John Cardinal Newman
An Eight Day Meditation
For more on the Venerable John Newman see the
list of information at the Newman reader. See also the long
article on Newman in the 1913
Catholic Encyclopedia.
Be sure to look at Cardinal Newman's Short
Road to Perfection.
The Catholic Catechism states that
"meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion and desire.
This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our
convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and
strengthen our will to follow Christ." Sec.
2708 (emphasis added). "Meditation is
above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of
the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord
is asking... We are usually helped by books [especially
scripture]." Sec.
2705. "To meditate on what we read helps
us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves."
Sec.
2706. Catechism
of the Catholic Church.
- In these meditations, Cardinal Newman suggests
you use your imagination to enrich scripture and prayer.
"Don't forget that it was St. Ignatius of Loyola who strongly
promoted the use of imagination in meditation. His work,
the
Spiritual Exercises, is a monumental
classic of the Catholic Tradition. In it he shows how fantasy will
enhance our understanding and appreciation of Scripture, and how
we can talk to Christ using the imagination.
When we read something, a story or a novel, we
create a picture of it in our minds. St. Ignatius simply builds on
this natural tendency. Thus, in the material for the second week of
the Spiritual Exercises he says, " The first Prelude is a
composition, seeing the place: ...here [we] see with the
sight of the imagination, the synagogues,[5] villages and
towns through which Christ our Lord preached." From our page,
Awaken
to Prayer, How to Pray as a Catholic.
NRSV scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version
of the Bible, copyrighted 1989, by the Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
- The text of the meditations is from Cardinal Newman's
Meditations and Devotions, Longmans, Green and Co. (1893) pp.
207-224.
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- The text and images are presented for religious and
educational purposes only. No other use is intended or
permitted.
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- This meditation is part of the East
Lewis County Catholic Community web site. To see a list of our
other pages, go to our master
index, or site map.