By Jennifer Willems, OSV News
WASHINGTON, Ill. OSV News – One of James Fulton Engstrom’s favorite things to do is track the weather, which can be pretty tricky in Central Illinois in the middle of January. The 15-year-old grows excited as he points to his computer and shows the projected snowfall amounts for a recent weekend storm.
Another love, although one he keeps closer to his heart, is his relationship with Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, who will take another step toward sainthood when he is beatified.
On Feb. 9, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, announced that the cause for the revered archbishop had been approved to proceed to beatification, and he is working with the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican to determine details.
“He’s my protector,” James said of Archbishop Sheen in a recent interview with OSV News. “He was a part of my healing, and I pray to him basically every day.”
Born Sept. 16, 2010, James didn’t have a pulse or take a breath for 61 minutes after a planned home birth due to a knot in his umbilical cord. His parents, Bonnie and Travis Engstrom, had entrusted their baby to Fulton Sheen during their pregnancy, and they turned to him now for a miraculous healing through his intercession. Word spread quickly, and people around the Diocese of Peoria – where Archbishop Sheen was ordained a priest in 1919 – and beyond joined the Engstroms in storming heaven with prayer.
James’ heart started to beat just as the medical team at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria decided they were out of options. The newborn’s healing, which doctors could not explain, was attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Sheen. It became the miracle that cleared the way for his beatification.
“It’s pretty cool. I like being the ‘miracle baby,'” James recently told OSV News, adding that having a role in Archbishop Sheen’s sainthood cause makes him feel “special.”
“Protector” is a good word for Archbishop Sheen, who has become a close family friend, Bonnie Engstrom shared as she sat in her cozy living room in Washington, Illinois, a nearby suburb of Peoria. In late January, the Christmas tree was still up and likely would be until Candlemas, and there were books everywhere – including a basket of picture books, Bibles and “The Seven Last Words” by Fulton Sheen on the end table.
“That’s not staged, honest,” Bonnie said with a laugh. “We were just talking about something in that.”
That is a natural part of Engstrom family life and has been since Bonnie and Travis decided to name their son after the theologian, author and media evangelist. His television show “Life Is Worth Living” won the Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality in 1952, and episodes remain popular on social media today.
“From that very beginning I started asking for his intercession, to walk with James his whole life. That was literally my prayer,” Bonnie said. “That is still how I see him, as a figure in James’ life who just loves him for who he is, who wants nothing from him but to love God more, and is someone who is always praying for him.”
The couple keeps the conversation going by visiting Archbishop Sheen’s tomb at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, reading his books, and talking about him with James and his seven siblings, ages 6 to 17. When it comes to questions about the faith, they often turn for guidance to the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Archbishop Sheen.
During a recent conversation, Bonnie and her daughter Teresa, 13, talked about their holy friend’s commitment to making a Holy Hour every day from the time he was ordained a priest on Sept. 20, 1919, until he died on Dec. 9, 1979. He was found on the floor of his private chapel, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
“Every day, for all of those years, he made a Holy Hour. How long is a Holy Hour?” Bonnie asked.
Teresa responded, “Sixty minutes.”
“And James came back to life at 61 minutes,” Bonnie said. “Isn’t that interesting?”
While James has had more than his fair share of tests, surgeries and medical emergencies and continues to cope with the aftermath of some of that, he is an active teen who just happened to have something extraordinary happen to him through God’s grace, his family members say.
He loves being with his friends at Washington High School, playing basketball and swimming. In ninth grade, he was the team manager and waterboy for the freshman football team last fall, working with his father, who is the offensive coach and teaches physics at the school.
“He likes being social – loves being social,” his mom said. “He’ll chat up the players and the cheerleaders and everyone on the side lines.”
Among those he encountered was Chris Yates, chief meteorologist at WMBD-TV in Peoria. That conversation resulted in a recent visit to the studio, something James thoroughly enjoyed.
As someone who tracks the weather, James loves being outside. He works for a friend from Church, mowing and doing yard work. Bonnie said the whole family chips in to help around St. Patrick Church at Mary, Mother of God Parish in Washington, and James is quick to take action when snow is on the ground.
“He’ll grab the shovel and start clearing the sidewalk,” she said. “He loves working hard.”
Add decorating the Church for Christmas to the list of things he enjoys.
His food allergies can make teen life tricky, but James said he likes gluten-free Mint Oreos and Pepsi. “Sloppy Joes is my favorite meal,” he adds.
The tribunal to investigate James’ healing was opened in Peoria on Sept. 7, 2011, just a few days shy of his first birthday. It closed with a Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Dec. 11 that year.
The alleged miracle was unanimously approved by a team of medical experts who advised the now-named Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints on March 6, 2014, and a panel of theological advisers unanimously approved it three months later on June 17. Pope Francis would approve the miracle on July 6, 2019, and plans were made for a beatification in Peoria on Dec. 21 of that year.
The cause was paused, however, when a request for more time was made by American Church officials.
“At the time it was really hard,” Bonnie said. “But the further we got from that moment, the more we just felt like God has a different plan.”
Now that the beatification can proceed, the Engstroms are wondering what’s going to happen and what the celebration is going to look like.
“We are so excited,” Bonnie said. “Travis and I have a wonderful community. Our family is wonderful, but we are also very blessed with lots of awesome Catholic friends.”
It’s meaningful for the Engstroms “to be able to celebrate with them,” Bonnie added.
She said the beatification will be “a little glimpse of heaven.”
“This whole space filled with the saints, the Church, people you love. Everyone’s excited. We’re all worshiping Jesus together,” Bonnie said. “It will be amazing.”
Jennifer Willems, a longtime writer for the Catholic press, is a freelance writer in Peoria, Illinois.
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