Pastoral Staff Day
Introductory Remarks
October 6 2026
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: Evangelist
Back in the antediluvian days, when I was 6 or 7 years old, I was among the 30 million people who watched Bishop Fulton J. Sheen on television. In those days, there were only three television channels. On one channel the Frank Sinatra Variety Show was featured. On another was the famed comedian, Milton Berle. Fulton Sheen appeared on the third, NBC.
I sat on the floor in front of the TV with rapt attention. I didn’t exactly understand what he was talking about, but the way he spoke and the way he looked left a deep impression on me. As fuzzy as 1950’s TV images were, I noticed his piercing eyes. I thought he had x-ray vision. I knew he was speaking for God. Mom and Dad would discuss his program afterwards and explain it to me. That made me an even more enthusiastic fan.
At one point, it was thought that my father needed back surgery, and into those days, it was a very risky procedure. So, using the Palmer method handwriting and newly acquired fountain pen – (some things never change) – I wrote him a letter, asking his prayers for my dad. A few weeks later, a letter from the Propagation of the Faith in New York arrived. Bishop Sheen had answered my letter. He promised to pray for my dad. At the bottom of the letter, in his elegant hand, he wrote: “I hope you will consider becoming a priest.” It was like a telegram from God. It was not my only indicator, but it had a lot to do with my vocation.
Years later, my Mom and Dad, after praying the Rosary each night, offered a prayer for his beatification and canonization. To the very end of their lives, a picture of Archbishop Sheen hung in their room.
Do you think there was any way I’d mission his beatification in St. Louis? It’s where I had to be. Me and 50,000 other people. And countless more watching on livestream and other platforms. As his relics were carried in procession and the decree was proclaimed, my heart stirred within me. Like countless others, this one man had a deep effect on my life. He may well have changed its course. And by the way, my father’s back improved and he didn’t need surgery!
Was all this a blast from past? I don’t think so. His beatification coincides with something that is happening the world over. The Spirit is moving across the face of the earth. Look at the crowds in France that greeted Pope Leo, the enthusiasm, not merely for a man, but for the faith to which he bears witness. Look at what is happening in Spain and other countries in Europe where it was thought the faith was dying. The Spirit is moving across the face of the earth.
We will never know how many people are quietly embracing the faith in the midst of war, poverty, exile, and oppression, how many new martyrs are being created in parts of Africa, Asia, & Eastern Europe, how many souls are let in the Sun of Justice in the night of persecution.
And what of us? Last Easter Vigil, some 2,000 new members were added to this Archdiocese. On that night of nights many were baptized, received, and confirmed, and joined in the banquet of the Lamb’s Sacrifice for the first time. The Spirit is moving across the face of the earth.
Why do I recount this? Because you are talking about evangelizing parishes today. You can’t talk about evangelizing parishes in the abstract. There’s always a context. Evangelizing always occurs in and through a culture. Often we think that culture has hardened against the Gospel, partially because of our own folly and sinfulness, but partially because of the march of an aggressive secular humanism. Both are still with us. Challenges remain. But “Christ has conquered and glory fills you!” Those are words that pierced my heart at the Easter Vigil. May they also pierce yours today. Christ is wiser than our doubts and questions. Christ is not deterred by our folly. Christ’s love is stronger than any resistance a culture can muster.
That doesn’t mean you don’t encounter resistance, opposition, & even rejection. We like to think that every time St. Paul went out to preach the Gospel, it was welcomed and embraced. We like to think it was the same for Francis of Assisi. They too met with resistance, opposition, and even rejection. But they preached and spread joy whether it was welcome or unwelcome. That’s what an evangelizing parish does.
Underneath the questions and the hardness of heart lies an intense hunger. Our culture possesses extraordinary technological power, yet often struggles to answer basic questions about meaning. We communicate constantly, yet experience profound loneliness. We have unprecedented access to information, but often find ourselves uncertain about truth. We speak frequently about rights, but less frequently about responsibilities. We debate endlessly but struggle to listen.
As I pointed out in my recent pastoral letter, In Charity and Truth, we minister in a wounded culture. We see signs of it everywhere. People increasingly define themselves by opposition. Public discourse becomes anger rather than argument. Disagreement becomes suspicion and relationships become fragile. The result is not just political dysfunction, but spiritual exhaustion. The deeper crisis is not ideological but anthropological. We have forgotten who we are. We are looking for the One who reveals us to ourselves. Many young people and young adults are searching for him.
The parish is not a place where we hide out until the storm passes. For one storm is always replaced by another. The parish is that place where we learn to live in a new way. A place where we are ushered into the truth and love of the heart of Jesus. A place where we learn how it is that God so loved us, where we learn to see the image of God within us and within others, and find the grace and the virtues needed to break down the barriers that we human begins endless recreate.
There are more souls than we know who are hungering for what the Lord has entrusted to us. The Lord sends us out, charging us to bear witness boldly. Our boldness has little to do with being extroverts, and strength comes not from our plans but from God’s plan, the mysterious plan he was pleased to reveal in Christ. We’ve been through a lot, and we’ll go through a lot more. So did Paul. So did Barnabas. So did John Chrysostom. No amount of opposition foiled them. Not martyrdom, not exile. The only thing that can foil us is indifference and ennui.
We are here to strengthen one another. To celebrate our faith. To reflect. To discuss. To discern. To share. And to return the mission field with renewed confidence.
Thank you for your magnificent service to your parishes. Thank you for your hidden heroism. Thank you for being long suffering. Thank you for being faithful disciples of the Lord and living stones in the temple of his Church.
May this be a day of grace for you and your parishes. Thank you and God keep you always in his love!