PEORIA, Ill. (OSV News) — The morning after Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was beatified in front of over 50,000 people in St. Louis, the bishop, clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Peoria returned home to celebrate a series of Masses of thanksgiving for this historic moment in the U.S. Church.
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria celebrated Mass in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria Sept. 25, where Blessed Fulton J. Sheen was ordained a priest and where his remains are entombed. While a quiet line of pilgrims lined the side of the cathedral waiting to venerate Blessed Fulton Sheen’s tomb, now adorned with flowers, his haloed portrait and one of the relics venerated in St. Louis, almost 20 priests and 200 seminarians from three local seminaries prepared to celebrate Mass with the bishop.
Calling it “beatification day plus one,” Bishop Tylka told the congregation his heart was “full of joy” after participating in the beatification Mass the previous day.
“My heart is full of joy. It is overwhelming to have been a part in what God has done,” he said. “This is not what we have done. This is what God has done through the life and legacy, the witness of faith, of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen. And what God has done in us, at this moment, and what God will do in us for the salvation of the world.”
Reflecting personally on his role as the bishop of Peoria and prelate responsible for Blessed Sheen’s cause for canonization, Bishop Tylka described holding Archbishop Sheen’s crozier and wearing his pectoral cross at the Mass “very humbling” and “an immense weight, but it’s a great joy.”
Reflecting on the Transfiguration and the Sheen beatification
The bishop recalled a moment at the beatification Mass that he likened to the story of St. Peter at the Transfiguration. Stating that just like Peter’s response before the transfigured Jesus was to build tents and stay in the Lord’s presence, Bishop Tylka said, “I was thinking … Lord, it’d be nice to stay here in this grace-filled, powerful moment, to cherish it and to treasure it and to hold on to it.”
However, Bishop Tylka reminded the faithful that while the beatification was a powerful moment of prayer and grace-filled communion as a Church, it was just another step on the journey to Blessed Fulton J. Sheen’s canonization — and a summons to carry on the work Archbishop Sheen dedicated his life to.
“If it was all about what would happen on Sept. 24, we have no business doing what we’re doing on Sept. 24,” he said. “That is just a moment — a moment for us to pause, to celebrate, to receive grace, but to go from that moment back to work.”
“Back to the work of what Fulton Sheen so loved to do,” the bishop said, “to preach the Gospel, to bring people to Jesus Christ, to show compassion and care for the poor and the most vulnerable … so that in moments when you encounter someone else, they might see Christ in you, and you may see Christ in them.”
Transform the world as ‘missionary disciples’ like Blessed Fulton J. Sheen
Bishop Tylka also recalled Archbishop Sheen’s commitment to a daily Holy Hour, a practice he began at his ordination and maintained throughout his priesthood. Peoria’s cathedral, he noted, is the place where Blessed Sheen once prostrated himself before the altar and committed his life to God.
“In this place, let us commit ourselves anew to the work we have to do,” Bishop Tylka said. “Let us be inspired by the witness of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen and let us go to the world with our faith in Christ. For if we do, as missionary disciples in the world today, we will transform our world to look more like the kingdom of God, and will have lived a life that is worth living.”
Standing at the sanctuary where the newly beatified archbishop was ordained just over a century ago, and just steps away from his tomb, Bishop Tylka concluded by invoking Archbishop Sheen’s blessing, “Blessed Fulton Sheen, pray for us. God love you.”
Bishop Tylka celebrated the first Mass of thanksgiving in a series of Masses in Peoria following Archbishop Sheen’s beatification in St. Louis. Subsequent Masses at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception were celebrated by Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York, where Blessed Sheen once served as an auxiliary bishop; Bishop John S. Bonnici of Rochester, New York, the diocese Blessed Fulton Sheen once led; and Bishop Joseph M. Perry, retired auxiliary bishop of Chicago.
Margaret Murray is the associate digital editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @m_murray2023.
