COMMENTARY: Technology changes, but the human heart remains the same.
Now that Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen has been beatified, the immense publicity associated with his Sept. 24 beatification has, as expected, launched a resurgence of interest in his books and tapes.
The question naturally arises, however, concerning how effective his message will be in today’s world. Things have changed dramatically since Blessed Fulton’s heyday, as everyone knows. What could be successful in one era might fall flat in another.
How would an Archbishop Sheen be perceived in today’s age of information and artificial intelligence?
Modern technology has changed the means of communication to levels of sophistication that were unimaginable in the 1950s when Bishop Sheen appeared on television. People who owned TVs at that time were restricted to a few channels — in many cases, just three or four. And “rabbit ears” were often needed to bring in those few. Bishop Sheen was not hard to find. Today, the Life Is Worth Living program would be buried under an avalanche of hundreds of other options.
Smartphones and other handheld devices, although they are marvels of communication, interfere with community. For many, they are constant companions and are more
