I cannot remember when I first learned about Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Maybe it was when I was suggested to “like” his Facebook page, or when I heard about him from one of my college friends, or when one of his videos slipped into my Youtube algorithms. However, I certainly will never forget the experience of his beatification Mass.
Over the summer, someone shared in our house’s group chat that Sheen’s beatification Mass would be held in St. Louis. In one of our first meetings back as a whole community, my superior mentioned that attending a beatification was a once in a generation opportunity, and told us that the community would help ensure that any interested Jesuit could attend. Many of my classes at SLU include students in the Catholic Studies program, archdiocesan seminarians, and other vowed religious, so Sheen’s Beatification came up frequently in discussions. Clearly, this was a big deal for the Catholic world, and I felt drawn to attend with my brother Jesuits.
On the morning of the Mass, I walked with a fellow Jesuit scholastic down to the public transit station near St. Louis University’s campus. As we loaded onto the train to the Dome at America Center, a former NFL stadium where the mass was being held, I realized that our presence as visible religious wearing clerics was already making a difference. A man named Marvin asked for a bus pass, which we helped him obtain. Another family from Kansas City asked us questions about our vocations, and a father from rural Missouri shared some Jesuit jokes with us. I realized that our lives were serving as a witness of hope to the people we encountered, both those who were heading to the beatification Mass and those who were just going about our daily life. I felt a sense of leaven in my own Jesuit vocation.
Once inside the Dome, people were all over the place. After connecting with one of my middle school teachers who came with his family all the way from Iowa, our next step was to find food. We ended up waiting in line for over an hour at one of the concession stands, which was woefully unprepared for the crowds and the demand. In my Healthcare IT days, we would have called this a “lesson learned” that they can address the next time a Beatification is hosted there (or if the Pope visits, as John Paul II did in 1999). By the time I was about to place my order, they had run out of everything except french fries.
Certainly, I recognize how angry I would have been if this had happened at a sports game, or even at a grocery store. But reality hit a little different when the man in front of us was getting hotdogs for his wife and children, and a family of 5 was behind us hoping to feed their kids before Mass. And, even considering the long wait, it was a great chance for some fruitful spiritual conversation and a good opportunity to review where God was at work in our lives. Speaking of God’s work in my life, that small meal held me over throughout the long day.
As Mass approached, we made our way to our seats on the floor of the Dome. In total, 15 Jesuit scholastics from Bellarmine House attended the Mass, and several Jesuit priests were among the 1,000 priests who processed in at the beginning of Mass.
One emotional moment before the mass was the testimonial from Bonnie Engstrom, who shared her story of praying for Fulton Sheen’s intercession, which is credited with saving the life of her son, 16-year-old James Fulton. Hearing her speak made me remember the prayers my family and I offered for one of my cousins who was hospitalized as a child. The fact that James Fulton later brought Sheen’s relic up to the altar in the procession turned this into a kind of full-circle moment, reminding me of the Contemplation to Attain Divine Love, where St. Ignatius writes that “love is a mutual communication between two persons” (Spiritual Exercises #231). In this way, love was unfolding despite the fact that the two of them had never met in person. Where the Engstrom family experienced love through Sheen’s intercession, part of their response came in bringing Sheen’s relic up to the altar during the procession.
Another particularly moving moment was the 40-minute opening procession of seminarians, priests, bishops, and cardinals, which included Cardinal Tagle, the Pope’s representative for the Beatification. At four or five points in the procession I thought to myself, “this is an impressive number of priests and seminarians, we’ve got to be near the end.” When I looked back to the entrance each of those times, I could not see the end of the line.
Pictures of the official portrait of Blessed Fulton Sheen.
Given the prevalence of many reports highlighting a decline of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, the presence of so many seminarians and clergy processing in gave me a sense of hope in my own vocation, that God can work in ways greater than my own imagination, and that He has “plans for my welfare, not of woe, so as to give [me] a future of hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, NABRE).
Shortly after the introduction, the Beatification Rite began. After an announcement of Sheen’s Beatification in Latin, the Masters of Ceremony revealed the official portrait and an altar with Sheen’s name on it. One of the Jesuits who attended the Mass remarked that it looked strikingly similar to an AI-generated image—I am still not sure whether it was a knock on the painting or praise for the ability of AI tools!
As we continued through the Liturgy of the Word, the Mass utilized the Festival Alleluia, the same version that was used at my own Vow Mass and which is frequently used for Jesuit Ordinations. Hearing the beautiful acclamation helped me remember the vows I professed and the joy of continuing to integrate into the broader Catholic Church, one that spans well before me and one that will continue far after me.
During the Homily, Cardinal Tagle exhorted us, as Christians, to “please look happy!” He preached about the Great Commission, emphasizing that “choosing your own path is not mission, and is not blessed.” He continued by saying, “Blessed are you when Jesus knows you, calls you, sends you, and labors with you,” and shared a moving dream of Sheen’s that he only be known as the “porter to the house of God.”
Cardinal Tagle also called for the Church to better recommit to the evangelical counsel of poverty, paraphrasing Sheen by saying, “As only a wounded Christ could heal a doubting Thomas, so too can only a church wounded by poverty heal a doubting world.”
As I have continued to pray and reflect on everything from the day, I keep feeling reenergized by the whole event. Between Cardinal Tagle’s preaching, the experience of community with my brother Jesuits, and this glimpse into my role within the larger Catholic Church, the beatification Mass was full of life and hope for the present and future. In a way, the beatification has served as leaven in helping me recommit to my own vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience as a Jesuit.
I am grateful that the Diocese of Peoria hosted the beatification Mass in my own backyard. What a bucket list item to check off!
Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, pray for us.
Jesuits from Bellarmine House of Studies at the Dome at America’s Center, the home of Blessed Fulton Sheen’s Beatification Mass.