Sermon In A Sentence by Archbishop Fulton J Sheen

About the book: The human heart can only live on love. There is only one thing a human heart can love - and that is a Person. Make that Person one with the Way to be followed, one with the Truth to be known, one with the Life to be lived, and that Way, that Truth, and that Life will pull at a thousand heartstrings, drawing from them the sweet symphony of love. Such is the Person of Our Blessed Lord. - Archbishop Fulton J Sheen 

This handy little book contains hundreds of direct quotes and short sayings of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, arranged according to the Christian virtues and other spiritual topics, allowing the reader to encounter his thoughts about particular aspects of the Christian life in a more organized manner.

The first fifteen chapters are arranged under virtues corresponding to the classical Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary, making this ideal for anyone to use for daily spiritual reading and inspiration. Reading these sayings while reciting the Rosary is like praying it with Archbishop Sheen, joining both prayer and the study of his writings in one great journey of advancing all the more in holiness and the love of God.

The Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895 - 1979), Titular Archbishop of Newport, without doubt ranks among the greatest Catholic evangelists of the modern day. He was also a distinguished philosopher and theologian who wrote numerous books and articles about the Faith. Behind the Emmy Award-winning TV personality was a man of deep piety who spent an hour in Eucharistic adoration every day and whose apostolic work was rooted in a profound interior life. His heroic virtue has been officially recognized by the Holy See.

Sermon in a Sentence: A Treasury of Quotations on the Spiritual Life (2015, 2020) is selected and arranged by John P McClernon. The other books in the Sermon in a Sentence series are Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and Saint John Paul II.

About the author: Fulton John Sheen (1895-1979) 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, 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 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 the Bishop of Rochester. He resigned 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 5 July 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 21 December 2019, but his beatification was postponed after the current Bishop of Rochester expressed concern that Sheen's handling of a 1963 sexual misconduct case against a priest might be cited unfavourably 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." (Source: Wikipedia)