Miscellany...

For lots of Newman goodness, have a look at this post by Quenta from his Parochial and Plain Sermons:

Your life displays Christ without your intending it. You cannot help it. Your
words and deeds will show on the long run (as it is said), where your treasure
is, and your heart. Out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaketh words
"seasoned with salt." We sometimes find men who aim at doing their duty in the
common course of life, surprised to hear that they are ridiculed, and called
hard names by careless or worldly persons. This is as it should be; it is as it
should be, that they are surprised at it. If a private Christian sets out with
expecting to make a disturbance in the world, the fear is, lest he be not so
humble-minded as he should be. But those who go on quietly in the way of
obedience, and yet are detected by the keen eye of the jealous, self-condemning,
yet proud world, and who, on discovering their situation, first shrink from it
and are distrest, then look to see if they have done aught wrongly, and after
all are sorry for it, and but slowly and very timidly (if at all) learn to
rejoice in it, these are Christ's flock.

The Telegraph has this interesting report on a British survey about sin:

Cruelty was considered the most evil sin, with 39 per cent of people voting for
it in a BBC poll. Adultery came second (11 per cent) followed by bigotry (eight
per cent), dishonesty (seven per cent), hypocrisy (six per cent), greed (six per
cent) and selfishness (five per cent).
[snip]
Ross Kelly, from the Heaven
and Earth Show that commissioned the poll, said: "Attitudes towards sin
have changed. We're more concerned about actions which hurt others.''

How true! The great weakness of contemporary modern thought is the limitation of sin to that which hurts others. The Christian should also be concerned with the effect that his thought and behaviour has on himself (i.e. growth in virtue) and on his relationship with God.