Feast of St. John Henry Newman
Thursday 27th Week Year II
Knights of Columbus Board, Las Vegas, Nevada
October 9 2026
A Modern Augustine
A. Just to remind ourselves, John Henry Newman was born in England in 1801, and was educated at Oxford, later teaching there. He spent the first half of his life as an Anglican, arguing persuasively in tracts and letters for a more ‘catholic’ interpretation of Scripture and dogma. In 1845, he converted to Catholicism, a move that shocked many and led to the loss of life-long friends. In 1847, he was ordained a priest & in 1875, Pope Leo XIII named him a cardinal. He died in 1890, having written some 40 books – and in many ways, his scholarship set the stage for the teachings of the II Vatican Council.
Some years ago, I visited the Oratory in Birmingham, England that he founded. Standing in the rooms where he wrote his treatises & celebrated Mass privately, I could almost sense the presence of this great saint. It was in that place that heart of Jesus often spoke to his heart. I also saw his library – a space filled with the writings of the Fathers of the Church. Here this great and holy scholar poured over those volumes, extracting wisdom from them as a bee extracts honey from flowers.
But John Henry Newman was more than a student of the Church Fathers. He was on a par with the best of them. Hans Urs von Balthasar called Newman as “a modern Augustine.” Like Augustine, Newman stressed “the heart”, the interior experience of faith, the conscience, and the personal encounter between the soul and God. Just as Augustine recounted his turbulent spiritual journey in his Confessions, so too Newman wrote an autobiography, his Apologia Pro Vita Sua. In it he described his own journey that led him to the fullness of truth; “It was like coming into port after rough seas,” he said. Like Augustine, Newman was brilliant but did not live in his head. He was a man of warmth. Relationships mattered. So too, friendship.
And like Augustine (and other church fathers such as Irenaeus and Athanasius), St. John Henry Newman commented extensively on Scripture. Newman interpreted many Scripture passages, including today’s readings. So this morning, we have the luxury of asking, “What does St. John Henry Newman have to say to us today?”
Luke 11:15-26
So let’s turn to the passage from Luke’s Gospel where Jesus expels a demon. Nothing Jesus said or did went uncontested by his enemies. He was accused of expelling demons by the power of Satan himself. Undeterred, Jesus doubles down for he came, not to argue, but to save sinners. Thus he warns that when a house, that is a soul, is swept clean of demons, the devil may return with seven other demons to re-inhabit that soul. Thus, the last state is worse than the first.
Newman tells us that the soul swept clean of demons represents any person whose soul has been cleared of flagrant sin, but who fails to replace sin with “a real and active faith and spiritual discipline.” Such a soul, says Newman, is not truly transformed, but has “only a semblance of faith and holiness.” A house that is clean but empty is a standing invitation to intruders. Likewise, such a soul is dangerously vulnerable.
Commenting on the same Gospel passage, Newman discusses how diligent and vigilant a soul must be in ridding itself of habitual sin. He warns that habitual sin can warp souls, lead to presumption, and induce a false peace based on moral compromises. Only when “the strong man”, namely, Christ, inhabits the soul is it guarded against a relapse into habitual sin. He adds that Christ inhabits the soul when the pattern of sin is replaced by the pattern of life in Christ – prayer, penance, the Mass, the Sacraments, & when the virtues that supplant the purged vices are intentionally practiced.
Galatians 3:7-14
This foundation for Newman’s interpretation of today’s Gospel is found in his commentary on our reading from Galatians. In that letter, St. Paul stresses that our justification comes about by faith, not by observance of the law, nor by our good works. In Newman’s day, Protestants and Catholics still debated what St. Paul meant. For Luther and indeed for most Protestants, we are justified by faith alone, not by our works, nor by any merit of our own. Salvation is a free gift to be received passively through faith, apart from any human effort, obedience to the law, or religious observance. Further, it is only Christ who is just in the Father’s eyes. To the rest of us, righteousness is merely imputed; our sins are not truly forgiven but covered over. Indeed, Luther distinguished justification from sanctification. God justifies us by a legal decree but we never really become holy.
While still an Anglican, Newman realized that God’s saving love does not remain extrinsic to our souls, the way oil lays on top of water, without penetrating it. Instead, he taught that God’s saving love penetrates to the core of our souls through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He calls faith “the impenetrating principle” whose agent is the Holy Spirit. Salvation remains a free gift and is not earned by anything we do. Yet, once the Spirit penetrates our depths (to return to the Gospel), the house swept clean is no longer empty but filled with the strength needed to lead a life of free of sin and full of virtue, in a word, a life where the holiness of God has found a home.
The Upshot for Us
If all this sounds a bit academic, rest assured it isn’t. Cardinal Newman’s motto, “cor ad cor loquitur” says it all for us! The Sacred Heart of Jesus confides to our heart of hearts the words of life. In his words is the breath of the Holy Spirit who inwardly transforms us, “from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness” as Neman said. The Word of Christ penetrates to the core of our existence— Isn’t this what Blessed Michael McGivney experienced in his spiritual life? Isn’t this what he wanted for his beloved Knights? And isn’t this what we want as the family of the Knights of Columbus?
Let us make no mistake. Many are hungry for just this experience. Nobody seriously searching for truth, meaning, & belonging will be content with a God who preserves his sovereign freedom by keep us at arm’s length. Only when his sanctifying power penetrates to the core is healing and hope offered to wounded souls and a wounded world. Cardinal Newman helps us to seize this moment in the Church’s life when people are searching, people are open, people are hungering and thirsting for something better than the burbling of a confused culture. So when we, the Knights of Columbus, double down on Cor and leadership,we are most certainly on the right track! Cardinal Newman told us so! Let us boldly proclaim what we have been given. Vivat Jesus!