Fulton Sheen Beatification: September 24, 2026

 

 Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002. 

Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026. 

His Work Is Finished, Ours Is Not

When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished.” And bowing bis head, he banded over the spirit — John 19:30 (NAB)

Bishop Sheen:

Our Blessed Lord’s work is finished. But is ours? When He said, “if is finished?’ He did not mean that the opportunities of His life had ended; He meant that His work was done so perfectly that nothing could be added to it to make it more perfect — but with us, how seldom that is true. Too many of us end our lives, but few of us see them finished. A sinful life may end, but a sinful life is never a finished life.

If our lives just “end,” our friends will ask: “How much did he leave?” But if our life is “finished,” our friends will ask: “How much did he take with him?” A finished life is not measured by years but by deeds; not by the time spent in the vineyard, but by the work done. In a short time a man may fulfill many years; even those who come at the eleventh hour may finish their lives; even those who come to God like the thief at the last breath, may finish their lives in the Kingdom of God. Not for them the sad word of re- egret: “Too late, O ancient Beauty, have I loved Thee.”

Our Lord finished His work, but we have not finished ours. He pointed the way we must follow. He laid down the Cross at the finish, but we must take it up. He finished Redemption in His physical Body, but we have not finished it in His Mystical Body. He has finished salvation, we have not yet ap- plied it to our souls. He has finished the Temple, but we must live in it. He has finished the model Cross, we must fashion ours to its pattern. He has finished sowing the seed, we must reap the harvest, He has finished filling the chalice, but we have not finished drinking its refreshing draughts. He has planted the wheat field: we must gather it into our barns. He has finished the Sacrifice of Calvary; we must finish the Mass.

The Crucifixion was not meant to be an inspirational drama, but a Pattern act on which to model our lives. We are not meant to sit and watch the Cross as something done and ended like the life of Socrates, What was done on Calvary avails for us only in the degree that we repeat it in our own lives.

— From Calvary and the Mass

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Fulton Sheen to be beatified, September 24, 2026

    Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002. 

Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026. 

Sharing in the Work of Redemption

What? Could you not watch one hour with me? — Matthew 26:40 (Douay-Rheims)

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, yet as I read them I hear them with the voice of Archbishop Sheen, who was able to bring passages such as this alive with his unique style. Also carried with his intonation is the meaning that he gave to them, that the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples some two thousand years ago in that garden on the Mount of Olives echo through- out history and are spoken again and again to each disciple — in other words, to you and to me.

The Lord asks us to watch with Him, to share in His work, which although complete on Calvary long ago is ongoing in that the tree of the cross continually bears new fruit in us, His disciples. The work of redemption then continues and will not be complete until all of us are brought to the foot of the cross and believe that Our Lord has the power to Save Us.

Our Lord speaks to us as we come into His presence and asks us to join Him.

In this section we reflect with Archbishop Sheen on how Our Lord wishes us to share in His work, which is the work of redemption.

Fulton Sheen Beatification: September 24, 2026

   Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002. 

Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026. 

How to use this book (part 2) 

Readers should use whatever parts of the meditations are helpful to them during any particular prayer period. Following the ancient practice of Lectio Divina (“divine reading”), readers should stop when- ever some word or passage strikes them and dwell upon it for awhile. Readers are encouraged to ask the Lord what it is that He wants to reveal to them in these words.

Readers may find that they are able to use the same meditation over and over. Whatever the Lord wishes should be their desires.

The reflections and questions are my invention and should not be confused as that of Bishop Sheen’. I have attempted to draw upon his thought in these sections, but clearly the focus of the book is the great writing that is his own.

I have tried for the most part to present material in this book that is drawn from books of Bishop Sheen’s that are currently out of print. The archbishop wrote so many books during his lifetime on such a wide variety of subjects that what is presented here is merely a a taste. I hope for you, the  reader, a good taste, one that leave you hungry for the Bread of Life.

Mother Teresa - September 5

     

The Cross of Christ Restores. . . The Image of God 

-Michael Dubruiel

And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. NUMBERS 21:8–9

“When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” JOHN 8:28–29

 Once when my wife and child were touring a large cathedral in the United States, a famous archbishop passed us by; a high-ranking cardinal, visiting the United States from the Vatican, followed him. The archbishop completely ignored us, but the cardinal stopped and took our baby in his arms, talking gibberish to him. We were moved by the actions of the cardinal, who had taken the gospel to heart. It is amazing how often Jesus took time to notice someone his disciples had passed by or ignored. In the kingdom of God, the first are last and the last are first. No one exemplified this principle better than Christ himself: the Prince of Heaven  became a helpless infant, was raised in obscurity, and died like a criminal.

People who have seen Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ are shocked by the violence. What should shock us more is the idea that the all-powerful God would subject himself to being treated in such a fashion by mere mortals. Yet Jesus said in the Scripture that people would realize that he was from God when men “lifted him up” on the cross. The way of the cross is the path of humility. So often we seek perfection in how we look, the way we dress, the way we speak, or in what we possess. Jesus told his disciples not to worry about any of these things but to seek God’s kingship over them first. Jesus then showed them how to do this. Then he took up his cross and invited them to follow. It is in those who accept that invitation that the divine image is most perfectly restored.

 When Blessed Mother Teresa would visit one of her communities, the first thing she did was to pick up a broom and begin to sweep. Revered during her life as a saint, she sought no special treatment within her community; no task was beneath her. People who met Mother Teresa often remarked at the beauty of her deeply lined face. In her presence, they felt like they were in the presence of God. In the Image of the Father Jesus perfectly reveals to us what God is like. By following the way of the cross, we receive a divine “extreme makeover.” The path is not an easy one; our ego constantly tries to exert itself over us. Serpents in forbidden trees will whisper of easier paths. However, there is only one way to fulfill what God has planted in our hearts. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus warned his disciples (Matthew 18:3). Some people will go amazing lengths to retain their youth. Sadly, these same people will assiduously avoid the spiritual childhood that the gospel demands, the only sure path of eternal life.

Wandering in the desert, the Israelites complained about their lot, and God sent poisonous snakes. As people died around him, Moses prayed to God for mercy. God told Moses to make a fiery bronze serpent and to put it on a pole; all who looked upon this bronze serpent were healed of snakebite. This bronze image foreshadowed the healing tree of Christ; just as Moses had lifted up the serpent in the desert, Jesus told Nicodemus, so would he be lifted up on the cross, and all who would look upon him would be saved. We need to look at the cross of Christ to rediscover our soul’s inner beauty. God loves us so much that he died for us on that cross. As we gaze upon the cross of Christ, what really matters comes to the forefront in our lives, and we find we can let go of all the trivial pursuits that seem to dominate our time and thoughts. As the psalmist reminds us time and again, what matters is not to seek and be driven by the desire to please other people but to seek what pleases God. We will discover that not by hiding behind fig leaves, as our first parents did, but by coming to him whenever and wherever he calls us.

The Power of the Cross  by Michael Dubruiel is a book well-suited to daily reading during Lent. 

Fulton Sheen Beatification: September 24, 2026

  Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002. 

Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026. 

How to use this book (part 1) 

This book is arranged into three main sections, each of them dealing with three immense blessings that Bishop Sheen believed we would receive if we practice regularly praying in the presence of Our Lord. These blessings include:

* Sharing in Our Lord’s work of redemption.

 * Fulfilling Our Lord’s desire for our companionship.

 * Growing into the likeness of Our Lord.

Each of these sections contains ten meditations drawn from Bishop Sheen’s works. Along with the bishop’s words, the following are included: Scripture, a reflection, points to ponder, and a closing prayer.

There are two appendixes in the book.

The first is dedicated to Bishop Sheen’s thoughts on war and the power of God that presents material in a similar style as the rest of the book. This section was added after September 11, 2001, when foreign terrorists hijacked four American commercial air- liners, ramming two of them into the World Trade Center towers in New York, another into the Pentagon, and crashing a fourth in Pennsylvania when some of the passengers evidently fought with the hijackers. Bishop Sheen penned the material in this appendix over sixty years ago; but like the other material in the book written by him, it is as relevant today as it was then and to whatever the future might hold.

The second appendix contains two prayers. One is a prayer to be used in order to obtain a favor through the archbishop’s intercession, while the other is for his canonization. This appendix also includes contact information to report any favors received or any material the reader might have to offer in the investigation into Bishop Sheen’s life.