When I was preparing for Confirmation, one of the catechists told us young people that when trying to find a saint name for the sacrament, to remember that while we may be looking for a saint, maybe the saint you were destined to choose was also looking for you.
This piece of advice came back to me as I watched the Beatification Mass for Blessed Fulton J. Sheen on Sept. 24. As the Church in the United States celebrated this historic moment, I could not help but to rejoice in the same way as a person who intimately celebrates the triumph of a very close friend – to the point that you can almost feel that you, too, have a very small, but treasured, piece of the victory.
Indeed, Fulton Sheen looked for and found me!
I first encountered Bishop Sheen when I was in middle school. While some of the talks that he gave may have been a little too complicated for my pre-teenage mind to comprehend, I was fascinated by this man with a flowing cape, Shakespearian tone and piercing eyes.
As the years went on, I continued to delve deeper into the writings and speeches of this captivating bishop. I felt that as my life experiences were unfolding, Bishop Sheen’s message became clearer and more relevant to what was going on around me and with me – a realization that continued throughout my seminary years.
During those crucial years when I was trying to say “yes” to the Lord’s call for my life, I realized why there was a connection between me and this great giant of the Church in America: that in all of his brilliance, eloquence and captivation, there was a love for someone otherworldly, a love for someone who I, too, wanted to know more deeply. In everything that this man said and did, there was a reflection of the same Jesus Christ who I was saying “yes” to and who was the be-all and end-all for everything that Bishop Sheen did.
There are endless ways that the Church’s new Blessed has inspired me and many topics that I have grew to understand through his stirring messages. But there are three main things that this holy Bishop taught me:
• Love the Eucharist with everything you have. Bishop Sheen’s commitment to his Holy Hour teaches all people, but especially the priest, where to find his strength, where every inspiration flows and that, because the Eucharist draws us into communion with God and with every member of the Church, it truly is the greatest love story ever told.
• Every Christian must have a profound love for the Blessed Mother since she teaches us that a true and faithful disciple must radiate Christ in the same way that she did and still does for her children.
• Suffering has value. While it is a difficult subject, everyone will go through difficulty, pain and sorrow. But we are not alone since God Himself came down to save us through His own suffering, agony and Death. Because Christ suffered for all so that we might have the promise of eternal life, our own personal Good Fridays will also bring us, and those for whom we pray, to the unending joy of Easter and the promised home of Heaven.
What a tremendous blessing it is to know that you have someone from heaven who looked for you, found you and is still teaching you! What a blessing to be able to share his life and work with everyone I serve knowing that everything he did and taught is summed up in three powerful words: “God love you!”
Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, pray for us!
Father Carlo J. Santa Teresa is part-time parochial vicar at Christ the King Parish, Haddonfield, and part-time director of Catholic Identity at Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill.
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