Fr. Evan Koop, instructor of dogmatic theology at St. Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota reflects on Newman’s classic sermon, “The Ventures of Faith”. Fr. Koop points out that Newman’s primary point in the sermon is “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. We must take a risk in our relationship with Christ. Faith is a venture. That venture changes the way we live. We invest in something now to gain something in the future. We take a risk for an uncertain benefit. Our faith in Christ is meant to be a venture – it costs us something. We commit our lives to Christ out of love for him without knowing where it will lead us. We trust in God who cannot deceive or be deceived. We can only enter into God’s way of knowing through our trust in Him. Faith is not a leap. It is a venture. We act now even though we don’t see the end. 

Jesus accepts the desire of James and John in a way they don’t understand at all. He is wooing them, and He elicits the desire that can lead them to things that they never imagined. He invites them to say yes to Him and then He will slowly reveal His plan to them. Faith is a yes to Jesus wherever it will lead us. It is not a yes to a particular outcome. God is asking for an unqualified yes from each of us because it is not based on some understanding of God’s plan for me, but it is based on my love for and trust in God Himself. Faith is not a logical inference it rests in trust. Still without knowing, we trust.

The constant concern for Newman is Christianity becoming a “respectable” religion – a “beige, suburban” Catholicism – a Christianity that is simply helps to living a good ethical life and contributing to society. It is a Christianity that makes no demands on me. However, Newman tells us that Christianity does make demands. It does cost me something. What have we given Christ on the love of His promise? Like the wedding or ordination day the couple or religious have no idea what they just got themselves into. They are full of enthusiasm because they have fallen deeply in love with their spouse and/or Christ and His Church. “For better or for worse” is a venture. James and John had a sense that if they follow Jesus, He would sustain them. There is a trust that Christ will give us the grace as needed - our daily bread will be given when needed. The venture is when we send everything ahead of us to a new place out of joyful hope. Joy and freedom are present when we release ourselves from the tangled things of this world and all of our hopes and desires are stored in the invisible world. Faith is a storing up of everything that we love, all of our desires and goods, in the invisible world.

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Kory LaCroix, Pastoral Associate for Marriage and Young Professionals at Our Lady of Grace parish in Edina, Minnesota sees in the sermon “The Apostolical Christian” the necessity of seeking the Truth, finding Christ and conforming our lives to His. In the sermon Newman gives us important questions to contemplate. Am I running the race? And which path am I running on? Is it one that I have created or one that Christ has given to me? Do we observe the rules of the contest? Do we appeal to Scripture to form our conscience to find the truth? Do our thoughts and affections have relations to the unseen? Do I live for Christ wholly? What does my heart love? What do I love more than Christ? 

Prayer is our tool to watch for Christ, to become like Christ. We must first desire an inward earnestness and then we can speak from the heart. Newman tells us that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The heart that prays with Christ is filled with Christ. As your heart becomes more like Christ’s heart, your heart is more concerned with what His heart desires. When we are with our Beloved, Christ, we find joy. Like Christ, we are called to surrender our hearts and goods to others, joyfully. This Christ-like joy is the fruit of tribulation. 

Kory shares real life stories on his podcast - The Storydram Podcast which can be found at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-storydram/id1688617049

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Nicholas Hughes, a 26-year-old MBA student at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota reacts to Newman’s sermon “The Secret Power of Divine Grace” highlighting how we all have a deep desire for happiness. However, the objects that we worship must be worthy of the immortal, the Divine life. We easily dismiss those things beyond our physical comprehension accepting only what we can see and touch leading to the need for proof of everything in our lives. Yet at our disposal are various faculties enabling us to encounter “the glance of Christ”. Nicholas describes how “the secret power of God, without observation, acts on the hearts of men”. God’s secret grace is operative within us and within His Church to fulfill His mission of love for us. Unless we are partakers of the supernatural life we labor in vain. The only things that are purposeful are those of God. Unless our enterprises are more than human it is but foolishness and vanity. 

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Dr. Melinda Nielsen, Associate Professor of Classical Literature at Baylor University (https://honors.baylor.edu/person/melinda-nielsen-phd), found Newman through her love of great literature. The Apologia captivated her through its masterful prose, noticing Newman’s firm grasp of reality. Dr. Nielsen sees Newman as drawing from ancient literature, in particular the Church Fathers, to offer us rich insights into our understanding of Scripture. Through his understanding of Scripture Newman helps us understand our relationship with God. This understanding is readily seen in The Parochial and Plain Sermon “Rising with Christ”. In this episode Dr. Nielsen highlights that Newman points us in striking directions that cut to the heart. For instance, Newman helps us realize we are welcomed to be lifted up with Christ on the Cross as he points to the penitent thief at the time of His crucifixion. At our most vulnerable moments we need our eyes fixed upward. Especially then we need a daystar, a focus. Here we find Newman creating for us what is most real from what is most invisible. In this sermon we discover Newman’s ability to communicate the invisible. Dr Nielsen points out how Newman uses grammatical style to anchor his thought. For instance, through hypothetical clauses Newman offers delays, deferring in his clauses to set us up to make his final punch all the more powerful. Newman will even use the number of one or two syllable words to help us see the simplicity in the truths that he is articulating. Newman ultimately calls us to redeem the time. We must consider what we are trading for our most valuable gift – the treasure of a friendship with Christ.

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Dr. John Boyle, theology professor at Catholic Studies at The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota reacts to Newman’s 1849 sermon “Mystery of Divine Condescension”.  As co-founder of the Center for Catholic Studies, Dr. Boyle describes that the vision of Catholic Studies at a university is to articulate the vision of the Church as an organic body that sees reality with a broad perspective in all its interconnectedness. Reality then is the combination of faith and reason as a means of lifting our eyes to infinity, to the mystery of God. Here Newman helps us see the meaning of The Incarnation through this unified perspective. Dr. Boyle points out that Newman’s understands the psychology of the interior life but never lets us wallow in it. It’s never simply about the interior life, it’s about conforming our interior life to the reality of God avoiding the danger of becoming that peevish man that wants God his way rather than desiring a realignment of the interior life to the mystery of God. By stepping outside of ourselves we can discover God in reality. We leave behind the “the prison of our own reasonings” and humbly enter His mysteries. Our shared deep desire and love are answered by The Incarnation. Christ has come down into our messiness to be lifted up. God comes to us, not as we want Him to, but into our messy reality so that we can be incarnated with Him.

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Martha Olsen, brilliant fellow graduate of The University of St. Thomas Catholic Studies master’s program and now a busy mother of 4, shares her thoughts on the 1848 sermon “The Calls of Grace”. In this episode we learn from Newman that the sharpness of The Divine Word can readily penetrate a softened heart. Only a closed heart can stop The Word from entering it. Do I have a soft heart to receive Grace? What do we value that pierces our hearts?  Martha helps us see that Newman shapes his language for his listeners to realize that his message is directed at me! And how does Newman teach us to soften our hearts? Make the last four things (heaven, hell, death, and judgment) a priority in our life’s considerations. To cultivate good, rich soil we must consider, what is it we really care about. We need to develop a habitual state of mind that focuses on the things of God, seeking that path to holiness daily. Further, on a practical level, the very name of Jesus is the name we want to feed upon. If our minds are sharp about the name of Jesus, we are open to what he has to say to us. Through practical practices we can be beautified by the name of Jesus. If we are seeking holiness, we must allow Christ’s words to beautify us. They can bring us to life. And to avoid any hardening of heart I must continually strive to maintain the change that has come over me. I must continually receive Grace. If we trample on the Word of God with a hardened heart it is extremely difficult to pull out of that state. And there are those that trample on the Word because of ignorance. These are openings for us to evangelize either by acting in holiness or sharing our love for God’s Word. God wants us to hear so that we can reach out to others. Our hope rests in that “all things are possible through God’s Grace”. God gives Grace little by little, so we need to ask and receive every single day. By desiring Grace everything is possible. 

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Fr. Kyle Etzel, parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Joseph in West Saint Paul, Minnesota and aspiring Oratorian, joins us to discuss Newman's 1839 sermon "Peace in Believing". Newman informs us that it is fitting that our all-loving God would desire to redeem His creation. Therefore, we have every reason for hope. Fr. Kyle sees that once we discover that God is love we find that it is written on our hearts to respond to that love. 

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Episode 21 Season 2 – “The Thought of God, the Stay of the Soul”

Fr. Michael Daly, priest of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota gathers from several sources to unpack one of Newman’s favorite sermons, “The Thought of God, the Stay of the Soul”. Newman points out that we are made from God and for God. In our bones we know that we are made for more. Therefore, our dignity and destiny are found in our infinite God. Fr. Daly shares that the quest for God is an “ache” for God. Sanctity lies in how we respond to that “ache”. Only with a pure heart can we find our tender and loving God enabling us to “lift up our hearts to God”. Fr. Daly explains that when we lift our hearts to God, we offer the only two things that we can give God – our sin and our will to seek His will and not our own. 

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Megan Scott, graduate student pursuing the Masters of Arts in the field of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN reacts to Newman's 1839 sermon, Unreal Words. As editorial assistant of Logos - A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture Megan is well read in how "real" language moves us to action. "Unreal words", on the other hand, are separated from meaning by words being separated from reality. The consequences of this separation is a break from the fullness of reality which is The Word Himself. In Newman's understanding of speech as it relates to literature we find that literature, at its best, needs to move the person to action. Words should ultimately aim at approaching the true reality of our being - the fullness in Jesus Christ.   

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.

Dr. Ono Ekeh, associate professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut utilizes his theological interest of St. John Henry Newman to assist him in his reflection on Newman's 1829 sermon "Abraham and Lot". Dr. Ekeh points out that Newman helps us see Abraham's refusal to be entangled by things of this world as a sign that we belong somewhere else. As Abraham acts with a clear apprehension of things unseen he gives witness to the presence of God in our everyday events. Lot, on the other hand, falls short by making his own will his idol. He is an example of how we can become double minded when we become engulfed in the luxuries, comforts and politics of this world while trying to surrender ourselves to God. 

Dr. Ekeh's hobbies include sports, cooking and writing science fiction. His blog offers insights into his diverse interests – visit onoekeh.com

To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.