Newman on Tap Presents

Host Ron Snyder and his guest Leah Steele discuss St. John Henry Newman's sermon "Love of Religion: A New Nature," exploring what it means to be truly alive with Christ. Leah shares her conversion story — from a charismatic Protestant upbringing through a period of drifting, to finding the Eucharist and entering the Catholic Church in 2021. They reflect on Newman's themes of shadow and dream, the will cooperating with grace, and the lives of saints like Thérèse of Lisieux as examples of lived religion. Leah observes that God "works with what we give Him," growing our desi...

Father Robert Whitney joins the host Ron Snyder to discuss St. John Henry Newman's first Oxford University sermon, "The Philosophical Temper, First Enjoined by the Gospel", sharing how Newman kept reappearing throughout his own journey as a student of the classics, a seminarian, and now a teacher. They explore Newman's counter to the Enlightenment claim that religion is hostile to science, citing great scientists of faith — Lemaître, Mendel, Pasteur — and Pasteur's dictum that "a little science estranges men from God, but much science brings them back to Him." They unpack the "affective dimension" of education: Newman's insis...

In this episode, Dr. Keith Kuwata joins host Ron Snyder to discuss Newman's sermon "Tolerance of Religious Error," preached on the Feast of St. Barnabas in 1834. Keith, who was raised in a non-sacramental evangelical tradition before becoming an Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian and eventually entering the Catholic Church in 2003, draws on his own journey to illuminate Newman's critique of the Christianity of his age. He describes how his evangelical upbringing reduced faith to a single conversion experience — accepting Christ's atoning death — after which good behavior was expected to follow spontaneously, with any effort toward obedience feeling almost sinful, as if w...

Host Ron Snyder welcomes Olivia Firsching to discuss Newman's 1836 sermon "Doing Glory to God in Pursuits of the World," which challenges the idea that holiness requires withdrawing from ordinary life. Newman argues Christians are called to glorify God within daily work, relationships, and duty rather than escaping them — avoiding both worldliness and passive withdrawal. Olivia shares her own journey with Newman's writing and how the sermon's call to serve heartily resonated with her two years of homeless outreach ministry in Denver.

She recounts a particularly moving encounter from that time: on a cold day downtown, ne...

This episode of Newman on Tap Presents, hosted by Ron Snyder, features guest Sheila Berube, a retired Catholic Studies graduate student who discovered St. John Henry Newman through her coursework. Together they explore Newman's sermon The Danger of Accomplishments (1831), which warns that knowledge, talent, and accomplishment are only good insofar as they lead to virtuous action rather than empty feeling. They discuss how education and "refinement" can create a false sense of piety if it never translates into obedience and duty toward God. Sheila connects this to Newman's idea of the "gentleman" — someone who appears polished but ma...

This episode of Newman on Tap Presents, hosted by Ron Snyder, features guest Sheila Berube, a retired Catholic Studies graduate student who discovered St. John Henry Newman through her coursework. Together they explore Newman's sermon The Danger of Accomplishments (1831), which warns that knowledge, talent, and accomplishment are only good insofar as they lead to virtuous action rather than empty feeling. They discuss how education and "refinement" can create a false sense of piety if it never translates into obedience and duty toward God. Sheila connects this to Newman's idea of the "gentleman" — someone who appears polished but ma...

Host, Ron Snyder interviews poet Rita A. Simmonds reflecting on Newman's sermon "The Invisible World" through her own poetry. They explore Newman's idea that an unseen spiritual world exists alongside the visible one, pairing his sermon passages with Rita's poems on faith, loss, and grace. Rita shares deeply personal work inspired by her husband's death, alongside poems on Christ's presence, the good thief's redemption, and nature as a window into the eternal. The conversation moves through themes of hidden vs. revealed truth, the suddenness of grace, and seeing with "eyes of faith." Rita also connects Newman's influence...

This episode features host Ron Snyder in conversation with Dr. Robert Kennedy, a Catholic Studies professor at the University of St. Thomas, about Newman's sermon "The Gainsaying of Korah." Kennedy shares his winding academic path and how his early work on Orestes Brownson (1803 -1876, American Catholic convert, intellectual, social reform advocate, preacher) first connected him to Newman. The two dig into Newman's sermon on the Book of Numbers, exploring how Korah's rebellion against Moses and Aaron mirrors 19th-century challenges to priestly authority within the Church of England. Their discussion turns to pride, self-reliance, and rationalism as forces...

In this episode of Newman on Tap, host Ron Snyder is joined by Molly Schroeder, a middle school teacher, to discuss St. John Henry Newman's 1831 sermon "Religious Cowardice." Their conversation explores St. Mark's journey from timidity to boldness, contrasted with Moses' shift from passion to meekness, and highlights Newman's warning that peaceful, comfortable societies often breed passive faith and spiritual cowardice—an idea he revisits in his later writings. Molly and Ron draw parallels to modern life, noting how comfort and technology similarly dull people to genuine spiritual challenges today. They close by reflecting on grace, the role of tr...

This is a podcast conversation between host Ron Snyder and Dr. Mark Fulk, a 19th-century British literature scholar at Buffalo State University, discussing John Henry Newman's 1842 sermon The Christian Church an Imperial Power.
Dr. Fulk shares how his Anglican faith journey and literary interests led him to Newman, and describes his current book project arguing Newman's Anglican sermons deserve recognition as literature. The conversation focuses on Newman's vision of Christ's kingdom as an imperial but spiritual force — one that spreads not through military conquest but through missionary work, teaching, and righteous living, drawing heavily on Isaiah and the Ps...

In this episode of Newman on Tap, host Ron Snyder interviews Father Byron Hagan, a priest and former Nashville musician who came to Catholicism largely through the influence of John Henry Newman. Father Hagen explains how Newman served as an intellectual and spiritual bridge for evangelicals seeking deeper roots, ultimately drawing many — including himself — into full communion with the Catholic Church. The conversation centers on Newman's sermon "Contest between Truth and Falsehood in the Church," exploring how the struggle between truth and falsehood plays out not just in grand historical moments but in the everyday choices of indi...

Ron Snyder hosts a conversation with Lynn Tursich on his podcast Newman on Tap Presents, exploring John Henry Newman's 1835 sermon on intercessory prayer. Newman argues that Christians have a unique privilege and responsibility to pray — first for themselves, then for others, the Church, and even their enemies — as an expression of their faith and adopted place in Christ. Lynn connects Newman's teaching to the Divine Mercy message of St. Faustina, noting that both emphasize the power of intercessory prayer and our obligation to pray for sinners, including those near death. The conversation touches on holiness and obedience as c...

Episode 14 Season 4 – Righteousness, Not of Us, But in Us.

Host Ron Snyder and guest Dale Carlson discuss St. John Henry Newman's 1840 sermon "Righteousness, Not of Us, But in Us," exploring how all spiritual gifts — wisdom, righteousness, sanctification — come from Christ dwelling within us, not from our own nature. Dale shares his personal journey from a faithful Lutheran upbringing through conversion to Catholicism, driven by his wife's faith, Marian devotion, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and describes how his community in Park Rapids is now evangelizing through the Alpha program. The sermon's central argument is that pride...

This episode features English scholar Dr. Bernadette Waterman Ward - a Newman and Hopkins expert from the University of Dallas. The discussion centers on Newman's sermon "Obedience without Love, as Instanced in the Character of Balaam,” using the biblical figure of Balaam as a case study in a subtle but dangerous spiritual failure: obeying God outwardly while remaining self-centered at heart. Newman argues that religion practiced merely as self-management or social respectability — rather than as genuine love and surrender to God — leaves a person fundamentally misaligned with Him. The conversation draws on René Girard's concept of Meme...

In this episode of Newman on Tap, host Ron Snyder discusses Newman's 1828 sermon "Religion, A Weariness to the Natural Man" with guest Callie McDonald, a nurse and member of the forming Benedictine Oblates of Mary at the University of Mary in Bismarck. Newman's central argument is that religion feels burdensome not because it is lacking, but because the human heart is not yet aligned with God — as he writes, "We cannot expect the system of the universe to come over to us… these are fixed, we must go over to them." Callie brings this truth to life through her own...

In this episode host Ron Snyder interviews Dr. Peter Daly — orthopedic surgeon, co-founder of One World Surgery, and lifelong devotee of St. John Henry Newman. Together they explore Newman's sermon "The Yoke of Christ" (1839), examining how suffering, the Beatitudes, and the narrow way of the cross lead to true freedom and righteousness. Dr. Daly shares a deeply personal account of his 2021 bone marrow transplant, describing it as a transformative "purgatory experience" that stripped away self-reliance and brought him into profound intimacy with God. The conversation weaves Newman's unflinching theology — that a yoke is still a yoke, even Chri...

Host Ron Snyder and Patrick Reilly discuss St. John Henry Newman's sermon "Intellect, the Instrument of Religious Training" (1857). Patrick, founder of the Cardinal Newman Society (https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/) discusses how Newman argued that Catholic education must unite faith and intellect — that forming only the "gentleman" through liberal arts is insufficient without also tending to the soul. They explore Newman's depiction of how the fall fragmented the human soul, permitting the intellect, will, and passions to war against each other, and how this mirrors the fragmentation of the modern university. Newman's solution is that the Catholic Church, like St. Monica pr...

In this episode of Newman on Tap, host Ron Snyder discusses St. John Henry Newman's sermon "Faith and Private Judgment" with Dr. Glen Cowan, a retired orthodontist and lifelong Methodist who recently joined the Newman study group. Glenn shares how Newman's writings have transformed his faith by revealing the richness of Catholic tradition, the Church Fathers, and the importance of submitting to divine truth rather than relying solely on private interpretation of Scripture. The conversation explores Newman's distinction between faith in written words versus faith in living oracles (the Church and its teachers), emphasizing that true faith...

Host Ron Snyder discusses St. John Henry Newman's sermon "The Crucifixion" with 16-year-old Charlotte Walter from St. Rose Philippine Duchesne parish in Anthem, Arizona. Together they explore how to develop authentic faith beyond superficial feelings by examining Newman's concept of "dwelling" in Christ's sufferings through contemplative prayer, using vivid analogies of cruelty to animals, children, and elderly persons to make the crucifixion emotionally real. Charlotte reflects on how teenage faith programs often focus on emotional experiences, but true love requires both feeling and action—dwelling in Christ's suffering leads to deeper relationship with God. The discussion emphasizes th...

In this episode, Ron Snyder welcomes Paul Lorie from Erie, Pennsylvania to discuss St. John Henry Newman's sermon "Self-Denial: The Test of Religious Earnestness" (March 25, 1842). They explore Newman's challenge to examine whether we're truly awake in our faith or merely going through the motions, caught up in cultural Christianity rather than genuine spiritual commitment. Paul and Ron discuss how Newman calls us to daily self-denial as proof of authentic faith—not grand gestures, but small acts of love that push us beyond comfort and worldly interests. The conversation emphasizes that true Christian obedience, rooted in love like Ch...

In this episode host Dr. Ron Snyder discusses St. John Henry Newman's sermon "Christian Reverence" with Joe O'Sullivan, editor of the Bayou Catholic Magazine. Joe brings a unique perspective shaped by his formative experience in Dr. Don Briel's Newman course at the University of St. Thomas, which he credits as the most faith-solidifying class of his education. Throughout the discussion, Joe demonstrates Newman's gift for holding theological tensions—particularly the balance between Christ's mercy and kingship, and between fear and love in our relationship with God. He emphasizes Newman's remarkable ability to illuminate complex theological concepts through relatable human ex...

In this episode, host Dr. Ron Snyder welcomes Dr. Michael Adkins to discuss Newman's 1831 sermon "Scripture, A Record of Human Sorrow." Dr. Adkins, Director of Academics at St. Agnes School in St. Paul, Minnesota, explores how Newman challenges the Enlightenment's denial of the fall by revealing scripture's solemn character as a divine mercy—a remedy against the fleeting vanities of worldly pleasures. Through the Gospel story of the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda, Newman illustrates how we can spend our lives lying helpless by the pool, waiting for healing that only Christ can provide. The di...

Our guest today is Fr. Anthony Andreassi is a native of White Plains, NY, who was ordained a priest of the Brooklyn Oratory in 2007. Holds a doctorate in history from Georgetown University with a specialization in American Catholic history. Fr. Anthony spent 25 years in Catholic secondary education as a teacher and administrator.  He is author of Teach Me to Be Generous: A History of Regis High School in New York City(Fordham Univ Press, 2014). Fr. Anthony looks at the second of two sermons preached on the first anniversary of the founding of the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri in B...

James Libbey, a young adult, active parishioner at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Edina, Minnesota looks at Newman’s sermon “The Visible Church an Encouragement to Faith.” Here Newman reminds us that God never leaves His faithful ones to walk alone; the visible Church surrounds us with living signs of His presence and the steady witness of His saints. Even when we feel scattered or alone, we are upheld by a great company – past and present – who help us lift our hearts and eyes to Christ and run the race with renewed courage. 

To approach...

Greg Aitchison—a father of four, former middle school theology teacher, and now a Catholic health coach and Catholic religion curriculum planner—reflects on St. John Henry Newman’s sermon “The Power of the Will.” Greg highlights Newman’s central conviction: unless we labor for sanctity, our projects amount to nothing. Newman insists that we must firmly set our will on loving God; without this intentional desire, we will never reach union with Him. Our shortcomings, Newman says, do not primarily arise from our fallen nature but from lacking “one thing”—the genuine desire to be made new. We are privil...

Fiona Muir, a physician’s assistant graduate student, former Fellowship of Christian Athlete leader, and collegiate All-American swimmer finds “God the Way maker “ in Newman’s sermon “The Work of the Christian.” Here we discover that God’s plan is bigger than we can image allowing us to actively participate in His providence while letting go of our own control - a surrender to Divine Providence. Newman leads us to understand that as we reach towards God we must pause and receive His direction and will. Grace gives us the strength to do the work of our calling. When...

As a priest of the St. John Society—a community that honors St. John Henry Newman as its intellectual patron—Fr. John Poodts reflects on Newman’s sermon “A Particular Providence Revealed in the Gospel,” which profoundly influenced his vocation to the priesthood. The sermon exemplifies the power of Newman’s prose, moving hearts through his deep understanding of Scripture and his ability to reveal God’s personal love made manifest in the concrete reality of the Incarnation. Drawing on the insights of the early Church Fathers, Newman develops the idea that Divine condescension is more than God’s mere low...

Raymond Mitchell, director of liturgy and Sunday experience at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Edina, Minnesota investigates Newman’s sermon, “The World’s Benefactors.” With Newman, Raymond sees that the beauty of the liturgy helps us rehearse for eternal life. It is in the liturgy where we find the living Christ; in the Eucharist, The Word, preaching, each other, music, and architecture. Newman uses St. Andrew to highlight that it is in the personal that we find and share Christ. Our purpose in the world is to share what we receive in the liturgy. Silence in liturgy appeals...

Dr. Paul Shrimpton from Oxford, England discusses a sermon offering a central claim of the Oxford Movement. Newman opens by moving from a wide seep of Christian history to the particulars of personalism showing us that ultimately truth is propagated over time by the sharing of lives. The directives of scripture must be lived to have influence on others. Errors in defining truth readily take the upper hand since the delicate matters about God often rest in broad non-specifics where words can’t fully transmit divine truth. Since truth is found through the assemblage of scattered evidence ov...

Fr. Ignacio Llorente, a priest of the Saint John’s Society (a society of apostolic life with St. John Henry Newman as their intellectual father) discusses Newman’s Oxford University sermon “Wisdom, Contrasted with Faith and with Bigotry.”  This sermon is one of the last three sermons (of the 15-sermon series) which together are a preparation for Newman’s classic, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. Newman establishes that faith has an implicit and spontaneous aspect where wisdom is a more mature development of thought. Faith like reason is an active, spontaneous energy within us where wisdo...

As a mental health therapist and mother of three young boys Hannah Rangel (my daughter) reflects on Newman’s realism that appears in the sermon “Christ Hidden from the World.” Newman shows us that Christ dwells in the ordinary where we are called to carry Him to the world in our “earthly tabernacle.” Since true religion is a hidden life in the heart, our secret, deep desire for God is our call to be holy. Led by Newman’s insight that those physically closest to Christ on earth were the ones that brutally murdered Him, Hannah asks a piercing q...

Patrick Freese, sacristan and administrator at Our Lady of Grace parish in Edina, Minnesota begins this Eucharistic episode with a reflection on the parish wide support for the families of neighboring Annunciation Parish following the horrific all school mass shooting. Patrick opens his reflection of Newman’s sermon “Gospel Feast” by appropriately noticing the tension found in God’s created world that is simultaneously fruitful and broken. This tension is answered by the Gospel feast in the innocent sacrifice of Christ. Both the Old and New Testaments prefigure this sacred meal as not only the sustenance of our pres...

Fr. Scott Karl, vice rector of St. Paul Seminary in St Paul, Minnesota describes their innovative priestly formation program considering Newman’s seminary opening sermon, “The Infidelity of the Future.” Like Newman the seminary is focused on human and spiritual formation. For instance, most of the seminarian’s time is without cell phones so that they can focus on their encounter with The Lord, themselves and each other to grow in new ways in the freedom found in the life of The Holy Spirit. The seminary aims to form missionary disciples dealing with “the perils of the time.” New...

Dr. Zach Meckley, PhD, brings G. M. Hopkins’ insights into his discussion of Newman’s sermon, “Sincerity and Hypocrisy.” Dr. Meckley sets the tone by affirming that faith is not a suspension of reason, but rather its fulfillment. Hopkins, for instance, seeks to give nature its proper praise as a means of fully praising God—a recognition of God’s presence and an invitation to welcome Him into one’s heart.

Practicing the presence of God fosters single-mindedness: a purity of heart directed toward seeking God’s will. The Fall, as Dr. Meckley notes, reveals man’s unwillingn...

Dave Berg, longtime active Catholic friend, reacts to Newman’s 1834 sermon “Christian Zeal.”  Dave brings to light Newman’s understanding of zeal as a particular Christian grace that is perfected by faith and love. Without these virtues an incomplete zeal leads to a lukewarm state of mind with a temper of religious indifference. True zeal is guided by Christ’s example, an earnest desire for God’s honor. Newman offers saints Simon and Jude as prototypes of Christ’s loyalty in that they did not merely obey but they obeyed with promptitude, energy, dutifulness, disinterested devotion, disregard of consequences...

Dr. Scott Goins, classics professor from McNeese St. University, finds Newman’s theory of education as a model for today’s educators. Newman’s pedagogical elevation of communal learning finds a home in today’s technological teaching. The sermon “Invisible Presence of Christ” insists that by allowing God’s presence we permit ourselves to be what we are meant to be. The unlikely survival and spread of Christianity throughout the ages is evidence of the existence of that Spirit. This same Spirit enters each of us through our shared search for happiness. Excessive individuality is an attempt to replace thi...

Fr Sean Magnuson, former military chaplain, analyzes Newman's sermon "Purity and Love” by explaining that fervent love must come from the substance of purity, like a candle's flame coming from the substance of its wax. The life of St. John the Evangelist shows us that his burning love for Christ and His mother fed on his purity. Newman explains that when we are drawn to God's goodness and beauty with our own powers we freely and genuinely love Him and in turn, others. Grace received in purity works within our individual will by properly ordering our desire to...

Olivia Spanton, a Catholic Studies graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and now young financial planner, parish volunteer, and youth volleyball coach discusses Newman’s 1870 sermon, “Stewards and also Sons of God.” Olivia finds Newman relatable in that his style calls us out as he contrasts religion with the world. She presents the sermon theme as our need to realize that all of our God given gifts are to be returned to Him. Our duty lies in this – we are only borrowing God’s gifts therefore we have a duty to return them to Hi...

Caitlan Rangel looks at Newman’s sermon “The Duty of Self-Denial”. Newman helps us realize that we discover ourselves when we find true peace in the self-denying love of Christ. When this selfless love takes the form of co-suffering there is a profound closeness to the Lord. Like Christ, by giving up ourselves, we find joy. 

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. 

William Yanek, FOCUS missionary at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota looks closely Newman’s sermon “Christian Manhood”. Here William finds Newman explaining that true manhood is found when we break from our desire for worldly things and grow to desire only unity with God. This desire, provided by the Holy Spirit, is not a zero-sum game. We don’t earn His infinite mercy. Entering into His mercy is the only important thing. If our desires end only in worldly things, we become stuck and slaves to things of this world rather than pursue the ultimate beatitude for whic...