Through the Year With Fulton Sheen

by Fulton J. Sheen

These daily selections will provide you with a fresh perspective on what it means to be a Catholic, on the challenge of serving God and the blessing of liv-ing a grace filled life.

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Spirituality

213 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 1985

About the author

Fulton John Sheen was an American bishop of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in Illinois, in 1919, Sheen quickly became a renowned theologian, earning the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in 1923. He went on to teach theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and served as a parish priest before he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951. He held this position until 1966 when he was made bishop of the Diocese of Rochester in New York. He resigned as bishop of Rochester in 1969 as his 75th birthday approached and was made archbishop of the titular see of Newport, Wales.
For 20 years as "Father Sheen", later monsignor, he hosted the night-time radio program The Catholic Hour on NBC (1930–1950) before he moved to television and presented Life Is Worth Living (1952–1957). Sheen's final presenting role was on the syndicated The Fulton Sheen Program (1961–1968) with a format that was very similar to that of the earlier Life Is Worth Living show. For that work, Sheen twice won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was featured on the cover of Time magazine. Starting in 2009, his shows were being re-broadcast on the EWTN and the Trinity Broadcasting Network's Church Channel cable networks. His contribution to televised preaching resulted in Sheen often being called one of the first televangelists.
The cause for his canonization was officially opened in 2002. In June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI officially recognized a decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints stating that he lived a life of "heroic virtues," a major step towards beatification, and he is now referred to as venerable. On July 5, 2019, Pope Francis approved a reputed miracle that occurred through the intercession of Sheen, clearing the way for his beatification. Sheen was scheduled to be beatified in Peoria on December 21, 2019, but his beatification was postponed after Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester expressed concern that Sheen's handling of a 1963 sexual misconduct case against a priest might be cited unfavorably in a forthcoming report from the New York Attorney General. The Diocese of Peoria countered that Sheen's handling of the case had already been "thoroughly examined" and "exonerated" and that Sheen had "never put children in harm's way".

Reviews

[Derek Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Fulton Sheen is certainly one of the wisest and most pious members of The Catholic Church, there were some questionable editing choices in terms of how the daily reflections are split up that held this back slightly for me.

CONTENT
I am certainly not in a position to critique the actual works of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, but I can share some thoughts on the editing quality, what kind of content is present, and how it all made me feel from a spiritual perspective. First off, when I say "editing" I am really referring to the way the book's content was collected/curated from Sheen's various works (perhaps there is a better literary term for this). As I understand it, each daily reading is taken from excerpts of various sermons/homilies and writings That Fulton Sheen gave over the course of his life in the priesthood (I do not know if they are all specifically from his time as an Archbishop). For the most part, I found these passages to be profound and thought provoking. There are times where it was obvious that subsequent days were taken from the same oration or writing. Sometimes the curation worked perfectly well with one day's reflection building upon the previous one and then there were other times where I felt like I'd read an incomplete thought (because of the editing) and that those passages should not have been broken up. There were also one or two occasions where I felt as though the editors/curators ended an entry early to make it extra shocking or profound. This is not only unnecessary because Sheen was quite bold in his statements already, but also left me feeling a bit put off to the extent that I did not walk away with what the editors intended for me to meditate on. One particular example of this an exchange between Sheen and a woman who was the victim of a sexual assault. This excerpt cuts off with a pretty messed up response to the woman's plight and surely that was not the extent of his reply to her as he seemed to have the capacity to be just as compassionate as he was provocative.

PAPERBACK QUALITY
Religious books are often not the flashiest or most luxurious pieces of literature on the market, but Ignatius Press has produced a sturdy, well-made paperback that is nicely formatted with fonts and spacing that are easy on the eyes. The cover is also reasonably well designed and is made of a durable, glossy material.

CONCLUSION
I am so glad to have finally read this cover to cover and will almost certainly pick it up again in a future year (you could certainly read this on repeat if you'd like to, but I have a very similar book that I'd like to reflect on next year). I'd highly recommend this to any Catholic who is looking for a sustainable means of increasing their daily prayer/meditation/spirituality.

(+) Short, profound passages that are great for reflection
(+) Designed for daily reflection with passages ranging from a single paragraph to a single page
(+) Easy to fit into any schedule as long as you find a way to facilitate remembering to read it every day (though I missed a day here or there and just doubled up the next time)
(-) Some of the passages are cut up strangely, seemingly in an effort to force a punchline that wasn't needed

[Amanda Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book by Fulton Sheen is a sure thing. This is a compilation of some of his best insights, one for every day of the year. Highly recommended for a morning or evening check-in.

[Nic Lishko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. At times, the quotes were random and needed clarification.

[Virginia Pillars · Rating 5 out of 5]

I plan to reread this for 2023. So many great thoughts I couldn't absorb them all.

[Riza Kantirakis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now for round 2.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up I would see reruns of Archbishop Sheen's TV show and turn the channel. My mother recently mentioned she and her grandmother would watch it together. Now, I am beginning to appreciate the power, intellect, and faith of this man's words. I plan to read one of his books in the near future. This book is a collection of his writings broken into short daily passages. Once you start reading the daily excerpt you want to read the whole of this one idea. I plan to continue to pick through it now and then. Very interesting. Good stuff for the soul and the mind.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read each day through the year 2015. I remember his booming voice on the old black and white tv program. I wasn't Catholic then but he was a powerful speaker to a child. His thoughts are so deep and profound.