Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Lead Thou me on!

On September 19, the Catholic Church will celebrate the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. If you're like me, his name is certainly familiar but I don't know nearly as much as I could (or should). We will be hearing much about him over the next few weeks, even in secular media, and now is a great opportunity to educate ourselves about his work.

First, I recommend visiting www.newmanbiography.com. This is a website dedicated to two new books about Cardinal Newman.

The first book, out now and available here on Amazon, is titled "Take Five: Meditations with John Henry Newman" and authored by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan Velez. This is a great book focusing on short, five minute meditations. I guarantee that each and every one of us, regardless of how busy we are, can spare five minutes a day on our spiritual nourishment.

The second book, forthcoming, is a biography "John Henry Newman: Passion for Truth" written by Fr. Juan Velez. This book will lead us through Cardinal Newman's "search for religious truth", covering his journey of conversion from Evangelical Protestantism to Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.

I urge you all to take a look at the website and the books.

Some final words, written by John Henry Newman, written at sea on a return to England:

LEAD, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home—
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

1 comment:

Bianca said...

ok since you and Suzi recommended it, I will get the take five meditations book. It seems practical and an easy way to work on my own spirituality. I can definitely learn more about him but know that he is attributed to working with young adults especially of college age; hence why so many universities have "Newman centers" for Catholic college kids. Beyond that, I have little knowledge of him. Either way, looking forward to hearing more about his canonization.