Here’s something I’ve been thinking about since a recent trip to St. Louis. The impact of words.
In late September, I stood in a football stadium with 50,000 other people to celebrate the life of a man who died in 1979. Fulton Sheen was a Catholic bishop who had a hit television show in the 1950s, and I’d guess most of the people in that stadium weren’t born when it went off the air. Quite a few weren’t born when he passed away. They came for his words and his message, as did I.
I came to know Sheen first through black-and-white television, then through audio recordings on cassette. The earliest encounters were reruns of his show that I saw as a kid. Then in my early 20s, I spent many morning commutes to the Frito-Lay plant in Casa Grande listening to a cassette series that my wife Judy bought for me. Bishop Sheen’s way of sharing the truth, succinctly, with humor when appropriate, was spellbinding, then and now. I have used many of those lessons in my life journey as a corporate leader, community member and family man.
So when I learned earlier this summer that Sheen would be beatified in St. Louis, not far from his hometown of Peoria, Illinois, I was ALL IN. Beatification is one step short of sainthood. This moment doesn’t come about very often. I bought tickets to the Mass and made travel arrangements for Judy and me. I mentioned it to a priest friend, and he joined us. Judy mentioned it to her sister, who said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She joined us. Then we found out a 28-year-old nephew was a huge fan. Wow … let’s go!
We were in St. Louis only about 27 hours, but it was a rich experience in that window. More than 2,000 priests, seminarians, nuns and deacons had come for the festivities, and we ran into a good many of them in St. Louis’ spectacular cathedral. There was a line three hours long (by my highly sophisticated calculations) just to see some of Sheen’s belongings. There were countless people wearing shirts with his image, many with the name of his TV show from the 1950s, “Life Is Worth Living.”
When we got to the stadium for the Mass, the scene was surreal. Organizers estimated 50,000 people. Bishop Sheen died 47 years ago, and his last broadcast was long before that. He moved people in ways that few can.
Which brings me back to the impact of words. Here are a few of my favorite Sheen quotes.
“You must remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people.” As a grand summation of People First, there it is in 17 words.
“When you are getting kicked from the rear, it means you are in front.” Apt words for leaders everywhere.
“If you do not live what you believe, you will end up believing what you live.” No further commentary needed.
None of this is complicated. We don’t need theology degrees to follow along. It was true on a black-and-white TV in the 1950s, it was true on a cassette in 1985, and it remains true on a smartphone, because that’s where our nephew Joe found Sheen.
Joe sat next to me in the stadium. About a year ago he came across Sheen in short video clips on social media, and he has watched or listened nearly every day since, usually on his phone. He told me Sheen talks “as if he was talking to millions and talking directly to you.” That’s exactly my experience from the era of audio cassettes.
That crowd is the thing I keep coming back to. The randomness of it. Septuagenarian ladies cheering on my left. Families with children in front of me. A bunch of teenage girls on my right in “Life Is Worth Living” shirts. Young people behind me who weren’t Catholic but who’d heard Sheen’s straight talk somewhere and wanted to be part of the moment. Forty years ago, in my car in Casa Grande, I would never have predicted any of it. Now I will make a prediction of my own. Forty years from now, somebody will be wearing a T-shirt that says “Life is worth living.”
Sheen ended every show with a simple sign-off, “God love you.” I loved his words and his simple assurances, and I have used that sign-off for years to close my prayers for the loved ones who enrich my life.
I left St. Louis with joy in my heart and thankful for the chance to share that moment with 50,000 others. Thank you, Blessed Fulton Sheen, for your grace, your courage … and your words.
God love you.