Sermon Blog

The Invisible Presence of Christ

David Warren April 11, 2026
Three Minutes with Newman
Three Minutes with Newman
The Invisible Presence of Christ
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God warned us long ago, in the days of Isaiah, that His ways were not our ways. He made good on that promise in the Incarnation. As none could have expected, God’s salvation plan was to come himself “incognito” and establish a kingdom where justice, peace and joy would reign. A kingdom in which every citizen is a free subject and lacks nothing he desires. This kingdom, hidden from plain sight, is like no kingdom ever before or after. In “The Invisible Presence of Christ,” St. John Henry Newman explains the nature of this kingdom and our place in it.

The kingdoms of this world also promise to bring peace and prosperity, but they can never keep them. They spread by conquering other peoples and grow by violent coercion. But the Kingdom of God grows not “… from without, but by an inward power; not subduing the outward man through the senses, but touching the secret heart.” It has no boundaries because by the spreading of the Gospel, “[God] was diffusing His Presence, and multiplying His Image.” And it has no limitations because the peace and joy it brings is the person of Jesus Christ, who is the source and summit of our lives and whose presence is always with us.

Despite this reality, many people, including some in the visible Church, are desperately unhappy. They are searching for the happiness man once had in Eden, but lost through the fall. And so they “… are restless because they have not found. Alas! so it is, in this country called Christian, vast numbers have gained little from religion, beyond a thirst after what they have not, a thirst for their true peace, and the fever and restlessness of thirst. It has not yet brought them into the Presence of Christ, in which ‘is fulness of joy’ and ‘pleasure for evermore.’” 

When the world sees genuine believers with joy, they “imagine all manner of human causes, because they cannot see, and do not feel, and will not believe the inward influence.” They think these believers have some sort of material comfort or security because they do not see the miracle God has achieved in those human hearts, the miracle of God’s very presence abiding within them.

This invisible kingdom must be extended to every person and be received by his own free will. That’s why Christ came in disguise the first time. Christian author C.S. Lewis explained God’s Incarnation in military terms: 

“Well, Christians think [God] is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over.

Since we are Christ’s body, it is up to us to spread his kingdom. Not by violence, not by coercion or sophistry, but by allowing Him to reign in us so He can become visible to others. To answer God‘s call to share the Gospel with everyone, we will also need to love each person by seeing Christ hidden in each one. As Caryll Houselander wrote: “We must learn to see Christ in others with the eyes of faith, because the whole orientation of our will, in which is the secret peace, will depend upon whether we act as if we did see Christ in them or not. It is part of God’s plan for us that Christ shall come to us in everyone…”

In addition to seeing Christ in others the Holy Spirit wishes to mold us in the likeness of Christ so that we can be Christ to others. But what if we are sad or suffering or full of defects and failures? Let us remind ourselves of the only cause, as Catholic author Francis Fernandez articulated: “I do not seem to have the ability to persevere: I am not close to Christ. I am not cheerful: I am not close to Christ. And Christ is saying: ‘Come on! Turn around! Return to me with all your heart!’” This we can do in prayer now, wherever we are. Nothing can prevent us. God wants to be with us and so he has made himself available to us where we least expect, in the quiet of our own hearts. 

Thank God His ways are not our ways—they are better than we could ever imagine.

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Links to Websites

About Cardinal John Henry Newman

National Institute for Newman Studies

Centro Internazionale degli Amici di Newman

The Oratory, Birmingham

Archdiocese of Birmingham, England

Our Books

About Cardinal John Henry Newman

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A Guide to John Henry Newman will interest educated readers and professors alike, and serve as a text for college seminars for the purpose of studying Newman.

Review by Catherine Maybanks
(Catholic Herald, April 1, 2023)

Review by Serenheed James
(Antiphon, April 2023)

 This book is being currently considered for reprinting, all enquiries to the Sales Team general@alivepublishing.co.uk
 

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Endorsement by Neyra Blanco (Amazon)
I bought this book for my son and he loved it, he wrote this review and urged my to submitted: “I think this book has a very beautiful message, because it shows how the young Newman was so determined to achieve his dream of becoming a priest, but even after his dream he continued to work in the church with passion until the day he died, it’s so admirable that even Newman so old and so weak still had that urge to continued his work of being a priest. And the book is well written with words not too complicated with very enjoyable texts and well illustrated pictures. I highly recommend this book for a 5th grader.  

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What is a Classical Liberal Arts Education? Why is it so important for the development of a person?

Fr. Juan R. Vélez answers these and more questions you might have about University Education in the 21st century. This book is aimed for parents, prospective University students, and educators. It will help you discern why adding Liberal Arts electives to your education will help it form it better, and help the student learn to reason, and not just learn.

He also explains how many Universities have changed the true meaning of Liberal Arts, and the subjects, and gives advise on how to choose College Campus, Subjects, and Teachers.

A wonderful book that every parent should also read way before your children are College bound. A Liberal Arts education can start earlier in life, even from home.

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Endorsement by Christopher Moellering (Goodreads, September 14, 2019)
In Passion for Truth Fr. Vélez gave us an outstanding biography of Cardinal Newman. In this work, he provides a concise overview of his thought and his devotion. This is a great work for someone who, perhaps hearing of Newman for the first time because of his beatification 13 October, 2019, wants to know more about this English saint.Vélez is a wonderful writer in his own right, and the frequent quotations from Newman round out the work nicely. I especially appreciated the frequent citing of Newman’s Meditations and Devotions, which show a different side of his spirituality than his more well-known works, Development of Christian Doctrine and the Grammar of Assent.

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Review by Gregory J. Sullivan (Amazon, May 25, 2012)

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Take Five: Meditations with John Henry Newman, endorsement by Illow M. Roque (Amazon, September 3, 2010)
“There is a time to put direct inquiry on hold and give ourselves to prayer and practical duties.” Sound advice from one of the earlier, thought-provoking reminders in this sparkling gem of a book: Take Five | Meditations with John Henry Newman, written by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan R. Vélez and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This particular paragraph, referenced above, which begins with a direct quote from soon-to-be canonized priest, cardinal and poet, John Henry Newman: “Study is good, but it gets us only so far . . .” is actually the 15th in a series of 76 concise, logically organized meditations moving from the elementary to the sublime. Each meditation–one per page–is built upon the great man’s writings and remarkably rich spirituality. Whether taken whole in one reading or in part page-by-page over a course of weeks and months, these wonderfully insightful meditations will open up, even to the busiest reader in the midst of the world, a unique pathway into prayer and contemplation. My advice to spiritual inquirers at all levels, from the novice to the spiritually adept, is to follow the authors’ recommendation to use this book as a guide for daily prayer and meditation. The structure of the book itself is ideal: first, the authors introduce us to Cardinal Newman, the man, where we are given the opportunity to get to know him through a brief sketch of his life and spirituality at the beginning of the book. This is something readers will likely find themselves referring to again and again, prompting many, I suspect, to even wider explorations of this most gifted Christian leader. Then comes the meditations, consisting of a short summary of Newman’s thoughts on subjects taken, as the authors explain, from various salient points for which Newman is justly remembered: The pursuit of objective religious truth; Teaching on the Virtues; Defense of the Catholic Church; A devout spiritual and moral life; and Generosity and loyalty in his friendships, which sets the topic and tone for each meditation to follow. Each meditation consists of an excerpt taken from Newman’s thirty-plus volumes of writings and diaries. Next comes three brief and extremely useful sections entitled: “Think About It,” which establishes a prayerfully resonant tone throughout the book; “Just Imagine,” which provides a vivid, prayerful experience of the Scriptures that tie in, and finally, “Remember,” a pithy summation which the authors suggest may be used as a daily aspiration. Each meditation is given its own page, which makes it ideal for daily reflection for readers on the go. This book is a must have for every serious Catholic who wants to take their faith to the next level, which is to respond appropriately to the universal call to holiness and seek interior union with God.
Meditations and Devotions
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