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Father Charles P. Connor, noted theologian and Church historian is the author of such popular works as Classic Catholic Converts and Defenders of the Faith (both by Ignatius Press), his book, Meditations on the Catholic Priesthood
(ST PAULS / Alba House, 2005) which went through two printings the year it came out, and The Saint for the Third MIllennium: St. Therese of Lisieux (ST PAULS / Alba House, 2007). He has also co-produced several series for EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network) including: The History of the Catholic Church in the United States, Historic Catholic Converts, Defenders of the Faith in Word and Deed, Doctors of the Church, Therese of Lisieux: The Saint for the Third Millennium, The Sacraments Through the Ages and The Catholic Church Through the Ages. Several of these are available through EWTN on their home video series. This is his third work for ST PAULS.
Reviews
"Never has anyone succeeded in effectively presenting the timeless and seemingly alien truths of Catholicism to a skeptical American audience as Fulton J. Sheen," observed the great historian of the Catholic Church in the United States, John Tracy Ellis. That's as true today as it was three decades ago when I heart Monsignor Ellis say it in a lecture at The Catholic University of America. Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason... the great personalities of TV of ovr half a century ago are now part of nostalgia, admired, yes, but seen as frozen in an era no more. Not Fulton J. Sheen! Interest in him is higher than ever. As one now privileged to offer Mass daily in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, over the crypte where he awaits the resurrectrion of the dead. I am amazed at the number of those who come in search of him. And the cause for his beatification advances!
But what actually did he say? We recall the sound bites and smile as we are moved still by the re-runs of Life Is Worth Living, but was there a consistency, a focused philosophy to his thoughts, writing, preaching, and lecturing? Ask no longer. Read Father Connor's work. It's not so much a biography as it is a concert of major themes emerging from sixty plus years of public speaking and publication. --His Excellency Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, in the Preface of the book.
The present book, The Spiritual Legacy of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is certainly a great contribution to the Archbishop's renewed popularity. without doubt, it is a vast treasury of the Servant of God's wonderful teachings on the spiritual life. With his own scholarly ability, his clear presentations and his deep heartfelt convictions and love of the Lord, Father Connor's presentation will touch many minds and hearts. It will add to the spiritual growth and renewal of all who will read this newest addition to the legacy of the late Archbishop....
This book is not a theological textbook. That would not have been Archbishop Sheen's approach. It would run the risk of being dry, lifeless and unchallenging. But Father Connor's wonderful skill is to show these teachings in a living movement through the journey of the Archbishop's life. It is my joy to recommend this book to everyone who loved God and loves His faithful servant, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. No one will be disappointed in their reading! As the Archbishop would say: "God love you!" --Father Andrew Apostoli, CFR, Vice-Postulator for the Cause for the Canonization of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, in the Introduction to the book.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was the greatest media evangelist of the twentieth century. He had twenty years of experience on the radio before he became a TV star in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to his effectiveness in radio and TV, Bishop Sheen also published sixty-five books, which are listed in the bibliography at the end of this book.
I have been a Sheen fan for more than thirty years. I had the good fortune to see him in person at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976. I also saw him up close at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. during one of the meetings of the bishops' conference in the 1970s. Sheen died suddenly, after two years of heart trouble, on December 9, 1979. He was very devoted to our Blessed Mother, offered Mass every Saturday in her honor, and prayed that he would die on one of her feast days. He missed the Immaculate Conception by one day, but originally the feast was on December 9 until Pope Pius IX changed it to December 8, so in a sense Our Lady answered his prayer favorably.
From 1979 to 2002 there was not much public recognition of the powerful presentation of the Catholic faith that characterized the work of Fulton Sheen. In 2002 his cause for beatification was introduced, and since that time there has been a revival of interest in the sermons and books of Sheen. Since 2002 many books by Sheen have been reprinted, new books about Sheen have been published, and his TV programs have been featured on EWTN. There is a good reason for this revival of interest in Sheen and it is this: even though he spoke and wrote in a time when the culture of America was very different from what it is today, he penetrated to the heart of reality regarding God, man and the world. Thus there is a certain timelessness about his presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that appeals to all ages. In that he reflects the timeless truth of the Gospel that we find in the four evangelists and in the letters of St. Paul.
Fr. Connor has done us a great service by analyzing the thought of Sheen and presenting it under ten themes, presented in ten chapters. The first one deals with Sheen's view of life, first in God and then communicated to his creation, especially as it is found in man. The second chapter is about the Incarnation of the Son of God. Here he drew on one of Sheen's better-known books, Life of Christ (1960). Then he presents Sheen's ideas on temptation and sin, conversion and the sacrament of penance. Chapter six deals with the mystery of suffering, and chapter seven with prayer. Here he makes his strong plea for priests to practice a holy hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament every day, as Sheen did for over sixty years. In the last three chapters Fr. Connor summarizes Sheen's devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his theology of marriage, the Eucharist and the priesthood.
Even though these writings and talks appeared or took place fifty to eighty years ago, it is simply amazing how contemporary they are. Sheen offers wise advice on such things as the permanence of marriage, the need to go to confession, the importance of the priesthood, how to deal with suffering and similar topics. What he says is just as applicable to present-day living as it was when it was first given in the 1930s or 1970s.
On a personal note, listening to Sheen and reading his books has helped me over the years to be a more effective communicator because he was a "great communicator," a title given to him by the Protestant evangelist, Billy Graham. In addition to the depth of his thought, which he derived from his daily meditation on the word of God, two characteristics of his preaching style have always impressed me. They are his use of the "pause" in speaking and his use of concrete examples to illustrate abstract truth, either in the natural order or in the supernatural order. In his talks on radio and TV he often paused for seconds between phrases and sentences, sometimes for even eight or ten seconds. In that he was different from most public speakers, who often speak very fast to get more information into a limited abount of time. Sheen made fewer points, but spoke slowly and clearly and with lots of examples so everyone could understand. Those two elements, along with the piercing eyes and deep modulated voice, made him a speaker so powerful that no one, to my knowledge, has been able to match him.
Finally, Fr. Connor's book is not a biography of Sheen; it summarizes his thought in ten themes taken from his talks and books over a period of about sixty years, from the 1930s to 1979. --Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. in the May 2010 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review,
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