John Henry Newman, whom the Holy Father will beatify in Birmingham today, took as his motto Cor ad Cor Loquitur - Heart speaks to Heart. A great deal of Newman's thought explored how it is that a statement of belief about things that cannot be logically or experimentally proven can be rational and not simply an irrational assertion of personal prejudice. Newman proposed the concept of the "illative sense"which was his way of describing our judgement of such matters. This is a judgement we all need to exercise for it is used whether we are considering whether a painting is any good, or another person is nice, or whether or not to assent to any belief we cannot prove for ourselves.
In his book Healing the Wound of Humanity, Ian Ker explains Newman's position using the example of a man who seeks assurance of his wife's fidelity in which the morality of the husband is crucial:
"The evaluation of his wife's character is by far and away the most important part of the judgement he has to make. Newman thought that in religious belief too it is the personal moral element which is the most decisive factor. Othello cam to hold his tragically wrong belief about Desdimona's fidelity because (arguably) of the flaw of jealousy in his own character which so grossly clouded his judgement. Newman held that a relifgious believer is someone whose judgement is in good working order because he or she has the right moral dispositions, whereas the unbeliever's judgement is morally flawed whether voluntarily or involuntarily."
Our motto, Sursum Corda, is the injunction to the congregation at Mass before the Eucharistic prayer. It is a call not simply to love in some emotional way, but to as God for help in judging the things of earth and the things of heaven that we may live well.
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