The Mystical Body of Christ captures the theological precision and communicative genius of Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979), whose radio and television broadcasts, including Life Is Worth Living, have reached millions of homes since the 1950s. With more than thirty of his works still in print, Sheen is one of the most beloved Catholic evangelists of all time.
This full-length and fully developed work on the Church as an extension of the Incarnation reveals Sheen's accessible and theologically astute teaching style in the early years of his ministry. First published in 1935, the book's themes of the Eucharist as a source of unity for the Mystical Body of Christ--the Church--and the link between the liturgy and works of social justice were echoed in the Second Vatican Council several decades later.
Barron, Robert: -
Bishop Robert Barron is the bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
Sheen, Fulton J.: - The life and teachings of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen anticipated and embodied the spirit of both the Second Vatican Council and the New Evangelization. A gifted orator and writer, he was a pioneer in the use of media for evangelization: His radio and television broadcasts reached an estimated 30 million weekly viewers. He also wrote more than 60 works on Christian living and theology, many of which are still in print. Born in 1895, Sheen grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and was ordained a priest for the diocese in 1919. He was ordained an auxiliary bishop in New York City in 1951. As the head of his mission agency, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (1950-1966), and as Bishop of Rochester (1966-1969), Sheen helped create 9,000 clinics, 10,000 orphanages, and 1,200 schools; and his contributions educated 80,000 seminarians and 9,000 religious. Upon his death in 1979, Sheen was buried at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. His cause for canonization was returned to his home diocese of Peoria in January 2011, and Sheen was proclaimed "Venerable" by Pope Benedict XVI on June 28, 2012. The first miracle attributed to his intercession was approved in March 2014, paving the way for his beatification.
Vogt, Brandon: -
Brandon Vogt is a bestselling and award-winning author of ten books, including Why I Am Catholic (and You Should Be Too) and What to Say and How to Say It, volumes I and II. He is the founder of ClaritasU, which trains Catholics in how to talk about their faith, especially hot-button issues. He works as the senior publishing director for Bishop Robert Barron's Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
Vogt is the cohost of
The Word on Fire Show with Bishop Barron, and
The Burrowshire Podcast with Fr. Blake Britton. Vogt runs several websites including StrangeNotions.com, the largest site of dialogue between Catholics and atheists, and ChurchFathers.org, the go-to resource for people wondering what the earliest Christians believed.
Vogt's work has been featured by media outlets including NPR, Fox News, CBS, EWTN,
America magazine, Vatican Radio,
Our Sunday Visitor,
National Review, and
Christianity Today.
Vogt has served as a consultant to the US Conference of Catholic Bishop's Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and on the board of the Society of G.K. Chesterton. He serves as president of the Central Florida Chesterton Society and founder of Chesterton Academy of Orlando, a new classical high school.
Along with his wife and children, he lives on Burrowshire, a small farm outside Orlando, Florida.
