Last year the September meditation was on Cardinal Cooke; this year another cardinal. Pope Benedict will beatify Cardinal Newman on September 19, during the papal visit to Great Britain. Cardinal Newman is a great theologian, spiritual writer and poet who came into the full communion of the Catholic Church from the Anglican Communion. Almost all of his life was dedicated to education. He lectured at Oxford, tried to help found a Catholic university in Dublin (he was more successful than he seemed in his own time, it still exists)and wished that all people were given the benefit of a good education. His work as an educator was not just lecturing on topics and writing, but also preaching and reaching out to his students to support their spiritual
lives. At most non-Catholic colleges, the Catholic ministry to students, faculty and staff is known as the Newman Center, named after the cardinal, who gave his life to educating young people. There will be a lot of material available concerning Cardinal Newman. So I will only give a few dates and spend some time on his writings..

To download this meditation click  here: Meditation_October_2010.pdf

Fr. Russell Becker, O.F.M.
Secretary for Missionary Evangelization

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