So
many of us have been inspired by Archbishop Sheen — by his radio and television
programs, by his books and articles, by his preaching, teaching and holy
Catholic life. But the biggest impact
Archbishop Sheen made in the life of the Church is his promotion of the
Church’s missions. He repeated often, “My greatest love has always been for the
missions of the Church.”
During
his 16 years as National Director of The Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950
to 1966, he transformed missionary awareness among American Catholics. He also
helped to raise $200 million for the missions — $2.1 billion in today’s money
— which sustained thousands of dioceses, built tens of thousands of churches,
formed millions of seminarians and religious, and educated hundreds of millions
of children in the faith.
As
if that were not enough, he also gave his personal earnings from TV, radio,
books, articles, speeches and more to the missions and after God called him
home, he gave The Pontifical Mission Societies all the royalties for his books
and audio, which still support the missions to this day.
It’s
essential for us to continue that work.
His
upcoming beatification on September 24 is a time for all of us to thank God for
the gift of Archbishop Sheen but also to ask God to inspire in us his same love
for the missions of the Church.
Last
year, through your support of The Pontifical Mission Societies, we helped to
build 751 Catholic Churches around the world. We educated two out of five
future priests across the globe. We sustained the work of bishops, priests, religious and catechists. We helped
bring Jesus, the light of the World, to so many children.
To
use Jesus’ image in the Gospel, the fields are still white and ripe for the
harvest. He wants us to pray with urgency to the Harvest Master for laborers
— missionaries — for his harvest, but he also wants us to roll up our sleeves
and help take in that harvest. As Archbishop Sheen used to say, for some of
us that means going to the missions; for the rest of us, that means sending to the missions: sending our prayer and sending our support.
One
great need, and one of the biggest priorities of Archbishop Sheen, was to help
the missions build seminaries and convents where future leaders of the Church
can be formed. Missionaries come to plant the Gospel, but the real growth of
the Church in missionary lands happens when native priests and religious are
able to support themselves.
When
Monsignor Landry was recently in Nigeria, he was able to visit several of the
seminaries and convents that Archbishop Sheen helped to build. One of them,
Bigard Seminary — named after Jeanne Bigard, the foundress of the Society of
St. Peter the Apostle, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies — has
become the largest seminary in the world, with 714 seminarians! Their
dormitories, classrooms, chapel, and grounds were all built in the 1950s when
Archbishop Sheen was National Director. The seminarians and faculty all revere
him for that reason and are so excited for his beatification!
But
Bigard Seminary and other seminaries and convents in Nigeria and across the
missionary world, while rich in vocations, are very poor and need a great deal
of help to maintain their facilities, and to train and feed so many future
priests and religious. They look to us with hope and are praying through soon
to be Blessed Fulton Sheen’s intercession that we will be as generous as our
parents and grandparents were during Archbishop Sheen’s time.
I
would be grateful for any gift you choose to share today. Thank you. And as
Archbishop Sheen used to say: “God love you!”
Together
in Mission,
