This episode’s sermon, “In the World, but not of the World,”  is found in Sermons Preached on Various Occasions, a wonderful collection showcasing Newman’s literary power. Dr. Mark Jubulis reflects on this funeral homily preached on May 5, 1873, at the Funeral of James R. Hope Scott, a Catholic convert and leading English attorney. In this eulogy of James Hope Scott (who was married to Sir Walter Scott’s granddaughter) and Tractarian (part of the Oxford Movement) we learn more about Newman through his friendships and his deep reverence for Hope Scott. Here once again Newman contrasts the secular gentleman (who perfects generosity in worldly projects in solely world pursuits) with the Christian gentleman whose sole desire is to please God. Newman offers that the reason Hope Scott passed by so many worldly opportunities was to avoid placing limitations on his offering goodness to others. His largeness of mind opened his heart. A heart open to the thought of God overcomes the world. Newman ends this sermon spurring us on - when we suffer the loss of holy friend we can exclaim “Oh happy soul” because they gave up this world for the next. What is important is the fate of their soul not our loss. 

Newman's sympathy letter to the daughter of Hope Scott can be found at the end of the podcast sermon section of the website, www.newmanontap.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.

Elizabeth (Liz) Kelly, is a Twin Cities based spiritual director, retreat leader, national speaker, a parish presenter, a prolific writer (with over a dozen award winning Catholic published books) and now a community leader for women’s formation at Bishop Barron’s “Word on Fire.” For 15 years, Liz served as managing editor of Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN while she taught in the Catholic Studies program. Learn more of Liz’s work at https://www.lizk.org. 

 In this episode Liz reacts to Newman’s sermon, “The Good Part of Mary.” Here Newman helps us see that most of us are not either Martha (active) or Mary (prayerful) but rather both women wrapped up into one. Liz points out that being busy like Martha is not the problem, rather being "busy in the wrong way.” This “busyness” comes in seasons of our lives when we can literally suffocate the Mary in us. Newman wonders that if we're honest with ourselves and with God, are we really putting God first or have our lives become ordered toward money, achievement, notoriety, etc?  Our aim must be to live out our vocation in Christ who makes us more of what we are created to be – Martha and Mary wrapped into one.   

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 Bryce Evans, a diocesan priest aspiring to establish an Oratory of St. Philip Neri in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis investigates Newman’s sermon, “Religious Joy.” In this 1825 Christmas day sermon, Newman turns our categories upside down. Fr. Evans calls this now familiar Newman technique, “The Divine Reversal.” When we tend to think that we are going to achieve our happiness as the result of our own efforts, Newman turns the tables by emphasizing that the mystery of Christmas is not about us reaching up to God rather it is Christ coming down to us. The humility of The Son of God is our pattern of the condition to receive Him who is near us. As an example, Newman points out that the angelic message of the Incarnation is brought to poor, rough, simple-minded shepherds. If we are to receive the gift of God’s joy, we need to humbly recognize not our greatness but our littleness. The lowliness of the shepherds prepares them to be drawn up into God’s intimacy.

To help us understand joy Newman begins with fear. In the initial stage of religion, we might fear God. But as we progress in our faith fear turns to joy. The closer we are to God, the less we fear and the more joy we experience. Here lies the heart of the “Divine Reversal.” In the mystery of the Incarnation – as we embrace our God who condescends to be near, we are lifted up. The condition of receiving the joy of the Incarnation is embracing that same lowliness. Newman is calling us to renounce worldliness and serve the poor as a condition to receiving the mercy and grace of 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.

Ms. Angela Cuba teaches “Humane Letters" at Bishop Reicher Catholic school in Waco, Texas. Angela graduated from the University of Dallas with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English. In reacting to Newman’s masterful sermon, “The Second Spring”, she will explain how Newman artfully shows how it was possible that something was so dead as Catholicism in 19th century England could experience a rebirth. During our discussion Angela refers to Gerard Manley Hopkin’s poem “The Wreck of the Deutschland,” Fr. Francis P. Donnelly’s text on Newman, and Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman’s pastoral letter of October 7, 1850 “Within the Flaminian Gates”. These works add context to this 1852 masterpiece of Newman’s. This sermon is packed with psychology and emotion as Newman confronts the incredibly intense sense of Catholicity in mid 19th century England.

Ms. Cuba explores the theme of rebirth as Newman offers a parallel of the miraculous resurgence of the beaten down English Catholic Church to the continual rebirth of Mystical Body of the Church through Mary’s delivery of that body. This English scholar offers insights into how Newman intentionally constructs this sermon thematically by paragraph as a point of emphasis to show that grace operates in offering rebirth to the English Catholic Church as analogous to grace operating through Our Lady. It is through trial where triumph is eventually found. 

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. 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.