robert Kirkendall

The saints live in sackcloth, and they are buried in jewels.

Fr. Peter Conley

Dominic Barberi and John H. Newman were united in their mutual quest for the virtues of personal humility, charity and good humor.

David Warren

To us has been entrusted the vocation of conquering souls for Christ and of transforming society.

Prof. Barb H. Wyman

In the chapel with walls adjacent to Newman’s bedroom, still bearing the red brocade of Newman’s day, the sisters preserve his rosary.

Prof. Barb H. Wyman

One could imagine him ... composing one of his many famous scripture laden sermons of the Anglican period.

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