Catholic Fire

Late Archbishop Fulton Sheen is one step closer to becoming a Blessed. A group of Vatican doctors and theologians agreed that a miracle should be attributed to the intercession of Venerable Fulton Sheen. The case involves a stillborn baby boy. His mother gave birth to him back on September 2010. For over an hour, the stillborn showed no signs of life. Overwhelmed with grief, his parents started praying to Fulton Sheen, asking for a miracle. After 61 minutes, the baby boy responded. Three years and a full recovery later, the boy named James Fulton Engstrom, in honor of the late Archbishop, is doing just fine. The American prelate rose to fame back in the 1950's with his television show 'Life is Worth Living.' He even won an Emmy for his work. He died on December 9th, 1979, but he is still remembered for his direct, clear and moving homilies. The process isn't over just yet. Now that a team of doctors and theologians agreed that there is no medical explanation ...

A seven-member team of medical experts convoked by the Vatican reported there is no natural explanation for the survival of a child delivered stillborn and whose heart did not start beating until 61 minutes after his birth. The survival of the child, James Fulton Engstrom of Goodfield, now 3 years old and developing normally, was credited by his parents to a miracle attributable to the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a Peoria diocesan priest who gained fame for his 1950s television show "Life Is Worth Living" and his 16 years at the helm of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The medical experts' report was announced March 6 in Peoria by the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, of which Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, is president. "Today is a significant step in the cause for the beatification and canonization of our beloved Fulton Sheen, a priest of Peoria and a Son of the Heartland who went on to change the world," Bishop Jenky said in...

Today is the memorial of St. Augustine - one of my favorite saints. At age 12, I read his Confessions and was fascinated with his great love and passion for the Lord. Little did I realize at that time that eleven years later, I would stop practicing my own Catholic faith and, like Augustine, it would be the long-suffering and persistent prayers of my mother that would draw me to the heart of  Jesus and back to the faith of my youth. St. Augustine was a Western Father of the Church and his conversion to Christianity is well-known as one of the most important events in the history of the Church. Augustine was born in Tagaste, Africa in 354 to Patrcius, a pagan Roman official, and to Monica, a devout Christian. Monica raised Augustine in the Christian faith, but when he went to study law in Carthage, he turned away from his Christian beliefs and led a life of immorality and hedonism. At age 15, he took a took a mistress who bore him a son, Adoedatus, which means “the gift of God,...

Fans of Archbishop Fulton Sheen won't want to miss Father Charles Connor at 8 p.m. ET, Wednesday, March 20 on "EWTN Live" with Father Mitch Pacwa. Father Connor will discuss Archbishop Sheen's spiritual legacy, which also happens to be the subject of a series now in production at EWTN. This should be a lively discussion! H/T : The Apostolate of Hannah's Tears

The Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation has announced that twelve archbishops and bishops have joined its Episcopal Board of Advisors for the cause for Archbishop Sheen’s beatification. The foundation told CNA on Monday that the famous archbishop's cause is progressing "quite well." The new members include Cardinal William Baum, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C; Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop Emeritus of New York City; Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles; Cardinal Adam Maida, Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit; Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C.; Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston; and Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia.Other new members include Bishop of Rockford, Illinois Thomas G. Doran; Bishop of Springfield, Illinois George J. Lucas; Bishop of St. Petersburg, Florida Robert N. Lynch; Bishop of Joliet, Illinois J. Peter Sartain; and Bishop of Paterson, New Jersey Arthur J. Serratelli. Cli...

St. Augustine is one of my favorite saints. At age 12, I read his Confessions and was fascinated with his great love and passion for the Lord. Little did I realize at that time that eleven years later, I would stop practicing my Catholic faith and, like Augustine, it would be the long-suffering and persistent prayers of my mother that would draw me to the heart of Jesus and bring me home to my faith. St. Augustine was a Western Father of the Church and his conversion to Christianity is well-known as one of the most important events in the history of the Church. Augustine was born in Tagaste, Africa in 354 to Patrcius, a pagan Roman official, and to Monica, a devout Christian. Monica raised Augustine in the Christian faith, but when he went to study law in Carthage, he turned away from his Christian beliefs and led a life of immorality and hedonism. At age 15, he took a took a mistress who bore him a son, Adoedatus, which means “the gift of God,” and at age 18, he and his friend, Honor...

“If you wish to convert anyone to the fullness of our Lord and of His Mystical Body, then teach him the rosary. One of two things will happen. Either he will stop saying the Rosary - or he will get the gift of faith.” ~ Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

" So the divine love is sacrificial love. Love does not mean to have and to own and to possess. It means to be had and to be owned and to be possessed. It is not a circle circumscribed by self, it is arms outstretched to embrace all humanity within its grasp." ~ Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen "Intense love does not measure . . . it just gives." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta "Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This is why Christ the Redeemer 'fully reveals man to himself.'" ~ Pope John Paul II "Love... becomes concern and care for the other. No longer is it self-seeking, a sinking in the intoxication of happiness; instead it seeks the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation and it is ready, and even willing, ...