Family hopes to follow Blessed Fulton all the way to heaven

Craig and Natalie Wenzel pose on Sept. 24 with their children, Gianna, left, Fulton, Dominic and Teresa in St. Louis for the beatification of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen. (Submitted photo)

By Sean Gallagher

Before the start of the Sept. 24 beatification Mass of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, a speaker asked any of the 50,000 people present named Fulton and any parent who had given that name to any of their children to stand.

Among them stood Fulton Wenzel, 13, and his parents Craig and Natalie who, along with the rest of their family, are members of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis.

“As Fulton and I stood hand in hand along with Craig, an unforgettable smile came across my son’s face as he felt a beautiful and humbling sense of honor to be recognized for his namesake,” recalled Natalie.

“It feels very special to know I have the same name that a man of God has, a man who is on the road to sainthood,” said Fulton, a seventh-grader at Lumen Christi Catholic School in Indianapolis. “I have begun to pray his canonization prayer each day, and I hope that one day Archbishop Sheen will be elevated to be a canonized saint.”

Craig and Natalie attending the beatification Mass with their four children was a special moment in the life of their family that has holiness for all as its goal.

The birth of a devotion and a son

When they were preparing for their wedding in 2005, Craig and Natalie put “a good amount of prayer and discussion” into how they would be open to the gift of life as husband and wife.

From the start, their openness to life included welcoming children through adoption. As it turned out, Craig and Natalie adopted two children, their daughter Teresa and their son Fulton.

Before Fulton was born, the couple discussed what name they wanted to give to the son whom they would adopt.

Craig soon focused on Fulton as a possible name.

He had not known of Blessed Fulton until a Catholic radio station began broadcasting in 2004 in Indianapolis. Craig, 51, recalled one day listening to the radio station and “hearing a man’s voice that was very distinctive and really drew you into listening to what he was speaking about.”

At the end of the program, he learned that he had been listening to an audio recording of an episode of Blessed Fulton’s 1950s TV show, “Life Is Worth Living.” Craig soon purchased recordings of Archbishop Sheen and “listened to them multiple times, greatly enjoying them.”

His devotion to Blessed Fulton increased as he was able to view a pectoral cross of his that is preserved in the archdiocesan archives. Craig also was impressed by seeing a rosary that had belonged to Archbishop Sheen that was brought to the archdiocese by the late Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Andrew Apostoli, who worked to promote the archbishop’s canonization cause.

Craig has sought to follow the example of Blessed Fulton in his life as a husband and father by valuing eucharistic adoration and praying the rosary.

“His dedication to prayer helps as a reminder to keep myself focused on our blessed Lord and praying for my marriage and family though the rosary and during adoration,” Craig said. “We can bring our successes and sorrows to our Lord in this time in adoration.

“We can also use the time in adoration to simply be with our Lord. This time can be used to pray for our marriage as well as our family and to bring to our Lord those items that we may be asking him for help on.”

While Craig had a desire to name their son Fulton, Natalie had another name in mind.

But soon after their son was born and she got to hold him for the first time, she knew what his name was to be.

“After those first few hours of holding our son, the Holy Spirit gave me the clarity I needed, and I knew his name was to be Fulton,” Natalie recalled.

‘Nurture the seed’

Over the years, Craig and Natalie have fully embraced their call as parents to give their children the gift of faith through the sacrament of baptism and to nurture that gift as they grow.

Natalie shared how, from a young age, Fulton paid attention to what was going on at Mass and would mimic parts of the liturgy while playing at home.

“We knew we had our hands full with Fulton when he put on a red cape at age 4 and organized a Corpus Christi procession on the sidewalk of our neighborhood,” she said.

Craig has appreciated introducing Fulton to Archbishop Sheen at a much younger age than when he first learned about him.

“As Fulton has grown, it has been enjoyable talking to him about Archbishop Sheen and his love for the Mass, our Blessed Mother and the rosary,” Craig said.

“My parents told me that Archbishop Sheen was a priest who gave very moving talks, homilies and had a very popular radio show and TV shows in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s,” Fulton said. “I also learned about how he had a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and that he made a Holy Hour every day of his life from the moment he was ordained a priest.”

As soon as he was old enough, Fulton started assisting as an altar server in liturgies at Holy Rosary, something he continues to do today.

Craig and Fulton have at times prayed Holy Hours together.

“We are then able to talk afterward about how God may be speaking to our hearts during those Holy Hours,” Craig said.

Craig knows that Fulton is coming to an age where he might start to listen for God speaking to him about his vocation and wants him to be open to that, whatever it might be. He and Natalie know that they can help their son best by praying for him.

“It’s our job to nurture the seed while praying that the Holy Spirit will shine its light upon the path in front of Fulton so that he may have a great understanding as to what God’s vocation is for him,” Craig said.

For his part, Fulton turns to his holy namesake for help in this task, for himself and others.

“I pray to Archbishop Sheen to ask for his intercession to help others to know of their vocation in life and for me so that I can prayerfully discern the vocation that God has planned for me,” he said.

‘A moment of clarity’

Earlier this year when the beatification of Blessed Fulton was set for Sept. 24, the Wenzel family started making plans to attend.

But in the weeks immediately before, many obstacles to their taking part in the historic liturgy emerged, including a car accident in the family the weekend before.

But on Sept. 21, Craig and Natalie made the decision to go to St. Louis for the beatification regardless of the challenges before them that seemed to make going “imprudent and too daunting,” according to Natalie.

“Our hearts were guided by the Holy Spirit that beckoned us and asked, ‘How can we not make this trip in our life right now?’ ” she added.

The hours before the Mass were filled with their own difficulties, from long lines for bathrooms and long lines for the sacrament of penance. But then, said Natalie, came a “moment of clarity.”

“We had made it to St. Louis for the beatification of Fulton Sheen, to behold this holy servant of God become blessed,” she said, “and nothing else mattered, not the stress, the immense crowds, all the ups and downs that day and with that we headed to our seats.”

Now that he has returned from the beatification Mass, Fulton is set on seeking to follow in Archbishop Sheen’s footsteps, all the way to heaven.

“I would like to help others to see and know God, just as Archbishop Sheen did with the many people he met in his life,” Fulton said. “I would like to dedicate a specific time each day to praying with our blessed Lord, just as he did. And I would like to be a saint like him one day and be in heaven with our Lord.” †