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In the 1950s, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen emerged as television’s very first popular religious communicator. As a kid I
enjoyed watching him on Tuesday nights at 8. The Dumont Television Network launched his program, “Life Is Worth Living,”
in 1951 with modest expectations, as they had put him up against both Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra. But his formula of down-home
humor, clear exposition, and no proselytization made him an immediate success.
In his first year, from a field of candidates that included Lucille Ball, Arthur Godfrey, Jimmy Durante and Edward R. Murrow,
Bishop Sheen won the Emmy for Most Outstanding Television Personality. When he accepted the award, he said, “I feel
it’s time I paid tribute to my writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.” By 1954 his ratings competed favorably
with those of Mr. Television himself, Milton Berle. Berle, known as “Uncle Miltie” became Sheen’s friend,
nicknamed him “Uncle Fultie,” and once quipped that “he used old material too.” In 1956 “Life
Is Worth Living” had moved to ABC television, was being broadcast on one-hundred-eighty-seven stations, and drew as
many as thirty million viewers every week.
Now half a century later, the Catholic Church may soon recognize Fulton J. Sheen, as a saint. He is well on the way to canonization,
the church’s official declaration that a person is a saint in heaven. In September 2002, the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints, the Vatican office in charge, took the first step and pronounced Sheen a “servant of God.” Next in
the process are further study of his life and the authentication of miracles resulting from his intercession in heaven. Currently,
officials in Rome are examining two miraculous healings that allegedly occurred after family members asked him to pray for
a woman and a baby, both with incurable ailments.
You might think that the church will recognize Sheen as a saint for his many achievements. In addition to his successful use
of television to enrich religious faith in America, he also taught theology and philosophy at Catholic University for 25 years
and wrote more than 60 books. The church will certainly acknowledge these significant accomplishments. But they will not be
the main reason for declaring Sheen a saint.
The church requires that a candidate for sainthood exhibit consistent excellence in daily Christian living, not that he has
done many great things. The real test of holiness is the way that a person treats other people, for the church holds to the
biblical teaching that you cannot claim to love God unless you love others. And as the following story of the bishop’s
friendship with Paul Scott shows, Fulton J. Sheen passed the test with flying colors.
Paul Scott’s life was interrupted during his senior year in high school, and it would never be the same. This normal
healthy boy, who enjoyed dancing and sports, contracted leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease. He spent the next six
years lonely and frightened, confined in a leprosarium in Carville, Georgia.
Newly discovered sulfone drugs halted Paul’s disease, but not before he was disfigured beyond repair. His face was
an ugly mask; he was blind in one eye; he limped; and he had only partial use of his hands. Paul’s life was spared,
but only to meet walls of rejection. People stared at him on the street. Old friends avoided him. His own parents could not
bear his deformities.
Depression and loneliness drove Paul to look for help in an unlikely place. Although not a Catholic, he sought an appointment
with Bishop Sheen, who had visited Carville and had shown compassion to the patients. A little to Paul’s surprise, the
bishop invited him to his office. “I’ve come to you,” said Paul, “because I have no one to turn to.
I haven’t a friend in the world.”
“Well, now you have one,” said the bishop. He meant what he said. Bishop Sheen supported Paul in down-to-earth
ways. He helped the young man find and furnish an apartment. He provided him with clothes and food. He encouraged Paul to
take a behind-the-scenes job in a business where his disfigurement would not be an impediment. Bishop Sheen even had Paul
to dinner at his home once a week. Because Paul had difficulty using his hands, the bishop cut his food for him. More than
anything else, he accepted Paul unconditionally, which enabled Paul to accept himself and his disabilities. And when Sheen
was installed as Bishop of Rochester, New York in 1966, he had Paul Scott seated as an honored guest in the cathedral’s
sanctuary.
Novelist Henry James once wrote that three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be
kind. The third is to be kind. Fulton J. Sheen’s typical kindness that he showed to Paul Scott and many others throughout
his life is the chief reason that the Catholic Church will identify him as a saint.
SIDEBAR
The Quotable Fulton J. Sheen
“Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.”
“Baloney is flattery laid on so thick it cannot be true, and blarney is flattery so thin we love it.”
“ HYPERLINK "http://thinkexist.com/quotation/an_atheist_is_a_man_who_has_no_invisible_means_of/206093.html" An atheist
is a man who has no invisible means of support.”
“Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals.”
“Love is a mutual self-giving that ends in self-recovery.”
“Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart.
Have you left a place for divine love?”
“ HYPERLINK "http://www.dailycelebrations.com/lovequotes.htm" Love was meant to be also a sign, a symbol, a messenger,
a telltale of the Divine. Love is a messenger from HYPERLINK "http://www.dailycelebrations.com/faith.htm" God saying that
every HYPERLINK "http://www.dailycelebrations.com/human.htm" human affection and every ecstasy of love are sparks from the
HYPERLINK "http://www.dailycelebrations.com/greatness.htm" great flame of love that is God.”
“I consider everything a waste except knowing Christ. Anything that is done or read or spoken or enjoyed or suffered
that does not bring me close to Him makes me ask myself: why all this waste?”
© Copyright 2009 by Bert Ghezzi
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