Pastor's Weekly Message

twelfth Sunday in ordinary time, 21 June 2026


†

HS

JMJ


My Dear Beloved Fellow Saints-in-the-Making,


Greetings in Jesus Who is the visible Face of the Father of Mercy!


With our countdown to our country’s Semiquincentennial—the 250th anniversary as a sovereign nation—we continue to focus on Catholic Americans who, by their faith and fidelity to the Catholic Church, helped to establish this country as one nation under God.


This week’s column features the American prelate who promoted devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist by praying a daily Holy Hour of Adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament. And that American Priest is none other than Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, a great friend of mine in Heaven.


From the 1930’s through the 1950, Archbishop Sheen used his God-given intellect, his personality, charm, and intellect, and, above all, his faith in Jesus Christ to evangelize this great nation through radio programming (The Catholic Hour) and from then through the 1970’s, through his weekly television series, Life Is Worth Living, that earned him the admiration of Catholics and Protestants alike as well as an Emmy Award. When he accepted the award, he said, “I’d like to thank my writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.” He knew how to let others experience the joy of faith in Jesus Christ through humor.


He also knew the necessity of defending the Faith—and our nation—against the very real threat of the evils of atheism and communism. Indeed, so powerfully did Archbishop Sheen speak against communism that he was deemed “Public Enemy Number 1” by the American communist party. He continued undeterred to defend the freedom of our nation that is founded by faith in the God Who has given us the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and he defended it, because he believed so fervently in Jesus Who is the Resurrection and the Life.


As “Author Michael Dubruiel said, ‘There is no one in the modern Church who has done more to popularize the practice of praying in the Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.’" (https://fulton-sheen.catholic.edu/bio/). Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is due to be beatified in St. Louis, Missouri on September 24, 2026.

 

In Fulton Sheen’s own words “God love you!” To which I add, “I do.”


In Christ,

Fr. Lewis