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History yields people whose influence extends far beyond their earthly lives. They become teachers to generations they never met, spiritual companions to people whose names they never knew, and reminders that faith is not merely a set of propositions to be accepted but a way of life to be embraced. For me, one of those extraordinary figures is Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
Fulton Sheen possessed a rare gift: He could bring the richness, beauty and intellectual depth of traditional Catholicism into the homes of ordinary Americans. Through his Emmy Award-winning, half-hour weekly television program in the 1950s, “Life Is Worth Living,” he introduced millions of viewers to traditional Roman Catholicism. He did not dilute the faith to make it acceptable to the times. He presented it with clarity, conviction, humor, warmth and a deep love for Jesus Christ.
For those of us who cherish the traditional Catholic faith, Sheen remains a particularly compelling figure.
The Catholic faith that Sheen proclaimed fostered the traditional pre-Vatican II practices that shaped centuries of Catholics. The Latin Mass, with its reverence, mystery and transcendent orientation, expressed a vision of worship in which the human person was drawn beyond the distractions of the world and into a unique space, reserved for Christ’s re-sacrifice of himself.
Sheen also understood the importance of the seemingly ordinary disciplines of Catholic life: meatless Fridays, weekly confession, personal prayer, the daily recitation of the Rosary, and personal self-denial.
Sheen’s genius was to explain truths and regimens in ways that ordinary people could understand. He understood that every person, regardless of education, wealth or social position, was created for communion with God.
Here is how Fulton Sheen touched my life. Shortly after I graduated from law school, a friend gave me a Miraculous Medal as a gift. It was a beautiful, traditional, 24-karat gold image of the Blessed Virgin Mary that Catholics often wear on a chain suspended from our necks. I wrote to Archbishop Sheen and asked him to bless it for me.
He wrote back quickly. In his letter, he asked me to meet him during Holy Week at 12:30 in the afternoon at Marble Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, where he was preaching.
I arrived in time to hear his traditional Catholic sermon. Then, I stood in a line of people waiting to meet him. When I reached the head of the line, he floored me.
He looked directly into my eyes and said: “You must be Andrew. Show me the medal!”
I was shaking as I loosened my necktie, unbuttoned the top two buttons of my shirt, removed the medal, and handed it to him. He held the medal in one hand. With the other, he touched my eyes, my ears and my lips. He blessed and kissed the medal, then placed it over my head and around my neck.
Then he embraced my entire head in his hands.
This was a profoundly personal encounter. Here was a holy churchman, a public figure known to millions, yet in those moments his attention was directed entirely toward God and the sacramental significance of the medal and wishes of a supplicant stranger. I asked him why we were in a Protestant church.
He said, in substance: “These folks need to know that in Catholic churches all over the world, Jesus Christ is physically present under the appearance of bread and wine; and He wants to be present in their hearts.”
That answer revealed something essential about Sheen’s ministry. His love for Catholicism did not lead him to withdraw from the world. It impelled him to bring the Catholic message to people who might never enter a Catholic church. He understood that evangelization required meeting people where they were, speaking to their questions, and inviting them toward the fullness of the truth.
This week, the Church is beatifying Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Beatification is a formal declaration that a person may be publicly honored as Blessed according to the Church’s norms. It is a significant step toward canonization.
For those who have long admired Sheen, his beatification is an opportunity not merely to celebrate his accomplishments but to reflect upon his holiness. For me, Archbishop Sheen will always be more than a figure in the history of American Catholicism. He is the man who didn’t know me, looked into my eyes and mysteriously said my name, and drew me to his heart.