Bishop Barron calls Fulton Sheen ‘saint par excellence’ of new evangelization

Hundreds of devotees of Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen gathered at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis for Vespers on the evening of Sept. 23, where Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, urged people to follow Ven. Sheen’s example of friendship with God and his commitment to evangelizing. 

“I believe that Fulton Sheen is par excellence, the saint of the new evangelization,” Bishop Barron stated, expressing gratitude for Ven. Sheen’s efforts to “use the art of communication to convey the Gospel.” 

The evening prayer ceremony, also called Vespers, was presided over by St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, who was joined by 20 bishops, four cardinals, and a packed cathedral of lay faithful. The evening prayer featured a 14-person choir beautifully singing Psalm 27, Colossians 1:12-20, and a reading from 1 Peter 5:1-4.

Bishop Barron, known for his media presence and preaching, delivered the homily. He began by calling the chance to speak about Ven. Sheen one of the distinct privileges of his life. 

The purpose of his homily, he said, was to highlight what “made Sheen a blessed person.” For Bishop Barron, Ven. Sheen’s growth in holiness centered around three things: developing a friendship with God, experiencing his own unworthiness, and being sent by God on mission.   

The Minnesota bishop referenced numerous vignettes from Ven. Sheen’s life that illustrated these aspects of spiritual growth. Among them were an encounter with the late Bishop Spalding of Peoria, whom Ven. Sheen served Mass for as an 8-year-old altar server. Ven. Sheen was terrified because he had shattered the cruet containing the wine, but the bishop spoke to him with kindness, saying, “Tell your mother, when I am big, you will go to [the Catholic University of] Louvain. And someday you will be just as I am."

Bishop Barron also highlighted Ven. Sheen’s devotion to the Virgin Mary, which moved him to visit the apparition site in Lourdes, France, more than 30 times. Ven. Sheen would say that he was going to visit “her whom I love.” 

The ultimate expression of his spirituality, Bishop Barron said, was his lifelong devotion to a daily Holy Hour. The bishop drew upon Ven. Sheen’s autobiography, Treasure in Clay, to demonstrate his thoughts. 

“We become like that which we gaze upon,” Ven. Sheen wrote. “Looking into a sunset, the face takes on a golden glow. Looking at our Eucharistic Lord for an hour transforms the heart in a mysterious way, as the face of Moses was transformed after his companionship with God on the mountain."

Bishop Barron finished his homily by noting that Ven. Sheen admitted he had faults like vanity but that what propelled him to act as he did was his sense of mission, of being sent by the Lord out into the deep. This is what caused Ven. Sheen to accept the invitation to host The Catholic Hour radio show and to later take his sophisticated presentation of the faith to television, he explained.

Looking ahead to the Sept. 24 beatification, Bishop Barron commented that the blessed and saints are for the Church and that the beatification doesn't increase Fulton Sheen’s sanctity or make his place in heaven any higher. 

“Rather, it affects the Church, for it brings this holy man in a powerful way before the attention of the world," he said. "I believe that Fulton Sheen is par excellence, the saint of the new evangelization,” Bishop Barron said, observing that, “anyone who seeks fresh language to bring the Gospel to our culture, anyone who preaches the ancient word with a heart on fire, anyone who dares to use the medium of communication available to us today is indebted to him. And finds in him a powerful heavenly friend and intercessor.” 

The Mass for the Beatification of Ven. Sheen will take place Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. CST at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Following the beatification, organizers have a series of events, including Masses of thanksgiving at the St. Louis Cathedral, talks at parishes in Peoria, a hometown festival in Peoria, and the inaugural Sheen Awards Gala.