2019: The Year of Reading Newman

I just can't let my reading year in review go without commenting on how much I read in and about St. John Henry Newman last year.

With Matt Swaim and Anna Mitchell on the Son Rise Morning Show I completed a long series of discussions of Newman's life and works starting in January and ending in October the day after his canonization. We covered many aspects of his life and works so I re-read many of his great books, dipping into them, and consulting works about Newman.

I presented a paper on Newman and Papal Infallibility at the Eighth Day Institute Florovsky-Newman Week in June last year.

The Theology Institute at the Spiritual Life Center has included works by and about Newman in recent monthly discussions, using Bishop Robert Barron's Exploring Catholic Theology: Essays on God, Liturgy, and Evangelization. Two chapters highlight Newman: "A Tale of Two Cardinals: Avery Dulles's Creative Engagement with the Thought of John Henry Newman" and "John Henry Newman among the Postmoderns". Three of the priest guest speakers have talked about Newman in their presentations during our once-a-month meetings: on Newman and the Fathers, on Newman's Personalism, and on Newman as a Doctor of the Church. We'll continue our exploration of Newman with lectures on his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine today.

Two of the books on my best of the year list highlighted Newman: Vatican I and Mary's Bodily Assumption.

And, finally, I made two presentations at the Spiritual Life Center's Newman Retreat in November on "Newman in Wichita" and "Newman and the Laity".

So 2019 was a Newman Reading Year indeed, even though I did not read one book totally dedicated to Newman!

Among the works consulted:

Parochial and Plain Sermons
University Sermons
Apologia Pro Vita Sua
The Dream of Gerontius
Meditations and Devotions
Loss and Gain
A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk
Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine
The Grammar of Consent
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
The Idea of A University

Father Ian Ker's Biography of Newman
Newman on Vatican II by Father Ian Ker
Newman and History by Edward Short
John Henry Newman: Spiritual Director by Peter Wilcox