In a long-anticipated move, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints recently announced Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified on Sept. 24 in St. Louis.

Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois. He was ordained and first served as a priest in Peoria. His remains are entombed in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria, available for the faithful to visit. They were transferred from the Archdiocese of New York after a lengthy legal battle, with the support of Sheen’s niece.

Cardinal Luis Tagle will celebrate the beatification. Tagle, from the Philippines, was on the short list of those thought to have been in the running to replace Pope Francis, after he died last year.

Sheen is most remembered for his Emmy-award-winning television show, “Life is Worth Living,” making him the first modern Catholic to harness the airwaves to spread the faith.

Once, while visiting my grandmother as a young adult, she gave me two books: one about the life of St. Francis of Assisi and the other a biography of Fulton Sheen. Grandma knew of my love for reading spiritual books and writing. When she gave me the book on Sheen, she specifically said she thought I would find him interesting. It was as though she could already see the trajectory my life would take and thought Sheen would be a good spiritual companion for the ride.

My husband and I have visited St. Mary’s Cathedral on several occasions, and each time we have spent a few minutes in prayer before Sheen’s tomb. We have also visited the museum nearby that chronicles his life.

“His life and ministry continue to inspire countless people to know and love Jesus Christ more deeply,” Peoria Bishop Lou Tylka wrote in a statement. “Through his preaching, teaching, and personal witness, he brought the light of faith to millions, calling each of us to a deeper devotion to the Eucharist and to Our Blessed Mother.”

Beatification is the second step on the way to officially being declared a saint in the Catholic Church. Sheen was declared “venerable,” meaning he lived a life of exemplary faith, after the first of two required miracles to be canonized was attributed to his intercession.

The first miracle decision involved a stillborn baby delivered in September of 2010 in Peoria. The child demonstrated no signs of life as medical professionals worked for an hour, attempting every possible life-saving procedure. The child’s parents and family began to pray to Sheen and after 61 minutes, the baby was revived and has recovered completely.

A February article in the National Catholic Register shared how Travis Engstrom performed an emergency baptism on his son James after he had been stillborn at home with two medical professionals on site.

“Travis looked around the room for water,” Bonnie Engstrom wrote in her book “61 Minutes to a Miracle.” “Taking the cup I had been sipping from throughout labor, he dipped in his fingers and thumb. The water sprinkled down on James’s forehead, and with his thumb Travis traced the Sign of the Cross above our son’s brow. His voice was soft and clear, even though it was suppressing a great deal of emotion. ‘James Fulton, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’”

“It was the first time that either of us had spoken James’s full name,” she continued. “There was power in it, because we had made an intentional decision that every time our children’s names are spoken, it will be an invocation of the saints for whom they are named.”

James Fulton Engstrom is now a healthy 15-year-old high school student in Peoria.

In March 2014, a team of Vatican medical experts affirmed they could find no natural explanation for the child’s healing. A seven-member theological board unanimously approved it as a miracle and recommended Sheen be beatified.

After Sheen’s beatification, he will be referred to as “Blessed” Fulton Sheen, and a second approved miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession will be required for canonization.

We live in a moment in time when the proliferation of falsehoods and negativity through modern technology can be more of a curse than a blessing. Fulton Sheen’s life and ministry remind us the airwaves, and now cyberspace, are a powerful way to intentionally spread the tenets of the gospel.

Let us learn from his example, and ask him for his intercessory guidance in choosing how to use it fruitfully.

SPIRIT MATTERS is a weekly column by Jerrilyn Zavada Novak that examines experiences common to the human spirit. Contact her at jzblue33@yahoo.com.