One of the enduringly appealing episodes of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen’s post-“Life is Worth Living” series was called “Quo Vadis, America?” Following his prescient analysis of what ailed American society in the mid-1960s, with characteristic rhetorical flourish, Sheen prophetically described the direction society needed to take.
Clearly fed up with the air of social experimentation and revolution, he proposed that the cultural chaos and destruction must be met with building “up to the hid battlements of eternity. Up, up to God.”
An answer of unity
For a variety of reasons, I couldn’t help thinking of this during Sheen’s historic beatification last week. It seemed as if Sheen had the last word to those who crucified him in this life and tarnished his legacy after death. The beatification struck me as Sheen’s opportunity to answer another “quo vadis”: namely, “Quo vadis, Ecclesia?”
Despite some decisions within the hierarchy that nearly derailed the possibility of Sheen’s beatification on more than one occasion over the years since his cause was opened in 2002, the event came at last. And in a big way.
Looking out over the massive crowd gathered in St. Louis on Sept. 24, it was striking to see the number of young people. Young adults, children, multigenerational families. It was fascinating to see so many people gathered not out of nostalgia, but because of living legacy. The more than 50,000 faithful came together to not only remember and celebrate a man who lived the virtues heroically, but a man who was a hero of the same faith they desired to see more of in themselves and in others. Where is the Church going? Looking at the assembly for Sheen’s beatification offered some clues.
Keeping in mind all of the division and scandal associated with the postponement of Sheen’s beatification in 2019, what stood out to me the most in St. Louis was the ecclesial unity that was brought about by the event.
We saw bishops and cardinals seated together who have disagreed even publicly on serious doctrinal issues. We saw nearly 1,000 seminarians and a similar number of priests process into the arena – a sign of hope for those beleaguered by an ecclesial life against which Sheen remains a balm. We saw massive numbers of the faithful, many of whom traveled great distances to be at the beatification — a reality that made clear that the value the young Church has in truth proclaimed with clarity and boldness. Quo vadis, Ecclesia?
In light of the difficulties and suffering Sheen endured in this life and after death, his long-awaited beatification was no small victory. It was a triumph over the kind of Church leaders who take the faithful’s faith for granted. It was a triumph over those who have been content with a watered-down faith and weakened mission. It was a triumph over the trends that show a decline in ecclesial life. It was a triumph over everything that Sheen stood against and which stood against him.
The path of the cross
Quo vadis, Ecclesia? Where is the Church going? I think we don’t have to look much further than Sheen and his beatification to find the answers. With the news that six new miracles await investigation, one of which will hopefully pave the way to a quick canonization, it seems that God, in his providence, is gently pointing his finger in the way of Sheen, too.
Ultimately, the Church can only go in the way of God’s son, a journey that involves carrying the cross and following him. Sheen carried the cross in this life heroically and faithfully, and his beatification was a triumph over his earthly suffering. As Sheen wrote in his seminal work “Life of Christ,” “The Cross is the condition of the empty tomb, and the crown of thorns is the preface to the halo of light.”
Quo vadis, Ecclesia? The great multitude that has found in Sheen a treasure of the Church has indicated the direction — that in Sheen himself we find a timely and compelling model for the path “up, up to God.”
The beatification of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen was a moment of triumph and hope for the Catholic Church in the United States. May we carry both the joy of the moment and the lessons of the past with us as a Church as we attempt to ascend to his heights.
Michael R. Heinlein is author of “Glorifying Christ: The Life of Cardinal Francis E. George, O.M.I.” and a promised member of the Association of Pauline Cooperators.
