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.

Paperback

Widely proclaimed a classic work of Christian faith, Life of Christ has been hailed as the most eloquent of Fulton J. Sheen's many books. The fruit of many years of reflection, prayer, and research, it is a dramatic and moving recounting of the birth, life, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ, and a passionate portrait of the God-Man, the teacher, the healer, and, most of all, the Savior, whose promise has sustained humanity for two millenia.

With his customary insight and reverence, Sheen interprets the Scripture and describes Christ not only in historical perspective but also in exciting and contemporary terms -- seeing in Christ's life both modern parallels and timeless lessons. His thoughtful, probing analysis provides new insight into well-known Gospel events.

An appealing blend of philosophy, history, and biblical exegesis, from the best-known and most-loved American Catholic leader of the twentieth century, Life of Christ has long been a source of inspiration and guidance. For those seeking to better understand the message of Jesus Christ, this vivid retelling of the greatest story ever lived is a must-read.

\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

When asked, What's wrong with the world?, G.K. Chesterton famously replied simply, I am. People who reflect on life's problems find many of them of to be of their own making. We want to be happy and yet we often seem to be the source of our own unhappiness--as well as that of others. Even when that is not the case, our lives, as blessed as they may be, have their share of disappointments, shocks, and disillusionments. How do we respond? Do we become cynical and try at all costs to get as much pleasure as we can? Or do we recognize we were made for more?

In this classic work, Fulton Sheen explains the secret of authentic happiness: being spiritually remade. A genuinely spiritual life, Sheen contends, consists in more than obeying a set of commands, submitting to certain laws, reading the Bible, or even following the example of Jesus. Before all else, it consists in being re-created and incorporated into a new, higher kind of life--the supernatural life of grace--and brought into a new kind of spiritual relationship--as a child of God through Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to be a Christian? Christianity is not a system of ethics; it is a life. It is not good advice; it is Divine adoption. Being a Christian does not consist in being kind to the poor, going to Church, reading the Bible, singing hymns, being generous to relief agencies ... serving on Church committees, though it includes all of these. It is first and foremost a love relationship.