Blessed John Henry Newman

Today, in Birmingham, England, the Holy Father raised John Henry Newman to the glory of the altars and declared the great 19th century convert, pastor and theologian "Blessed".
As I was reading some of his shorter works, I came across a piece entitled "A Short Road to Perfection."  I found it to be a wonderful and encouraging bit of advice for all of us still on the road successfully traveled by Blessed John Henry Newman. Simply put, Newman reminds us that saintly perfection consists in nothing more than doing our everyday work well. How simple yet how profound.
Blessed John Henry Newman wrote in September 1856:

"IT is the saying of holy men that, if we wish to be perfect, we have nothing more to do than to perform the ordinary duties of the day well. A short road to perfection—short, not because easy, but because pertinent and intelligible. There are no short ways to perfection, but there are sure ones.

I think this is an instruction which may be of great practical use to persons like ourselves. It is easy to have vague ideas what perfection is, which serve well enough to talk about, when we do not intend to aim at it; but as soon as a person really desires and sets about seeking it himself, he is dissatisfied with anything but what is tangible and clear, and constitutes some sort of direction towards the practice of it.

We must bear in mind what is meant by perfection. It does not mean any extraordinary service, anything out of the way, or especially heroic—not all have the opportunity of heroic acts, of sufferings—but it means what the word perfection ordinarily means. By perfect we mean that which has no flaw in it, that which is complete, that which is consistent, that which is sound—we mean the opposite to imperfect. As we know well what imperfection in religious service means, we know by the contrast what is meant by perfection.

He, then, is perfect who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek for perfection. You need not go out of the round of the day.

I insist on this because I think it will simplify our views, and fix our exertions on a definite aim. If you ask me what you are to do in order to be perfect, I say, first—Do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God’s glory; say the Rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time, and you are already perfect."

His feast has been set for the 9th of October by Pope Benedict XVI. This is the date of his conversion to Catholicism.

Blessed John Henry Newman, Pray for us!

Some very good thoughts...

In an article in New Oxford Review, Mr. Chene Richard Heady makes some very interesting and timely points concerning the Church and its reception in the main stream media (msm). Since his whole piece is based upon the writings of John Henry Cardinal Newman (soon to be Blessed), I found the piece very helpful. His basic premise, based upon Newman's Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (1851), is that when the Church stops being reviled in the msm, or constant pointing to the sinfulness of her members does not occur, it is then that we need to worry that the Church is not being faithful to her divine commission in the world. A great piece and worth the read.
As an additional note, the New Oxford Review is a great source for faithful Catholics. I will admit that I cancelled my subscription a number of years ago as I found the publication to be drifting toward the bitter and hostile type of traditionalism which was not helpful. The publication now seems to be where it can do the most good: addressing all issues without the rancor, but faithfully Catholic. I would recommend taking out a subscription, they deserve our support and you will stand to gain from the insights provided in the articles. To find our more, see their website.