On September 24th, Blessed Fulton Sheen was beatified before nearly 50,000 pilgrims from around the world. Fulton Sheen was a gift to the church. He was a key figure of the Catholic Church during the 20th Century. He was known as the “Great Son of the Church” who preached the message so well to the masses.
During his beatification, Cardinal Luis Tagle proclaimed, “It is for being a zealous and creative evangelizer, an advocate for mission that Fulton Sheen is called ‘blessed’ or ‘fortunate’ or ‘happy’… Blessed is the Evangelizer, converted by beholding and touching the wounds of the risen Christ in wounded brothers and sisters; blessed is the missionary who digs deep into the heart of the poor to meet Jesus there. Blessed Fulton J. Sheen!”
Peter John Sheen was born on 8 May 1895 in El Paso, Illinois. He was the eldest of four sons of Newton and Delia. The name Fulton comes from his mother’s maiden name. He was ordained a priest on September 20th, 1919. Recognizing his intellectual gifts, his superiors sent him to Europe for advanced studies. In 1923, he earned a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Through his studies, he would be prepared for teaching and evangelizing.
He would become an auxiliary bishop of New York in 1951 and would launch his weekly TV show Life is Worth Living. Sheen used a simple set and a chalkboard.
In the last years of his life, he had open heart surgery and would offer his sufferings in union with Jesus, whose heart was pierced on the cross
From his life, Fulton Sheen offered five lessons of faith.
Root Your Life in Daily Prayer
Since his ordination, Sheen made a promise to take part in a Holy Hour. He upheld this commitment until his death. His prayer, which he described as “the hour that makes my day,” was the source of his profound insight into the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ.
Catholics are called to begin and end each day with prayer. Sheen also teaches us to make room for Christ every day by setting time to pray.
Live What You Believe
Sheen famously warned, “If you do not live what you believe, you will end up believing what you live.” Sheen never minced words. Yet, he spoke the truth with clarity and love.
Our faith requires daily practice. Every day is an opportunity to live out the faith that we’re brought into and to cultivate the gospel’s message in all that we do.
Embrace Modern Tools without Fear
Radio and TV were the modern marvels of the 20th Century. Sheen saw those two media platforms as an opportunity to proclaim the gospel to every person from coast to coast.
Beginning in 1930, he presented The Catholic Hour, a radio program that brought Catholic teaching into homes throughout the United States. His clear reasoning, engaging delivery, and pastoral warmth attracted an audience of more than 4 million people.
He also wrote 66 books. His most inspired works were Life of Christ and Treasure of Clay (his autobiography).
By the 1950s, Sheen harnessed television for his well-known show Life Is Worth Living. The show attracted 30 million viewers, addressing questions of faith, morality, suffering, family, and our human dignity clearly and candidly. He would win an Emmy for best Tv program
Today, Catholics have an opportunity to harness social media to spread the gospel to others. We are called to emulate Sheen’s example to preach it with clarity, courage, and love.
Speak the Truth with Love
Fulton Sheen reminds us, “The truth is the truth even if no one believes it, and a lie is a lie even if everyone believes it”.
Through his preaching, he helped many prominent people to convert or return to the Catholic Church. 60,000 people came forward to claim that Fulton Sheen played a role in their faith journey. He was dubbed “convert maker”.
It can be a challenge to preach the truth because we may fear rejection, loss of a job, or being marginalized. Yet, Sheen was so bold that he even preached from a place of love.
Never shy away from proclaiming the faith with the same zeal and clarity that Sheen once did.
Embrace Suffering
While Fulton Sheen was seen as an articulate orator and bold shepherd, he did suffer. First, Spellman tried to cancel him as his popularity grew. When Sheen was sent to Rochester, he was not well-liked. Yet, he learned great humility.
The most notable time of his suffering came in the last three years of his life. His health got so frail that he was lying in a hospital bed most of the time. He once joked, “One advantage of being thrown on your back is that you face Heaven.”
In this life, we will have suffering. It is how we respond to it that matters. Indeed, Fulton Sheen suffered, but he offered so much during the frail period of his life.
Now, the faithful and devotees of this great “Son of the Church” await the final step of his long process of becoming a saint. In God’s eyes, he was a saint.
Blessed Fulton Sheen, pray for us.