Ory Meets Sheen: The Rest Is Church History

I was going to write about the connection between charity and its fruits: joy, peace, and mercy, but in mass this evening, the name Fulton popped into my head.

“All right, Lord. Fulton Sheen.” I’ll write about him. What about him? I’ll start with our relationship. My baby brother, who is 24 years old, and still my baby brother, mentioned to my parents on the phone that he was reading Peace of Soul by Fulton Sheen. I was blown away. Joe didn’t read. Ever. Not that I can remember. I was the literature fan, and he would scrape through high school English papers like he just had a tooth pulled. Now he’s reading? Fulton Sheen?

I decided to look into some of his writings and somehow managed to find his YouTube videos instead. Now, I would say that we are good friends, and he has helped me greatly in my spiritual life. One thing he said was that since he was ordained a priest, he went to an hour of adoration every single day, never missing one, even if that meant walking outside of a locked church late at night and circling it while praying. He challenged those listening to do the same thing.

While I do not go to adoration every single day for an hour, I can honestly say that on the days that I do go, I experience this peace that nothing and no one can take away from me. My love for the Eucharist deepened, and my faith in Our Lord has grown exponentially since I have been trying to practice this daily (not so daily habit). When my life is unraveling fast or seems off balance, I do a quick examination of conscience and realize that I have not done my daily adoration hour. Then I resolve to start again. The first lesson I learned from him is to be devoted to the Eucharist through one hour of adoration a day as a way to get closer to Christ.

The second lesson I learned from him is to influence the lives of others by challenging them in their faith. Below are two of my favorite examples that illustrate this point.

Once, he suggested to a beautiful flight attendant that she go and serve in a leper colony in Vietnam, (where the lepers are not used to seeing beauty), as a way to thank God for her beauty. She went to serve for a period there.

Another time, woman who was drunk showed up outside the church. It turns out that she was a fallen away Catholic. She promised to come inside the church to see two beautiful paintings as long as he did not ask her to go to confession. He promised. Later on when he walked into the church with her, he pushed her into the confessional. She went and later gave up her drinking and became a nun.

This man is a personal friend of mine that I would like to introduce you to so that he can help you in turn influence the lives of others.

References

Flood, J. A. “Everything Is a Gift.” Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Living in the Kingdom. 22 April 2012. Retrieved from http://where-the-rubber-hits-the- road.blogspot.com/2012/04/everything-is-gift.html

Sheen, F. J. “I Am In Love With 3 Men,” Drunk Woman Tell Fulton Sheen. Story told by Fulton Sheen. Authors-Choice. 10/19/14. Retrieved from https://afterjujuman.com/2014/09/10/drunk-woman-and-bishop-fulton-sheen-the-power-of-choice/

Sheen, F. J. “The Hour that Makes My Day.” A Selection from A Treasure in Clay, the autobiography of Bishop Sheen. Ignatius Light. Retrieved from http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/fsheen_hourday_july05.asp