WOF 514: Celebrating St. John Henry Newman Becoming a Doctor of the Church

Pope Leo XIV has recently formally declared St. John Henry Newman—who was canonized only in 2019 by Pope Francis—a doctor of the Catholic Church, a recognition given only to 37 other saints in Catholicism's over 2000 year history. This places Newman among great figures like St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Jerome, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Theresa de Avila, St. Catherine of Sienna, and the Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux. What is the significance of giving St. John Henry Newman—an Englishman and Anglican convert to Catholicism who was born over 200 years ago—this title? What is it about Newman's approach to communicating the faith that earned him this great honor—and why now?  Equally important, how can contemporary evangelists draw inspiration from his work to proclaim the Gospel in a drastically different world, religiously and morally, from Newman's 19th century Victorian England?

A listener asks for advice on how to give better homilies at Mass.

00:00 | Introduction
01:26 | Bishop Barron's recent domestic travels
03:20 | Defining "Doctor of the Church"
04:55 | Distinguishing doctors from saints
05:50 | John Henry Newman's brief biography
12:18 | Understanding the development of doctrine
17:41 | Safeguards against corruption
22:33 | The wholeness of the truth
25:34 | Newman: "To live is to change"
29:28 | The "illative sense" of the mind's assent to propositions
34:10 | Difficulties vs. doubt
35:54 | How Newman speaks to England now
37:55 | Listener question: How can priests improve preparation for homilies?
39:58 | Join the Word on Fire Institute

Links:

• Word on Fire Institute: https://institute.wordonfire.org/

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