Franciscan Friars of the Renewal led eucharistic adoration in a packed Old Cathedral
Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that everything looks different in the light of the resurrection, Father Malachy Napier, CFR, told the young adults who packed the Old Cathedral on the evening of Sept. 23.
Archbishop Sheen lived his life as a witness to that hope, and it’s a wonderful gift to have the opportunity to celebrate him as he is declared blessed on Sept. 24, Father Malachy continued.
“But what about your life?” he asked. “What about your marriage, your family, your future? What about your religious life? What would it cost you to allow the resurrection to break forth within your life?”
Father Malachy was one of 11 Franciscan Friars of the Renewal from the Bronx and Harlem, New York, who traveled to St. Louis for the beatification of Archbishop Sheen. On the evening before the beatification, the friars hosted a young adult Holy Hour at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral) that included a reflection, praise and worship and the opportunity for confession in addition to eucharistic adoration.
The Old Cathedral was so full that Father Malachy joked he half expected people to start being lowered through the roof. Young adults — and a smattering of grayer heads — crammed into the pews, knelt in the aisles, stood several rows deep in the back of the church and even filled the choir loft of the Downtown basilica.
Archbishop Sheen also said that “unless there is a cross in our lives, there will never be an empty tomb,” Father Malachy quoted. We’re only able to participate in the joy of Christ’s resurrection if we surrender our lives to God’s will, including the sufferings and hardships that come along.
“Fulton Sheen became this powerful instrument of God’s grace, but he became that powerful instrument of God’s grace because he said yes to dying again and again and again, and he knew where to find that power to be able to do that,” he said. “To walk the road to heaven, we need food for the journey. This is precisely how Jesus comes in the Eucharist.”
The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have a special connection to Archbishop Sheen: He ordained Father Andrew Apostoli, one of the order’s founders. Father Andrew, who died in 2017, served as vice-postulator of Archbishop Sheen’s cause for canonization.
One of the order’s charisms is to promote eucharistic devotion, inspired by both Archbishop Sheen and St. Teresa of Kolkata, said Father John Anthony Boughton, CFR, local superior of the New York communities. Archbishop Sheen famously dedicated one hour daily to prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
“That’s one of the ways we evangelize, is trying to bring people to Jesus in the Eucharist and have time to adore and to praise,” he said. “From the very beginning of our community, it’s been part of the charism.”
In Archbishop Sheen’s homily at Father Andrew’s ordination Mass, he spoke about the need for the renewal of the priesthood through eucharistic devotion. That love for the priesthood is an inspiration to Father John Anthony.
“If I could walk away (from the beatification) with something, it’s: Lord, grant me the grace to be one of those guys that draws other priests back to the Eucharist, back to the first love, and start with me,” he said.
A couple dozen students from Saint Louis University’s Catholic Studies Center participated in a “Camino de SLU” walking pilgrimage on Sept. 23, beginning on the university campus and making stops at St. Francis Xavier (College) Church, St. Alphonsus Ligouri “Rock” Church and the Shrine of St. Joseph before ending at the Holy Hour at the Old Cathedral.
Participating in the Holy Hour was the perfect way to prepare to celebrate Archbishop Sheen, SLU junior Madelyn Purcell said, since his daily adoration devotion has made a big impact on so many people.
“We sign up for Holy Hours at SLU, and that’s been something that has really been life-changing for me,” she said. “So getting this experience doing it in such a large, vibrant Catholic community in St. Louis was really cool. “
For fellow SLU junior Nicolas Titone, Archbishop Sheen has been a role model in using new media for evangelization.
“We live in an age where we have a lot of new ways of communication, and we’re a generation that grew up with that from the start,” he said. “Learning about his evangelization is an opportunity for us to learn how to go out in our own lives and do that for those around us.”
Rebekah Rath traveled to St. Louis for the beatification with four friends from the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee. Rath grew up Lutheran and entered the Catholic Church this past Easter, so celebrating saints is a new joy for her.
“I always believed there are people in heaven, but the actual canonization process, all the steps that go into that are — wow,” she said. “We actually have intercessors and people we can imitate, heroic people of the faith that we can look to.”
Micah Nellis, also from the Diocese of Nashville, was raised Baptist and started searching the Internet for explanations of the Catholic faith as a young adult. He began seeing clips of Archbishop Sheen on YouTube and in his social media algorithm and was drawn in to his lessons.
Nellis also entered the Catholic Church on Easter. One small nugget from Archbishop Sheen that has stuck with him is a question Sheen posed in an episode of “Live is Worth Living”: Are you the kind of person that wakes up in the morning and says, “Good morning, God!” or are you more of the person that wakes up and says, “Good God…morning”?
“So now every single morning I wake up and I say, ‘good morning, God’ before I pray my morning offering,” Nellis said. “It’s such a beautiful way to start the day.”
