With the forthcoming Papal Visit to our countries looming (September 2010) – during which His Holiness will beatify Cardinal Newman – the present monograph is apt indeed. Fr. Rear, a Catholic priest of the Diocese of East Anglia, whose own spiritual journey clearly owes much to the writings and witness of Blessed Newman, ought to be praised for having produced in this short compass such a well-researched and thought-provoking work.
It is particularly refreshing to read that Fr. Rear recognises the debt of the Catholic Church to Newman’s influence on the shaping of the Second Vatican Council (pp.31). From a personal perspective, it is pleasing to note that Fr. Rear makes mention of Newman’s devotion to the Fathers (pp.13); it is to be regretted that Newman, one of the great authorities on the Fathers (especially in regard to St. Athanasius and St. Ambrose), is rarely cited for having been such. If one slight criticism could be drawn from a work so short in length it would be on grounds of style: grammatical and typographical errors are frequent often threatening to break the fluency of the read.
For those planning on attending the Beatification Mass of John Henry Newman on Sunday the 19th September 2010 in Birmingham, and who in their reading have thus far missed the myriad of literature written on Newman, this is a good place to start. Fr. Rear is to be commended for recognizing with great sagacity that Newman was first and foremost a humble priest for whom everything else came a firm second. On the inauguration of the Year for Priests in June 2009, the Pope urged Christians “to hold up to your priests his example of dedication to prayer, pastoral sensitivity towards the needs of his flock, and passion for preaching the Gospel”: Fr. Rear both echoes this call and reminds us, should it be necessary, of precisely why Cardinal Newman is so special.

Dan McNamara for TheGoodBookStall (Posted on 28/10/2011)

Always getting into scrapes. This short booklet introduces Newman and his journey from the Church of England to being received into the Catholic Church based on impeccable doctrinal study, historical analysis and listening to God.
An esteemed scholar and humble servant of God, Michael Rear paints a picture of this truly exceptional man and the opposition to what people thought he was saying in his Tracts (an old-style Blog?), getting himself thrown out of his position in Oxford and not always welcome in Rome either! His utter commitment to the education and development of the Oratory and Schools and important role of the laity, his poetry and hymns are only miniscule parts of his considerable legacy.
Don’t be fooled. This is not all about some dusty and irrelevant scholar whose thoughts are confined to the mid-Victorian period. His views on the historical development of the Catholic Church vis a vis the Church of England, the dangers of religious liberalism which reduces religion to a matter of personal opinion rather than truth as revealed in the Scriptures, are (or should be) hot topics for us today. If you find all the rather academic books around at the moment in this year of his beatification too indigestible, do at least read this one. It’s worth it. (Posted on 13/07/2010)