https://bit.ly/frcmed_newmanonfriendship_transcript This meditation is released on the occasion of the feast of St. John Henry Newman. His feast day falls on October 9th, the date of his conversion to Catholicism. "There have been men before now, who have supposed Christian love was so diffuse as not to admit of concentration upon individuals; so that we ought to love all men equally. ...Now I shall maintain here, in opposition to such notions of Christian love, and with our Saviour's pattern before me, that the best preparation for loving the world at large, and loving it duly and wisely, is to cultivate our intimate friendship and affection towards those who are immediately about us". - "Love of Relations and Friends", Parochial and Plain Sermons, Volume 2, Sermon 5.