Venerable Fulton Sheen had a great influence on me as a teenager and young adult, through his books and cassette recordings of his conferences. His love for Christ and his Church, and his faithfulness to Peter is what most impacted me then and now. His life is a narrative of grace and tireless service. He helped many of my generation keep focused on the important things while there was a lot of craziness going on around us. And he did it without bitterness. Inevitably there will be efforts to make him say— out of context, or out of thin air— what people want him to have said. This is not a new phenomenon in the Church, but it wields more subtle power today. The great preacher can speak for himself, in a way we can understand. That was God’s gift to him, and his gift to us. I am grateful to God who in the providence of his servant Fulton Sheen, and many others, opened a way for me, and many others, into the priestly vocation.
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Words and Things 