For those of us who work in Campus Ministry, within the next few weeks, there’s a unique and special celebration that’s occurring.  Pope Francis will canonize John Henry Newman on October 13th – declaring him a saint.  It’s particularly meaningful since the development of “Newman Centers” as Campus Ministry centers began not long after his death – showing how on a grass-roots level, the people of God admired his vision and encouragement that there would be places where the Church could dialogue with communities at secular institutions, particularly on what he identified as a common goal between both institutions:  the search for truth.

To celebrate this, the Newman Catholic Center at Montclair State has commissioned a new painting of St. John Newman.  It’s entitled “Lead Kindly Light” – utilizing one of Newman’s most popular prayers.  The concept is envisioning Newman composing the prayer – lost in his gaze of Christ crucified, being lead by the Holy Spirit to write those beautiful words.  In the background will be some visionary images of the poem.

We’ve enlisted the talents of Mr. Michael Corsini once again (who last year completed another commission of “Christ the True Friend”)  to take this project on – and the above image is an initial sketch.  The hope is for the painting to be completed and installed over Christmas Break.

We’re most grateful for the kindness and generosity of our friends and benefactors in making this commission possible.  Such one-of a kind projects take a tremendous amount of time and effort and are understandably costly.  So for anyone interested in contributing to this project, please go to our website, www.REDHAWKCATHOLIC.com and click the Donate tab – or – you can send a check made out to “Newman Catholic Center” to our postal address of 894 Valley Road, Montclair NJ, 07043.

Thank you for your consideration!

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on.
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Meantime, along the narrow rugged path,
Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Saviour, lead me home in childlike faith,
Home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.