In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers the life of St John Henry Newman, and how he fiercely proclaimed the truth of the Gospel but never neglected the importance of Christian love.
Readings: 2 Timothy 4.1-5; John 15.9-17 [Feast of St John Henry Newman]
St John Henry Newman, whom we honour today, was well known for many things. One of them was his determination to stick to what he believed was right, no matter how popular or unpopular that might be with others.
It was this characteristic which led him to convert from the Anglican church, the very epitome of the establishment in the 19th century, to the Catholic church, then viewed with suspicion by many. And yet, for Newman, what drove him was a seeking after the truth, and it did not matter what anyone else thought.
We see this principle in our first reading today. Paul was another figure from church history for whom the truth mattered above all else. He is writing to his protégé Timothy, and stresses to him the importance of this. “Preach the word”, Paul says. “Be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke and exhort…” In other words, simply say what it true about the things of God, regardless of whether it is popular or not. The Church of today could learn a thing or two from both Newman’s approach and Paul’s words. So often we seek to make the Gospel enticing through gimmicks, and the danger is that we water down its essence. Let us be bold in preaching the truth of God’s message to the world.
If that approach sounds harsh and unbending, then it is perhaps tempered by today’s Gospel, where the focus is on love. At the Last Supper, about to give up his life, Jesus talks movingly about the Father’s love for him and his love for each disciple. This mutual love between the Father and the Son becomes the model for every Christian as we are told to “love one another as I have loved you.” And in a radical turn, Jesus even calls us friends, so regarding us as his equals. Newman too, though he sometimes seemed stern and fierce, knew the importance of Christian love. “This is our real and true bliss”, he wrote. “Not to know, or to affect, or to pursue, but to love, to hope, to admire, to revere, to adore”. As we give thanks for St John Henry Newman today, let us be bold in upholding the faith in and out of season, whether it is popular or unpopular. But let us do so with love, knowing that we are loved by God, and are sent by him to love the world.
South Cardiff Ministry Area 