Heart Speaks to Heart: John Henry Newman and Personal Influence with David Delio, Ph.D. (Ep. 14)

"Well known is the motto that Newman formulated for himself as cardinal and placed in his cardinal's coat of arms: cor ad cor loquitur. With this motto Newman seems to say that he has always wanted to speak from the heart, and has always wanted to reach the hearts those whom he addressed. . . . [Newman] obviously does not neglect high-level intellectual communication. But he always sought to communicate at a deeper-than-intellectual level: heart to heart." --John F. Crosby, The Personalism of John Henry Newman

My guest for today’s episode is Dave Delio, President of The Newman Idea, a not-for-profit dedicated to teaching interdisciplinary courses which help students at public and private universities integrate their faith with their majors and careers. 

An Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Holy Cross, he remains firmly committed to higher education and developing in students a habit of integral knowing.  Dave also serves as board treasurer of the St. John Henry Newman Association. He completed his doctoral work at the Catholic University of America.

What Dave and I discuss today is, in a way, very much in keeping with the Crosby quote from above. That is, the ways in which we exercise and are subject to personal influence. How ideas are best transmitted and enthusiasm elicited in the minds and hearts of others. How it is that we, as Newman says, “each receives and transmits the sacred flame.” 

In particular, we’ll hear about Dave’s encounter with John Henry Newman and the ongoing development of that relationship, despite a century in time separating us from Newman. Such things occur through the facilitation of others we come to know in the here and now. And so in this interview we’ll also hear of those other individuals that have helped Dave’s appreciation for, understanding of, and friendship with St. John Henry Newman.

1. The Newman Idea
2. The Newman Idea on Twitter
3. The Newman Idea on Facebook
4. "An Aristocracy of Exalted Spirits": The Idea of the Church in Newman's Tamworth Reading Room by David Delio
5. "Personal Influence, the Means of Propagating the Truth," by John Henry Newman
6. The Personalism of John Henry Newman by John F. Crosby

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