Gospel in Art: Feast of Saint John Henry Newman

John Henry Newman by Sir John Millais, 1881 © Alamy National Portrait Gallery, currently at Arundel Castle

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 9 October 2026
Matthew 13:47-52

At that time: Jesus said to the crowd, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

'Have you understood all these things?' They said to him, 'Yes.' And he said to them, 'Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.'

Reflection on the painting

Saint John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was one of the great intellectual and spiritual figures of nineteenth-century England. Born in London, he was first ordained as an Anglican priest and became a leading voice in the Oxford Movement, which sought to recover the Catholic roots of the Church of England. His deep study of the early Church Fathers gradually led him into full communion with the Catholic Church in 1845. He was later ordained a Catholic priest and founded the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Birmingham, dedicating much of his ministry to preaching and writing.

Newman's writings on conscience, faith and the development of doctrine continue to shape Catholic thought today. In 1879, Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal, and in 2019 Pope Francis canonised him in St Peter's Square. I had begun seminary only a month earlier and was fortunate enough to be there for the canonisation: a truly beautiful and memorable day!

Newman's motto, Cor ad cor loquitur - "Heart speaks to heart" - beautifully captures his understanding of faith. Christianity was never simply a collection of ideas to be understood intellectually. It was ultimately an encounter: the heart of Christ speaking directly to the human heart.

For those wishing to discover Newman further, I would also like to share a series of podcasts produced by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, offering some wonderful insights into his life and spirituality: click here.

Our portrait was painted by John Everett Millais in 1881, when Newman was nearly eighty, and was commissioned by the Duke of Norfolk, one of his great supporters. Millais makes no attempt to disguise Newman's age. His shoulders have dropped, his body sinks slightly into the chair, and his cardinal's robes seem almost too large for the frail figure within them. There is something wonderfully human about him. There are no books to advertise his immense intellect, no grand architecture and no elaborate symbols of ecclesiastical power. Look especially at his hands, almost firsts, resting quietly in his lap.

But it is his face that holds us. Pale, lined and thoughtful, it conveys both formidable intelligence and great gentleness. These are the features of a man who had thought deeply, struggled greatly and changed the direction of his life at enormous personal cost in order to follow what he believed to be true. Perhaps that is why Millais' portrait suits Newman so well. He does not simply paint the great theologian, the famous convert or the cardinal. He paints the man beneath all those titles. The robes tell us what Newman became; the face tells us who he was.

LINKS

Christian Art: www.christian.art
Today's Reading: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-13-47-52-2026-2/