By Tony Gutiérrez
Special to The Texas Catholic
ST. LOUIS — A few weeks ago, several high schoolers from St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Parish did not know much about Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
They made a point to learn more about him ahead of his beatification Mass Sept. 24. In joining approximately 50,000 Catholics, they gained an appreciation for the media pioneer and for the beauty of the Church he loved.
“It was so beautiful seeing how packed the stadium was; it was all Catholics. That’s so beautiful to me; just one blessed brought everyone together,” said Brisa Lopez, a 16-year-old junior at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep.
She was particularly moved by the fact that the baby whose life was saved through Archbishop Sheen’s intercession — the miracle that cleared the way for the archbishop’s beatification — is now the same age as she is.
“I started getting to know a little more, and I learned about his miracle, about the 16-year-old now, and I think that’s so cool,” Lopez said.
Another 16-year-old from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Israel Vaquera, initially traveled to St. Louis to have fun and explore.
“But coming out of this Mass, I realized how big the Catholic Church is and how beautiful the Catholic Church is, and it really impacted me a lot,” Vaquera said. “I haven’t experienced anything like this before, and it was really beautiful.”
Vaquera, a junior at South Garland High School, was particularly moved seeing his older brother Diego in the procession at the Mass as a seminarian.
“I wanted to cry. It’s just such a blessing seeing him with all those other seminarians, all those priests, bishops, the cardinals — that’s my brother, and I love him,” he said. “I thank God for allowing me to see that.”
Kristin Velasquez from Mary Immaculate Catholic Parish in Farmers Branch and her friend Stefanie Sugiaman from St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Parish in Richardson hit the road at 6:30 a.m. Sept. 23 to make the nine-and-a-half hour trek.
“All our lives we’ve grown up with this: We can make it to heaven; we’re being called to be saints. But it’s difficult; the battle is hard; it’s hard to persevere,” Velasquez said. “When we have these moments of miracles happening … someone’s going to be beatified; someone’s actually showing proof that they’re in heaven. They’re making miracles. They made it. That’s so motivating for everybody else that we can do it.”
During their road trip, Velaszquez and Sugiaman prayed a rosary and listened to podcasts of old recordings of Archbishop Sheen. Upon arriving, they joined other young adults in a holy hour at the Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France.
“We spent so much of the day yesterday driving here, but then being able to slow down at the end of the day and just be there with Jesus to kick off the time we have here was really powerful,” said Sugiaman, adding she looked to Archbishop Sheen’s prayer life as an example to follow.
“That has been a good reminder that no matter how many active things I can do,” she added, “all of that needs to be rooted in my relationship with Jesus, because Jesus can impact people’s lives more than anything I can do, and that comes from being rooted in him.”
Dressed in a bishop’s cassock and cape like Archbishop Sheen would wear on his show “Life is Worth Living,” 2-year-old Fulton Gossen rode on his father Matt Gossen’s shoulders out of the Mass. The family came from Rayne, Louisiana, in the Diocese of Lafayette, which former Dallas priest and Dallas Auxiliary Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel currently leads.
In preparing for the celebration, Matt and his wife Tori led their children in praying a novena. With all the excitement, they almost forgot to pray on the last day.
“They did it with us, and they were excited,” Tori said. “They reminded us the last day, so they’ve been great. It’s been beautiful.”
Juan Rendon, director of the Diocese of Dallas Office of Catholic Social Ministries, had been familiar with Archbishop Sheen’s teachings but never realized his connections to the missions until he started working with the Pontifical Mission Society.
“I knew about him; I knew about his charism, his preaching style, his communication; but I didn’t know anything about his mission side,” Rendon said. “He’s the real deal when it comes to going around the world virtually by using all means to communicate the Gospel. His love for the poor, his work for the poor, that’s such an inspiration to me.”
Archbishop Sheen inspires Rendon as a “missionary,” “evangelizer,” and “authentic witness of the faith.”
The collect prayer for the Mass highlighted prayer, Mary, and witness, Rendon said.
“I’m going to take those three as the pillars: prayer, love for Mary, and being a witness,” he said. “I hope to communicate that and to reignite that missionary spirit in our Diocese of Dallas.”
Cutline for featured image: Fulton Gossen, 2, of Rayne, Louisiana, wears a cape in the fashion of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen as he stands next to a cutout of the archbishop. (JANELL MIANK/Special Contributor)
