FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s first TV show began in 1951.  It was called “Life Is Worth Living”  The show was not expected to challenge the popular comedian Milton Berle’s program, but it did surprisingly well.  Berle joked, “He uses old material, too,” and observed that if he was to lose ratings it would be best to lose to Sheen’s “sponsor”. The following year, the program won an Emmy. Accepting the award, Sheen said, “I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. TIME magazine called him “the first  televangelist.” The New York archdiocese could not meet the demand for tickets. The show drew 30 million viewers per week. “Life is Worth Living” is now being rebroadcast on EWTN, bringing him to a new generation. In 2002 the official case for the archbishop’s canonization was opened. The parable of the seed tells what happens to seed sown on footpaths, rocky ground, among thorns and finally on good soil. The seed is the word of God, and when it falls on the good soil of one like Archbishop Sheen, the yield is exceedingly great.

Deacon Dick Folger