September 27

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

An interesting thing has happened in the life of the Catholic Church this past week, something that helps us in our understanding of the Lord’s goodness and the reality of heaven. A prominent figure in the history of American Catholicism took a major step forward in becoming a saint. On Thursday, September 24th, Fulton Sheen will have been beatified.

What exactly is a beatification and why is it important? The Catholic Church takes the process of declaring an individual a saint seriously. The overall process is quite involved and includes an extensive investigation into the life of the person; interviewing those who knew them, reviewing all of their writings, both public and private, and other means of knowing the quality of the character and virtue of the person. After a thorough look into their life on earth, the individual is typically declared Venerable and then the process begins to look for signs of their life in heaven. It is at this time that the Church begins to pray in earnest for the intercession of the individual, hoping that a miracle from God might occur and can be attributed to the prayers or intercession of the person very directly. If one such miracle can be verified, and these are typically miraculous healings (although not always), then the Church will take the important step of declaring the individual as ‘Blessed’; this is the process known as beatification. It’s the Church

acknowledging that the individual is close to God and worthy of personal devotion and prayer. With another verified miracle, the individual is then canonized or officially recognized as a Saint.

In the case of Fulton Sheen, this is a beautiful moment in the life of the American Church. There’s a wide experience with Bishop Sheen; some of us may have listened to him on the radio or seen his TV broadcasts, others may have read one of his many books, but most of us know him as being a prominent figure of Catholicism at a time when being Catholic was still somewhat looked down upon in our country. His presence and popularity were instrumental in making Catholicism less controversial and more acceptable in wider society. His ability to take complex subjects and theological concepts and distill them down to their essence and explain them effectively was a unique gift. His life, his writings, his teaching, and his preaching helped several generations of Catholics to grow in their own knowledge and appreciation of the faith. And through it all, there’s a depth of love for Our Blessed Lord upon which all of Bishop Sheen’s ministry rested upon.

It’s a bit of a victory lap for us as American Catholics, seeing Bishop Sheen become now Blessed Sheen. May his legacy continue to be an inspiration to us all, encouraging us to know the faith well for ourselves and to be able to share it with others. Blessed Fulton Sheen: pray for us!

Peace and Goodness,

Fr. Dan