Blessed Fulton Sheen

    

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. 

Silence (2)

Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling -ZECHARIAH 2:13 (RSV)

Reflection by Michael Dubruiel

Bishop Sheen shows that the practice of silence is in imitation of Our Lord, who spent entire nights alone in prayer. If He, the Son of God, did this, how much more do we need to do it?

We become like Our Lord when we pray be- cause, like Him, we come to know who we are in God's eyes and what our mission is in this life. The Scriptures highlight that Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing the twelve apostles (see Luke 6:12- 13) and before His arrest and crucifixion.

We know that in His prayer at Gethsemane Jesus prayed from His heart, pouring out what was on His mind to the Father. But we also know from that same prayer that He was silent and waited for a response. An angel was sent to strengthen Our Lord into His waiting.

Too often we can be tempted to do all of the talking in prayer and not leave room for God to respond to us. As Bishop Sheen points out, fear is what keeps us from being silent. We are afraid of what God might reveal to us if we are silent. The Scriptures show us that this is not abnormal but that the message of God's angels is always the same: "Do not fear."

There is a great power in silence, something that is almost palpable. We notice the world around us in a way that we don't when we fill our lives with noise. This awareness leads to our being present to the now. It is the now where God has placed us, and it is the now where we need to worship Him.

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 today,  September 24, 2026. 

Silence (1)

Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling -ZECHARIAH 2:13 (RSV)

Bishop Sheen

One of the really great needs of our own day is silence. Modern life seems to thrive on a fondness for noise, and by noise I mean not only the staccato barbarism of jazz, or the bleating and moaning of saxophone orchestras, but also, and principally, the excessive desire for that which distracts --love of amusements, constant goings and comings, excitements and thrills, and movement for the mere sake of movement. What is the reason of this fondness for noise? It is not due to any inherent love of that which is loud, for people generally prefer that which is soft and refined. Rather the reason is to be found in the great desire on the part of human beings to do the impossible, namely to escape from themselves. They do not like to be with themselves because they are not pleased with themselves; they do not like to be alone with their conscience, because their conscience reproves and carries on an unbearable repartee. They do not like to be quiet, because the footsteps of the Hound of Heaven which can be heard in silence, cannot be heard in the din of excitement; they do not like to be silent, because God's voice is like a whisper and it cannot be heard in the tumult of the city streets. 

These are some of the reasons why the modern world loves noise, and they are all resolvable to this: noise drowns God's voice and stupefies conscience. Dull, indeed, are these distractions, but like the clay used by savages to dull the pain of hunger, they stifle in the soul the hunger for the presence of God. The result is that very few people ever know themselves. In fact, they know every one else better than they know themselves. That is why so few ever see their own faults....

In order to remedy this condition, what is needed is less amusing and more musing; a silence; a going apart into the desert of our souls to rest a while; a solitariness from men, and an aloneness with God; a quiet which permits the soul to be sensitive to the whispers of God; a requiem or a rest from modern maxims and the excuses of new philosophies and the excitements which appeal to the body and dis- turb the soul; a privacy inspired by the example of Him who needed least of all mankind a preparation of silence for a life of activity, and yet had the great- est of them all; a tranquility inspired by Him who in the midst of a busy life spent whole nights on mountaintops in prayer.

Silence is the condition of entering into oneself, which is another way of saying, of finding God.

- From Moods and Truths

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. 

Hope (3)

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" -LUKE 23:43 (RSV)

Spend some time reflecting on the following:

1. Reflect on those who despair. Why is this not a holy act? Does a person who despairs really believe in a merciful God? Ask God for the grace to always trust in His mercy.

2. Reflect on the sin of presumption. Why is it wrong to presume on God's mercy? Ask God for the grace to see that His will is truly merciful and any time we choose other than His will we are worship- ing something or someone else.

3. Reflect on the virtue of hope. What areas of your life could use this virtue? Do you trust in the companionship of Our Lord? Do you have assurance that He loves you and wishes for you to be with Him for all eternity? Ask for this grace.

-Michael Dubruiel

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. 

Hope (2)

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" -LUKE 23:43 (RSV)

Reflection by Michael Dubruiel

Bishop Sheen presents us with two extremes that can plague us in our relationship with Our Lord: despair and presumption.

Those who despair, focus on themselves to such a degree that they do not realize how much greater God's love and mercy are than any sin or offense that they are capable of committing against Him. The evil of despair is that the person who may feign humility is really the proudest of people who believes that his or her sins are too great for even God to forgive. The despair that such a soul feels is a wall that never al- lows God's forgiveness to permeate the person's soul and be freed from the chains of egoism.

Those who are presumptuous, on the other hand, are an uncaring sort who treat their relationship with God as if God were indifferent to whether or not they destroy their lives by the choices made. Such individuals keep God in their back pocket as a lucky charm with no real concern in their lives other than to manipulate their genie god.

The true companions of Our Lord are different. They neither take for granted their good fortune of having so great a savior nor do they fear that He will let them down; rather, they are moved through whatever experiences come their way with a fervent hope that in the end they will be with Him.

As in the present moment, so in eternity. We are always in God's presence. There is no place one can go to escape it. The person who prays in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament is made aware of God's presence in a unique way and indeed is privileged with a foretaste of heaven.

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. 

Hope (1)

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" -LUKE 23:43 (RSV)

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Bishop Sheen

Our concern presently is with two kinds of souls; the despairing and the presumptuous: either those who say, "I am too wicked for God to be interested in me" or those who say, "Oh, I need not worry about my sins. God will take good care of me in the end."

Both these statements are sins of exaggeration. The first is the sin of despair which exaggerates Di- vine Justice; the second is the sin of presumption which exaggerates Divine Mercy. Somewhere there is a golden mean where "Justice and mercy kiss" as the Psalmist puts it, and that is the virtue of Hope.

The virtue of Hope is quite different from the emotion of Hope. The emotion centers in the body and is a kind of dreamy desire that we can be saved without much effort. The virtue of Hope, however, is centered in the will and may be defined as a divinely infused disposition of the will by which with sure confidence, thanks to the powerful help of Almighty God, we expect to pursue eternal happiness, using all the means necessary for attaining it.

The virtue of Hope lies not in the future of time, but beyond the tomb in eternity; its object is not the abundant life of earth, but the eternal love of God.

 From The Seven Virtues