Students and families from Central Catholic High School in Bloomington were among the tens of thousands of Catholics who made the trek to St. Louis to see a native son take a step closer to sainthood.
About 100 students and 100 more family members and school staff from Central Catholic helped fill The Dome at America's Center Thursday for the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen's beatification.
Seniors Jameson McGraw and Aubrey Tarr were among the students who attended the Mass with their families. Both considered it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. McGraw said he felt the gravity of the moment as soon as he walked into the indoor stadium.
“When we got there, I feel it was very overwhelming at first. There was a lot of people. I think in total there was about 50,000 people in the entire stadium,” he said.
Once the hustle and bustle subsided and the ceremonies began, McGraw said he felt reassurance that he was surrounded by so many other people of faith.
“I feel like a lot of the times, especially in today's world, it can be very isolating to be a person of faith, or can feel very lonely sometimes, especially when you step outside of our school, where they're fostering faith,” he said.
Tarr said at Central Catholic, students and teachers spent a lot of time preparing for Sheen's beatification and learning more about him. She said she was inspired by Sheen's message and the way he delivered it. Sheen was known as American's first televangelist. His show "Life Is Worth Living" had an international audience.
Tarr said Sheen gives her strength to share her Catholic faith.
“With this opportunity of social media, it's easy to think like you will be ridiculed for sharing something like that. But Fulton Sheen, even in a secular world, he received an Emmy. He was honored for his achievements through that, and it's just really reassuring. And it gives me confidence that I can share that on social media or just in my daily life,” Tarr said.
Sheen moved a step closer to sainthood decades after his death because of what the Catholic Church verified as a miracle. A baby born 16 years ago did not have a heartbeat for over an hour, but recovered after his parents prayed to the archbishop.
The baby’s mother, Bonnie Engstrom of Washington, Illinois named her son James Fulton to honor Sheen. She said during Thursday's Mass she always felt a connection to Sheen.
“He reminded me of spending time with my great grandpa, and the wisdom and the humor and the personality. It was such a warm character, and I knew that ... was a man that I wanted to get to know better, and that I wanted to spend time with, and that I wanted to enter into our family,” Engstrom said.
Tarr and McGraw both said they believe the miracle attributed to Sheen and they expect that any of six other reported miracles linked to him will be certified by the church. That would be the final step before sainthood.
“It can't really be medically explained, just like these confirmations, these studies, and just to see, like you know, miracles still happen. I think that's a really like comforting and a really like reaffirming thing for someone of the faith,” McGraw said.
Catholic Diocese of Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka had the beatification Mass moved to St. Louis because of the large crowd expected for the man who had an international following.
Sheen was born in El Paso and moved to Peoria in his youth.
Tarr said Sheen's local roots make his path to sainthood even more impactful for her.
“It's a great opportunity to see that saints can come from anywhere. It's not the location; it's the location of their hearts. So seeing that, especially having a pope who is now, he's accepted the papacy. He came from Chicago. These local saints, these local people that we can look to. It's very amazing to have that,” Tarr said.
She and McGraw both said they left the ceremonies inspired and looking for more ways to share their faith beyond the walls of their school.
“An event like this, it really just shows us, you know, that there is a greater purpose. There is something more. Like it's not just something that's taught in schools and something that we need to get a good grade on,” McGraw said.
St. Louis Public Radio assisted with this story.
