Bishop Fulton Sheen

Why is it, asks Bishop Fulton Sheen, that one hears so often the expression "Go to hell!" and almost never the expression "Go to heaven!" Here, at his most penetrating, challenging, and illuminating best is Bishop Sheen with his answer, in a book that breathes new meaning into the truths about heaven and hell, and new life into the concepts of faith, tolerance, love, prayer, suffering, and death.

Beginning with "The First Faint Summons to Heaven," Sheen shows how unpopular it is today to be a true Christian, and describes the struggle for living our faith amid the disorders of our times. Keenly aware of evil in the myriad forms it takes in today's world, Bishop Sheen writes about the constant battle man faces with the "seven pallbearers of character" - pride, avarice, envy, lust, anger, gluttony and sloth - linking them with the corrosive forces that never cease in their attacks on the Church and those who earnestly desire to be serious Christians.

In Go to Heaven, a great spiritual teacher and writer, deeply aware of the human and spiritual conflicts being waged in the world, shows us the way to heaven in a most eloquent book, encouraging the reader to choose heaven now, and to understand the "reality of hell."

This compendium, published on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Sheen's death, is more than anything, a celebration of life: our life in Christ and our destiny in faith. If you're looking for a renewed understanding and appreciation of the Christian life and the promise of faith for the new millennium, this work offers strong and practical encouragement for growing closer to God through a deepened spirituality.

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Fulton J. Sheen-bishop, scholar, professor, radio and television personality, and writer-spent his life sharing the Word of God with millions of Christians across the world. One of his best-known works is The Life of Christ, written in 1954. This book explores the foretelling of Christ's birth, his life, temptations, death, and resurrection. But while Sheen himself was a scholar and academic, his recounting is both readable and accessible to the layperson.

Fulton J. Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois, in 1895. Ordained in 1919, he went on to study at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and the Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum in Rome, where he received his Sacred Theology Doctorate.

In 1925, he began teaching philosophy and theology at Catholic University. His speaking talents were noted, and he was chosen to preach at the annual University Mass honoring St. Thomas Aquinas in 1927.

In 1930, then-Monsignor Sheen was added as a weekly speaker on the NBC radio broadcast The Catholic Hour on Sunday nights. He continued the broadcast for the next 20 years, and the show eventually reached a weekly audience of four million listeners. He appealed to the audience through his extensive knowledge of Catholicism and how the teaching of Christ applied to the moral and societal questions of modern life.

By 1950, Sheen had resigned his teaching position at Catholic University of America and became director of the Society for the Propagation of Faith, where he raised millions of dollars to support Catholic missionary work.

The following year, he was consecrated a bishop and began the well-known television series, Life is Worth Living. The program ran for the next five years and reached an estimated 30 million weekly viewers. Sheen won an Emmy for Most Outstanding Television Personality in 1952. In response, he said, "I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John." He was also featured on the cover of Time magazine that year.

Although he was now one of the most recognized Catholics in the country, Sheen still made time to write. He wrote 73 books during his life, including The Life of Christ in 1954.

Life of Christ is considered a classic work of Christian faith. It is unique in its readability, which is perhaps to unsurprising from a theologian with decades of experience bringing religion to the masses on radio and television.

Broken into five parts, the book explores the early life of Christ, his temptations, the beatitudes, his public life and Passion, and his death and resurrection. Sheen explains the meaning of Christ's words, as well as the significance of the trials and temptations he overcame. Through careful scholarship, he connects the events of Christ's life, showing how even the humble location of his birth on Earth shared an important lesson: "Divinity is always where we least expect to find it."

In his explanation of the beatitudes-the eight blessings given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount-Sheen shares their value to the modern world. He dismisses the words of Marx, Lenin, Nietschze and Freud. And he reminds us that the words of Christ are not "from another time." Christ is timeless and His Word is eternal.

Shortly before his death in 1979, Archbishop Sheen encountered Pope John Paul II in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The Pope told Sheen that he had "...written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church!" Two months later, Archbishop Sheen passed away in his private chapel. He is a candidate for beatification, which may pave the way for future canonization.

Contains a brilliant analysis of the spiritual life. It is full of profound lessons and words of wisdom on sanctifying the present moment, the effect of conduct on belief, how to pray and meditate, and making up for the past.

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Like many great orators throughout history, Fulton Sheen was able to reach the minds and hearts of millions around the world through a small screen. This small book communicates to the reader the extraordinary gift of Jesus' life and death. Small as it is, you may spend many hours reflecting on the illuminating words that capture some of the events in Jesus' life.

"The guidance that you will find in this book will refresh your memory of the power of Archbishop Sheen\'s clear thoughts and deep personal spirituality." -from the Foreword by Msgr. Eugene V. Clark

The beloved Archbishop Sheen, whose cause for canonization is open in Rome, presents a profound and deeply spiritual look at the meaning of the priesthood and relationship of the priest with Christ as an "alter Christus."

Sheen delves deeply into what he considers the main character of the priesthood, and one not often discussed, that of being, like Christ, a "holy victim." To be like Christ, Sheen emphasizes that the priest must imitate Christ in His example of sacrifice, offering himself as a victim to make His Incarnation continually present in the world.

"Unlike anyone else, Our Lord came on earth, not to live, but to die. Death for our redemption was the goal of His sojourn here, the gold that he was seeking. He was, therefore, not primarily a teacher, but a Savior. Was not Christ the Priest a Victim? He never offered anything except Himself. So we have a mutilated concept of our priesthood, if we envisage it apart from making ourselves victims in the prolongation of His Incarnation."
--Bishop Fulton Sheen

Brimming with rich and life-changing words of wisdom from one of this century's most beloved Catholic writers, this book touches on virtually every aspect of the human condition.

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Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (b. 1895 - d. 1979) had a gift for connecting with people of all religious backgrounds. Rather than limit his ministrations to the Catholics within his diocese, this devout man used popular media like radio and television to reach millions.

Archbishop Sheen was also a prolific writer, with nearly 70 books published during his life. Way to Inner Peace, published in 1954, explores eight different themes on the path to a life of contentment and serenity. With four to five short chapters on each theme, this work makes an excellent daily devotional.

The first theme, Inner Peace, could also have been titled Humility. "A proud man thinks himself better than he is," writes Archbishop Sheen, "and when criticized always believes his neighbor is jealous or has a grudge against him." How often we see this in today's world of social media! And how often do we criticize others despite knowing so little of their lives or situations? This lack of humility is a thief of our inner peace.

On the theme of Goodness, Archbishop Sheen tells us that we find that which we look for in our lives. When we overlook good in favor of scandal and misdeeds, then we invite these evils into our hearts. He writes, "...the fallacy is that man always thinks of this perfection as coming to him without his own effort or the exercise of his own will." Inner perfection must be earned through the acknowledgment that we are imperfect-but that perfection does exist in God.

Regarding Happiness, it is not simply a matter of creating joy, but of actively working to dispel sadness and melancholy. Psychology tells us that sadness leads us to "...take a darker view of life than the facts justify. Thus, sadness leads to pessimism..." But there is a solution-the Scriptures. When we internalize the fact that "...we are loved by God," and that in the face of the knowledge, any sadness or discontent is our own folly, then we can cast off the shadow and live in the light of God's joy.

The section on Virtue includes chapters regarding selflessness and the evils of insincerity, as well as a chapter on war. At a macro level, war may seem out of place in a section on the virtue of the individual. But when we zoom in to the micro level, we see that war is the symptom of the moral failures in each of us. "When civilization is made up of millions of men and women who are at war with themselves, it is not long until communities, classes, states and nations will be at war with one another."

Another key to inner peace is Learning. This ability is a gift, as "...man is the only creature in the universe that has the power of being able to look at himself in a mirror...see his faults and his good deeds, and thus either be pleased or angry with himself in the light of his conscience." Being able to wonder at the world, to learn, and to know and improve ourselves-only through such humility can we reach wisdom.

With Wisdom comes the knowledge of when to speak and when to be silent. It teaches us how to practice patience and helps us to avoid judging others. Those that would be wise must listen more and speak less.

In the section titled You, Archbishop Sheen warns against the vices of hatred and judgment. But we are not alone in our struggles, for we can ask God for help. Crowd out the evil thoughts with good, for "A mind filled with ideas of love and beauty has little room for evil notions."

Finally, there is Faith. In prayer and faith, we find relief from our burdens and cares. When we have the humility to look inward, view our faults with an open eye, and beg God's help and forgiveness, then we are at our best.