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Three Lessons from Newman
InsightScoop.com ^
| September 19, 2010
| Posted by Carl Olson from Pope Benedict XVI
Posted on 09/19/2010 7:39:46 PM PDT by Salvation
From Pope Benedict XVI's meditation at the prayer vigil in Hyde Park yesterday evening:
Here is the first lesson we can learn from his life: in our day, when an intellectual and moral relativism threatens to sap the very foundations of our society, Newman reminds us that, as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfilment of our deepest human aspirations. In a word, we are meant to know Christ, who is himself the way, and the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6).
Newmans life also teaches us that passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly. The truth that sets us free cannot be kept to ourselves; it calls for testimony, it begs to be heard, and in the end its convincing power comes from itself and not from the human eloquence or arguments in which it may be couched. Not far from here, at Tyburn, great numbers of our brothers and sisters died for the faith; the witness of their fidelity to the end was ever more powerful than the inspired words that so many of them spoke before surrendering everything to the Lord. In our own time, the price to be paid for fidelity to the Gospel is no longer being hanged, drawn and quartered but it often involves being dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or parodied. And yet, the Church cannot withdraw from the task of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel as saving truth, the source of our ultimate happiness as individuals and as the foundation of a just and humane society.
Finally, Newman teaches us that if we have accepted the truth of Christ and committed our lives to him, there can be no separation between what we believe and the way we live our lives. Our every thought, word and action must be directed to the glory of God and the spread of his Kingdom. Newman understood this, and was the great champion of the prophetic office of the Christian laity. He saw clearly that we do not so much accept the truth in a purely intellectual act as embrace it in a spiritual dynamic that penetrates to the core of our being. Truth is passed on not merely by formal teaching, important as that is, but also by the witness of lives lived in integrity, fidelity and holiness; those who live in and by the truth instinctively recognize what is false and, precisely as false, inimical to the beauty and goodness which accompany the splendour of truth, "veritatis splendor."
Read the entire address.
TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Prayer; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; catholiclist; newman; saints
1. Newman reminds us that, as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfilment of our deepest human aspirations.
2. Newmans life also teaches us that passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly. The truth that sets us free cannot be kept to ourselves; it calls for testimony, it begs to be heard, and in the end its convincing power comes from itself and not from the human eloquence or arguments in which it may be couched.
3. Newman teaches us that if we have accepted the truth of Christ and committed our lives to him, there can be no separation between what we believe and the way we live our lives. Our every thought, word and action must be directed to the glory of God and the spread of his Kingdom.
1
posted on
09/19/2010 7:39:48 PM PDT
by
Salvation
To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; markomalley; ...
2
posted on
09/19/2010 7:41:48 PM PDT
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: Salvation
Nevermind....thought this was Seinfeld thread.
To: Salvation
Newmans life also teaches us that passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly. So true. It's up to each of us to make real sacrifices in our lives. So many live in complacency.
To: Norman Bates
You are a wise one there. Yes, life can be costly. But should we count the cost if the reward is eternity with Christ?
5
posted on
09/19/2010 9:18:09 PM PDT
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: Hammerhead
6
posted on
09/19/2010 9:19:00 PM PDT
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: Hammerhead
1. When you control the mail, you control.....information.
2. Working in the Pacific Northwest can teach you to climb trees like a bear;
3. A good strategy is to attack using your armies in the Ukraine.
7
posted on
09/19/2010 9:51:58 PM PDT
by
Defiant
(Liberals care more about the Koran than they did about Terri Schiavo.)
To: Defiant
And I shall require an canole three times a week.
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