Julie Nelson, co-host of Catholic Women Now on Iowa Catholic Radio, shares a firsthand account of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's beatification in St. Louis. She describes the global, joyful atmosphere of the universal Church gathered around a future American saint, the Midwest pride in Sheen's farm-boy roots, and his surprising connection to Diocese of Des Moines seminarians. Julie also reflects on Sheen's prophetic wisdom, his gift for humor, and why his beatification is a sign of hope for the Church in America.
The morning after Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was declared "Blessed," Julie Nelson, co-host of Catholic Women Now, joins Bo Bonner from St. Louis to share what it was like to be there.
Julie describes an atmosphere unlike any Catholic convention or congress she's attended: priests and religious sisters from around the world, joyful reunions among women's religious orders, and the sense of the whole Church rallying around a future American saint. She reflects on the Midwest pride surrounding Sheen, a brilliant Illinois farm boy who became one of the most influential Catholic communicators in history, and shares a local connection: Sheen studied at the Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota, where Diocese of Des Moines seminarians are formed today.
Julie also talks about the Sheen teaching resonating with her most right now: his prophetic warning about abortion's lasting toll on women's mental health, along with his deep insight into sin and the human psyche and his very Midwestern knack for delivering hard truths with humor. As someone working in Catholic media, she's asking for Blessed Fulton Sheen's intercession for the mission of Iowa Catholic Radio, and she sees his beatification, alongside an American pope, as a sign that God is doing something special in the Church in North America.
Catch Catholic Women Now with Julie Nelson and Chris Magruder Thursdays at 9 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio.
Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.
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