Brother Bobby McFadden, a religious brother in training with the Congregation of the Holy Cross (with a PhD in Augustine studies), reflects on Newman’s sermon “Faith and Love”. To have an authentic faith is to love. If we have the love of God then the faith that we have is genuine, real. Love then is the sign of our faith. Newman helps us see faith as the beginning of religion – the belief in God’s omnipotence, His almighty power. We delight in God because He is good – His commandments are good. We can only obey the Lawgiver if we have the pure love of an infant since we are born with that seed of holiness. Here Brother Bobby highlights Newman’s insight on faith and works. We engage the world with faith while love is the internal dwelling of God. Love is the condition of faith and faith in turn is matures love – it brings out love into works and therefore is called the root of the works of love. The substance of the works is love – the outline and direction of them is faith. The Blessed Mother’s conviction that all things are possible with God (omnipotence) matures the love that moves her to say “Yes”. It is in the blessed Mother where Newman sees the unity of faith and works. If we don’t love God all works mean nothing because the love of God is our fundamental nature. Our need to see God is realized through the lens of love. It is charity that brought Christ down – charity is but another name for The Comforter. God became human out of His love for us. When we love, we enter into that Divine love that is our destiny. We are Christ’s by love.
To approach Newman's majestic thought it is highly recommended to download the formatted sermon at www.newmanontap.com. Comments and suggestions are appreciated on the same site.
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