Canonization of John Henry Newman

Last sunday Pope Francis canonizes five new saints, including John Henry Newman.

Matt Talbot was basically illiterate when he signed a pledge not to drink, confessed his sins to a priest, and turned his life over to the care of God at the age of 28. He laboriously began to read over the years and would frequently ask his spiritual advisor about certain words and what certain passages meant.

Over the years he read his Bible, the lives of saints, and books by saints. One day, in the timber yard, at lunch break a fellow worker saw him reading a book by John Henry Newman and said, “Isn’t that difficult?” Matt simply answered that the Lord helped him.