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About Father Juan Velez

Fr. Juan R. Vélez is a Catholic priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, presently working in San Francisco and Berkeley. He was born in Venezuela and raised in Colombia, England and the United States. He holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre. Fr. Juan has a medical degree, also from the University of Navarre, and was previously board certified in internal medicine. He is author of Passion for Truth, the Life of John Henry Newman (TAN, 2012) and co-author of Take Five, Meditations with John Henry Newman (Our Sunday Visitor, 2010). He has also published a number of journal articles on theology and on medical ethics. He posts short reflections on Cardinal Newman's writings at: www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com

Newman: Patron of Adult Faith Formation

By Father Juan Velez

[Originally posted at CatholicLane.com]

Adult Catholics have many questions such as: What is the Church’s doctrine on communion for married Catholics who after a civil divorce have entered into a second union? Is Jesus truly present in the Holy Eucharist? What is wrong with IVF?

These and many other questions that confuse Catholics indicate the need for deeper adult faith formation in our country and throughout the world. The degree of misinformation about religion and society has only increased with its easier access via cyberspace networks. So often writers misquote Cardinal Newman’s “to grow is to change” without conveying his understanding of growth in continuity. Catholics are swayed by beliefs and practices that are contrary to the faith, which many try to pass as authentic Catholic teaching.

newman-elcorenet-01lgJohn Henry Newman (1801-1890), English convert from the Anglican to the Catholic Church, whose feast day falls on October 9th, could be considered the patron of adult faith formation, as I propose below.

Newman lived in a nineteenth century England which was marked by modern technological development and an industrial revolution – with a consequent rise in materialism and atheism. He understood well the materialistic and relativistic culture, which is why he is able to speak to our times. He also defended the harmony between faith and reason that is so much lacking in our society. Our time prides itself in scientific advances and looks to science almost as a god. Like St. Josemaría Escrivá and St. John Paul II, Newman taught lay people to strive for holiness in their work and daily pursuits, whether in universities, factories, or fields, finding the harmony between faith and reason.

Blessed Newman, beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on September 19, 2010, offers us a deep understanding of the Church’s tradition, teaching office, and true development of doctrine, countering the prevalent and simplistic approach to growth in doctrine.

With regard to change, or what he called development in doctrine, he wrote: “(It) is indeed sometimes said that the stream is clearest near the spring. Whatever use may fairly be made of this image, it does not apply to the history of a philosophy or belief, which on the contrary is more equable, and purer, and stronger, when its bed has become deep, and broad, and full.” He explained that, for this to happen, authentic development must be in continuity with the past.

Newman is the person to whom we can turn for developing a better program for adult faith formation (RCIA) and continuing education, especially in parishes, but also at Newman centers in our universities. When adults really study and learn about the faith they discover its beauty and inner logic; they are motivated to go deeper, and they become capable of transmitting it to their children and co-workers.

Knowledge of the faith is attractive and engaging. It leads to a growth in friendship with Christ. As a result we are able to evangelize and to teach it to family and friends. Newman had many friends and cultivated friendships with people, and he realized that through genuine friendship one can have a healthy influence on others.

The study of the Catechism and the Gospels in parish adult formation can be supplemented with some selections of Newman’s writings on the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Scriptures, the Sacraments, as well as on the moral life, taken from some of his books, such as Development of Christian Doctrine and Grammar of Assent.

His novel Callista, about a young third century Christian convert, serves as a moving example and guide for apologetics today. In it we can see how the heroine is attracted to Christianity by a deep desire for happiness. Soon she begins to read the New Testament, discovers the person of Jesus Christ, and starts to listen to her moral conscience speaking to her of right and wrong. The Church’s doctrine makes things clear for her, and in the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, she finds union with her new Love.

Adult faith formation and continuing education should include the study of the lives of saints, and their writings. It should also include Church history, for example, The History of the Church by Peter Armenio (from the Didache series). For more detailed studies there are the works of Philip Hughes or Christopher Dawson.

But accepting the Church’s moral teaching requires more than doctrine, or better a doctrine that becomes part of one’s life. Christian formation is a path that entails growth in virtue and the habit of daily prayer. The writings of saints like St. Theresa of Àvila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Francis de Sales are fundamental guides along this path. Here, too, Newman serves himself as a guide. In addition to his sermons, in particular the Parochial and Plain Sermons from his Anglican period, he offers beautiful meditations and prayers composed as a Roman Catholic (Meditations and Devotions).

Just as there are patrons for all types of endeavors, we need a patron for adult formation, and Blessed Newman is just that person. However, first he would need to be canonized – which we hope will take place in the near future. In the mean time, the United States bishops could obtain permission from the Holy See to celebrate throughout the country the memorial Mass each year on his saint’s day, October 9.

[Editor’s note: see Blessed John Henry Newman, Ora Pro Nobis.]

Fr. Juan R. Vélez, author of Passion for Truth, the Life of John Henry Newman (St. Benedict’s Press, 2011). He writes at www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com

Read all posts by Father Juan Velez Filed Under: Catechism, Featured, RCIA & Adult Education, Resources Tagged With: adult education, Blessed John Henry Newman, catechism, RCIA, saints

Students Praying to Know God’s Will

By Father Juan Velez

Kids learn from their siblings, their friends, and especially their parents. It is important that from an early age kids see their parents praying, working, serving others, and reading. They will imitate them and over time grow and mature with these indispensable habits. In other words, parents are the first Catechists. And if they are close to their children and affectionate they can inspire them. When parents do this they are Amazing Catechists.

family blessingParents should teach their children from a young age that God has a loving plan for each one of them. This plan is one for their happiness here on earth and in heaven. It is a plan that gradually unfolds like a trip in the country that begins in one place in the woods and leads to a lake and then to a mountaintop. The trip entails preparation, sacrifice and perseverance. Happiness or success in life does not  consist in having many trophies or money to buy things. It lies in doing what God planned for us as his children, using well the gifts that He gave us in this world. This is how we reach the mountaintop which is Heaven.

Blessed Cardinal Newman wrote: “God knows what is my greatest happiness, but I do not. There is no rule about what is happy and good; what suits one would not suit another. And the ways by which perfection is reached vary very much; the medicines necessary for our souls are very different from each other. Thus God leads us by strange ways; we know He wills our happiness, but we neither know what our happiness is, nor the way. We are blind; left to ourselves we should take the wrong way; we must leave it to Him” (Meditations and Devotions).

But how does one know God’s plan for one’s life? Another question is: if God has a plan for me, does He give me any real freedom to choose? The answer to the second question requires more time but, in short, God gives us freedom to choose what is good and true, and the best we can choose is what He knows is good for us. Returning to the first question, we usually discover God’s plan gradually in a number of ways: the use of our reason, circumstances such as people and places that God puts in our path, interests and likes that we have, times of personal prayer and the advice that we receive from persons with experience and good formation.

There is another element to discovering God’s plan: asking Him to show it to us. And this is where parents can help their young children: praying with them every day something akin to the following: Lord, I know that you have a loving plan for me; help me to discover the talents that you have given me and to put these at your service. As children study in middle school they can add to their prayer: Lord, show me where I should study high school and what I should do after high school, how I can serve you with the talents that you have given to me.

Children and youth rarely think in this way. If they did they would receive many graces and listen better to the inspirations of God the Holy Spirit. They would also take more seriously their studies, and develop a vocational sense in life. Rather than go about thinking, how can I have as much fun as I can with as little work as possible, they would think, how can I serve God well, developing the gifts He has granted me. Encourage your children to pray in this way, keeping in mind other words of Cardinal Newman: “God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another” (Meditations and Devotions).

Your children who are age ten now will begin college or a trade school in only eight years. This time goes by very fast. Inspire them to be the best they can be, to use their time well and to develop good study habits. In a book I just published, A University Education for the 21st Century: The Opening of the American Mind, I suggest the importance of a liberal arts education based on the classical Western Tradition, and discuss how students and parents can choose between colleges and universities. But long before this, children need to grow in love and friendship with Our Father God and his Son Jesus Christ. They need to thank Him for the talents He has bestowed on them and to develop them through good habits of study and work. And they need to pray to Him for the light to know his plans. In the end, responding to God’s grace, through hard work and service to others, sacrifice and perseverance, they will reach Heaven.

university

Fr. Juan R. Vélez, author of Passion for Truth, the Life of John Henry Newman, and most recently A University Education for the 21st Century: The Opening of the American Mind, available through Amazon. Find Father’s writings on Blessed Newman here: www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com

Read all posts by Father Juan Velez Filed Under: Elementary School, General, High School, Middle School, Prayer, Resources Tagged With: A University Education for the 21st Century: The Opening of the American Mind, Blessed Cardinal Henry Newman, Catholic, discernment, education, Juan R. Velez, prayer

Father Juan Velez

By Father Juan Velez

Fr. Juan R. Vélez is a Catholic priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, presently working in San Francisco and Berkeley. He was born in Venezuela and raised in Colombia, England and the United States. He holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre. Fr. Juan has a medical degree, also from the University of Navarre, and was previously board certified in internal medicine. He is author of Passion for Truth, the Life of John Henry Newman (TAN, 2012) and co-author of Take Five, Meditations with John Henry Newman (Our Sunday Visitor, 2010). He has also published a number of journal articles on theology and on medical ethics. He posts short reflections on Cardinal Newman’s writings at: www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com

Read all posts by Father Juan Velez Filed Under: Columnists

Two Statues: Book Review

By Father Juan Velez

Review by Fr. Juan R. Vélez, author of “Passion for Truth, the Life of John Henry Newman.”Cover_Two_Statues

Two Statues, by Brian Kennelly is a beautiful novel about the lives of men who find meaning in their suffering through a strange series of religious experiences. The story involves various elaborate suspense-filled plots of two sets of characters: two priests teaching at a college in Worcester, Massachusetts, and two men retired on an island off the coast of South Carolina.

The charming descriptions of the coastal town settings and a peaceful South Carolina beach, as well as the intricate resolution of the main plot point, reveals the beauty and power of God, whose Providence guides the lives of men and gives meaning to their suffering.

The story conveys a rich religious content through many simple and real life conversations between the protagonists, as well as the music of a violin played at sunrise on the beach. The well-developed characters and their actions evoke the compassion of the reader, who thus enters into the tension between suffering and Providence.

Fr. Peter, a young priest, battles with unresolved pain from early childhood abuse by an adopted father who was an alcoholic. Yet, he recalls the love of nuns who had previously raised him until the age of ten at an orphanage. In his youth, he falls into a life of addiction to drugs before discovering his purpose in life and returning to God.

Walt, a Catholic and retired widower, prays every day to God for a son he abandoned when his wife died shortly after delivery. At sunrise, he speaks to his deceased wife Olivia, while playing the violin on the beach.

These two lives, riddled with deep sorrow and frustration, need to find healing and reconciliation. Fr. Paul, another young priest, and Buck, a Protestant and single retired man, each help their respective friends to come to grips with God’s forgiveness for their past sins and discover a deeper sense of meaning for their lives.

But all this is only possible through grace. In words of the famous novel, Diary of a Country Priest, “all is grace.” God’s Providence at work through a strange event involving two statues of the Virgin Mary leads Fr. Peter and Walt to meet and experience God’s mercy.

The reader would have benefited from some additional narrative on the lives of the priests, offering insights into their thought processes, and showing them at prayer. Even more, the author might have presented the message of the Mother of God in a slightly more maternal and spiritual manner.

The reader wishes the denouement to have been prolonged a little further, yet the novel still gives him or her a powerful sense of God’s grace restoring a priest to his calling. In all this, a little orphan girl from Guatemala shows us how charity unveils God’s mercy and how God always responds to prayer, here in the form of the sounds of a violin.

Two Statues is an inspiring tale of love and hope.

Brian is now writing a novel on the life of Bl. Giorgio Frassati, which will attempt to capture the same Providence at work in the lives of imperfect men and women.

Read all posts by Father Juan Velez Filed Under: Book Reviews, General

Cardinal Newman’s Ideas on Children’s Religious Formation

By Father Juan Velez

 

JohnHenryNewmanBoys and girls are like soft sponges that absorb all the water around them. They acquire piety and virtue or vice depending on the influence they receive at home, school and church. Children learn and grow in the Faith when they have an environment that fosters piety and virtues in a natural way. Catechists can help parents to create a surrounding which invites this growth and development of children’s Faith.

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) grew up in a home with two other brothers and two sisters. As a child his paternal grandmother, a woman with deep faith and piety, had a particular influence on him. She would read regularly to John Henry from the Bible. He had a good mother, and an upright and hardworking father. Despite this good family environment and that of the boarding school which he attended, when he was a young teenager he read parts of some books from authors that questioned the Christian Faith. In part due to his good upbringing and the religious influence of the schoolmaster, Newman underwent a spiritual conversion. He put aside bad reading and accepted the truths revealed in the Bible and in Church doctrine.

This personal conversion experience and his observation of the moral dissipation of students at Oxford University, where he attended Trinity College, reinforced Newman’s conviction for the need of good doctrinal formation and the exercise of virtue. After graduating from Trinity College, Newman was appointed a Tutor at Oriel College, also at Oxford. He dedicated time to the students under his care, looking after their moral and spiritual lives, not only their academic needs. A few years later he was ordained an Anglican clergyman and, at the nearby village of Littlemore, he established a Sunday school where he carefully looked after the catechism instruction of children, and taught them to sing hymns for the liturgy.

In 1845 while teaching at Oxford, Newman became a Roman Catholic. Two years later, he was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome and was asked by Pope Pius IX to begin the English Oratory of St. Philip Neri. A few years later, at the petition of the Irish Bishops, he established the Catholic University of Ireland. But one of Newman’s least well known achievements was the founding of the Oratory School near Birmingham in 1859.

One of the main reasons for starting this school was to provide good Catholic instruction for students, while offering them the academic opportunities of the then so-called Public Schools (in reality private Protestant boarding schools). At the Oratory School children’s religious formation consisted of a combination of religious instruction, devotions and character formation. In one of his sermons, Newman contended, “Youths need a masculine religion, if it is to carry captive their restless imaginations, and their wild intellects, as well as to touch their susceptible hearts” (Sermon Preached on Various Occasions).

Fr. Newman and Fr. Ambrose St. John, the school principal, supervised the religious instruction, which included lessons and sermons. The Scripture was studied in English, Latin and Greek. The students learnt the catechism and tested each other in pairs in the presence of Newman or St. John.

Two priests of the Oratory were assigned as chaplains to the school. Mass was offered every day in the school chapel, and the priests heard confessions. From his experience as a priest, Newman realized the need for the Sacrament of Confession. He knew that it is not enough for students to have good doctrine; for them to live the virtues they need God’s grace and forgiveness, which comes to them through the Sacraments. A teacher at another private school remarked on how fortunate the students at the Oratory School were. Their frequent reception of the Sacrament of Confession helped them to practice the virtues, and especially chastity, a virtue that can be difficult for boys and young men to live.

Upon becoming Catholic, Newman discovered the healthy effects on the mind and heart of popular devotions, especially when joined to a sound knowledge of religious truths and the exercise of the virtues. Thus, the Oratory school had a Eucharistic procession for the Feast of Corpus Christi, Stations of the Cross during Lent, the Forty Hour’s Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and a novena for the feast of St. Philip Neri. There were Marian devotions during the month of May and the prayer of the Holy Rosary was recommended. Newman composed prayers for all of these devotions, including a commentary to the names given to the Virgin Mary in the Litany of Loreto.

These pious devotions nourished a strong love for God and a Christian life. Students were encouraged to exercise the human and moral virtues. They had the example of instructors and tutors as well as that of the Oratorian priests. Newman wanted the students to learn how to use their freedom correctly in a healthy environment of friendship, study and piety. The students also learnt through the normal daily interactions with each other, including sports.

Newman relied greatly on the help of women, then called “matrons,” for the direct supervision and care of the younger children. These caring women, as well as Newman, communicated frequently and directly with the parents concerning the children’s needs and progress. In this manner, parents were kept involved in the education of their children and the school staff was aware of any particular concerns. With this close cooperation between parents and staff the school was like a home away from home.

The future cardinal exerted a great deal of dedication and patience in the work of catechesis and formation of youth. His effort involved a lot of insight and some degree of trial and error, as described by Paul Shrimpton in, A Catholic Eton? Newman’s Oratory School (2005). Foremost, his work was the fruit of a unitary vision of the connection between doctrine, piety and character formation, and awareness of the joint role of teachers, parents and peers.

Cardinal Newman, declared Blessed in 2010, carried out this work with a sense of measure and patience. He was demanding and strict when necessary but preferred to instruct and persuade youth. He wished them to grow in responsibility and become mature Catholics exercising a Christian influence in society. He teaches us by his example and way of thinking to carry out this important work of Christian formation in a similar way.

Rev. Juan R. Vélez is author of Passion for Truth, the Life of John Henry Newman (TAN 2012). He writes on Newman at www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com

Read all posts by Father Juan Velez Filed Under: Catechetics, Scripture, Theology

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