Address by Father Gerald Twomey

Fr. Gerald Twomey is co-pastor of St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church, Brentwood, Long Island, New York

Newman first embraced the idea of Catholicism in the summer of 1839. He was drawn to the Church of Rome, as he later confided in "On Consulting the Faithful," due to "…the tradition of the Apostles, committed to the whole Church… [which] manifests itself variously at various times: sometimes by the mouth of the episcopacy, sometimes by the doctors, sometimes by the people."

Throughout his public ministry, Newman stressed the "consensus of the faithful," a concept he grasped while studying patristic three decades prior. By 1853, he had already discoursed upon the essential role of the laity. Throughout the first generations of Christianity, he observed: "… it was simply the living spirit of the myriads of the faithful, none of them known to fame, who received from the disciples of Our Lord, and husbanded so well, and circulated so widely, and transmitted so faithfully, generation after generation, the once delivered apostolic faith…" The fallout from his "intellectual time bomb" still resonates within the life of Church today.

You might not be surprised to know that Newman encountered considerable resistance from the national hierarchy of his day. As Owen Chadwick noted: "Newman discovered to his dismay that some bishops, and more priests, had a horror of the idea that laymen and laywomen had any and putting money into boxes."

Following the publication of his "Essay on Consulting the Faithful," Bishop Thomas Brown of Newport delated Newman to the Congregation of the Propaganda in Rome. His perennial nemesis, Monsignor George Talbot, denounced him to his diocesan bishop, William Ullathorne of Birmingham, saying: "Dr. Newman is the most dangerous man in England and you will see that he will make use of the laity against your Grace." Talbot posed his feckless question: "What is the province of the laity? To hunt, to shoot, to entertain. These matters they understand, but to meddle with ecclesiastical affairs they have no right at all…"

Bishop Ullathorne queried Newman directly, "Who are the laity?" Newman responded: "The Church would look foolish without them." Newman suggested that bishops should consult the laity, since in large measure lay men and women constitute the essence of the Church. He frequently noted "[the] need for a second Reformation" and urged the Church to undertake the necessary steps to transform and renew itself. He bristled at the notion of Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman that "the only function of the laity is to pay," and replied, "[if that] really be the law of this land, let us know it, that we may get out if it into some more Christian country."

Newman displayed little fear when confronted by the prospect of change. In an oft-cited phrase from his "Essay on Consulting the Faithful," he declared: "… in a higher world it is otherwise; but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often."

In the same text, he asserted: "If Christianity be a universal religion, suited not to one locality or period, but to all times and places, it cannot but vary in its relations and dealings towards the world around it, that it, it will develop. Principles require a very varied application according to persons and circumstances, and must be thrown into new shapes according to the form of society which they are to influence."

As he noted: "Life in this world is motion, and involves a continual process of change. Living things grow into their perfection, into their decline, into their death." For any organism to be alive and not moribund, it must be open to growth and change.

Newman wrote in an 1846 letter: "Moral proofs are grown into, not learnt by heart." He recognized that "men do not lose their souls by some one extraordinary act, but by a course of acts."

What are the implications of John Henry Newman's message for us today? In considering that notion, I should like to suggest ten (10) guiding principles of the Newman legacy for the contemporary Roman Catholic Church in light of the daunting crises that confront it today:

Number Three: Engage faithfully in the practice of prayer. In old age, Newman continued to emphasize this theme: "[Prayer] has an effect beyond words, and those who have lived long enough and have had much experience of life can bear witness that God is true and faithful and powerful and merciful." He asserted: "The very test of a mature Christian, of a true saint, is consistency in all things." Prayer and fasting are needed to drive out certain sorts of demons that infect the Church today.

As Newman noted: "…if we would be saved, we must have tender, sensitive, living hearts; our hearts musts be broken, must be broken up like ground, and dug, and watered, and cultivated… The dry and barren waste must burst forth into springs of living water… we must have what we have not by nature, faith and love; and how is this to be effected… but by godly and practical meditation through the day…"

This prayer life is rooted in God's Word revealed in Scripture: "… the very life of personal religion among Catholics lies in knowledge of the Gospels. It is the character and conduct of Our Lord, His words, His deeds, His sufferings, His work, which are the very food of our devotion and rule of our life…"

The sole remnant of Newman's ill-fated venture as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland is the classical University Church he founded on the south end of Dublin's St. Stephen's Green, with its roundel depicting Mary as "Seat of Wisdom."

The short-lived university that he established in 1854 enrolled James Joyce as a student and numbered the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins among its faculty. He preached in Dublin: "I want the intellectual layman to be religious, and the devout ecclesiastic to be intellectual." When Hopkins wrote that he was "appalled" about the Irish patriotic movement, Newman responded: "If I were an Irishman, I should be a rebel."

Number Nine: Write down and reflect upon your own personal experience, especially in light of the bewilderment unleashed in the wake of the recent scandals and turmoil. As Newman suggested in his work on "University Preaching":

Number Ten: Seize the moment to "scrutinize the signs of the times" and seek to discern God's will.

As Newman wrote to a young person seeking her path in life: "One of the greatest of trials is, to have it cast upon one to make up one's mind,-- on some grave question, which, with great consequences spreading into the future—and to be in doubt what one ought to do.

You have not brought this trial… Put your self then… into the hands of your loving Father and Redeemer, who knows and loves you better than you know and love yourself… He knows all your thoughts, and feels for you in all your sadness more than any creature can feel, and accepts and makes note of your prayers even before you make them. He will never fail you—and He will give you what is best for you. And though he tries you, and seems to withdraw Himself from you, and afflicts you, still trust in Him, for at length you will see how good and gracious He is, and how well he will provide for you.

Be courageous and generous and give Him your heart, and you will never repent of the sacrifice."

Newman received the "red hat" and title to the Church of San Giorgio in Rome from Pope Leo as symbols of his ecclesiastical office as cardinal. The term "cardinal" derives from the Latin word for "hinge."

Let us pray that his witness might foster a profound swing back to retrieve the authentic spirit of the Second Vatican Council, when "Good Pope John" opened the windows of the Church to the modern world and prayed for the outpouring of a "New Pentecost,"-- particularly its dynamic teaching on the proper role of the laity in the life of the Church.

Newman cautioned: "There has seldom been a Council without great confusion after it." Nevertheless, in the words with which Blessed Pope John XXXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council on Christmas Day, 1961: "As we make our own the recommendation of Jesus that we learn how to discern the 'signs of the times,' (MT 16:14), we seem to see amid so much darkness not a few indications that give hope for the future of the Church and of the human race."

Newman paved the way for successive generations of Catholics to accept and embrace such joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties. Cardinal Newman died on August 11, 1890. The pall that covered his casket at the funeral was embroidered Latin with his Latin cardinatial motto, "Cor ad cor loquitur." At his direction, the headstone was inscribed in Latin: "Out of the Shadows and the Reflections into the Truth."

The famous lyrics he composed as a young man while floundering on a storm-tossed ship in the Straits of Bonifacio ring equally true today: "Lead, Kindly Light… amid the encircling gloom… I do not ask to see the distant scene—one step enough for me."

This time of "theological winter" cries out for church renewal, one step at a time, guided by the quest for truth. As another celebrated Anglican convert, Thomas Merton, later pointed out: "Renewal consists, above all, in recovering the truth. Everything else is accidental. Once we get on to this, everything else takes care of itself."

May the heart of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman continue to touch our hearts. May it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope, and serve as a true "hinge" to incline us back towards the authentic spirit of the Council,-- out of the shadows,-- and into the truth. Indeed, at all times the laity has been the measure of the true Catholic spirit. Amid the encircling gloom, let us seek to manifest true courage, -- grace under pressure. The legacy of Newman abides to cheer us: "Don't despair. God has some purpose for you. Ask Him to show it to you - May He ever be with you."