ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN ON FRIENDSHIP, PERSONAL INFLUENCE & SHARING THE TRUTH
John Henry Newman, a saint and the newest Doctor of the Church, famously took for his cardinal’s motto the phrase, “Cor ad cor loquitur” (“heart speaks unto heart”), foregrounding the indispensable role of personal witness and personal connection in the life of faith. What does Newman’s idea imply for the way we seek and share the truth? What difference should it make in our own friendships? Our exploration of these questions will be guided by three of Newman’s classic sermons: “Love of Relations & Friends”; “Intellect, the Instrument of Religious Training”; and “Personal Influence, the Means of Propagating the Truth.”