Bishop Fulton Sheen Remastered

• The Meaning of Your "Skolop": Fulton Sheen on Life's Handicaps

  In this deeply personal and insightful talk, Bishop Fulton Sheen introduces the Greek word "skolop," which he defines as a handicap, frustration, pain, or disappointment—a "stake" or "thorn in the flesh" that every person carries. Drawing from the example of St. Paul, Sheen explains that God allows these skolops in our lives not to crush us, but to teach us a profound spiritual lesson. The central theme of his address is that it is not what happens to us in life that defines us, but rather how we react to it. He argues that God speaks to us not primarily through words, but through events, and our personal "skolops" are often the very language He uses to reveal His will and guide our path.To illustrate this point, Sheen shares a series of powerful and moving stories. He recounts his own experience as a young altar boy who, after breaking a cruet in the presence of his bishop, received a startling prophecy about his future that came true decades later. He then tells the remarkable story of psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, a Jewish survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, who found his life's direction in a fragment of the Ten Commandments salvaged from his burned synagogue. These stories of acceptance and obedience are contrasted with the tragic tale of Tito, the future communist dictator of Yugoslavia, whose life was set on a path of rebellion after being harshly dismissed by a priest for a similar mistake in his youth.Bishop Sheen concludes with a powerful call to embrace our personal trials as a means of sanctification. He critiques the modern ethos of "doing your own thing," explaining that true freedom and happiness are found not in self-affirmation but in conforming our will to God's. He reassures his listeners that if they were to see all the crosses of the world piled together, they would invariably choose to pick up their own familiar one. The key, he teaches, is to accept our unique "skolop" with love and to see it not as a meaningless burden, but as our personal share in the Cross of Christ, through which we find our ultimate purpose and redemption.

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• God, the Divine Potter

  Bishop Fulton J. Sheen masterfully uses the biblical image of the potter and the clay to illustrate the profound truth that our imperfect, fragile human nature is the chosen vessel for God's divine treasure. The essence of his message is one of profound hope: our weakness, ugliness, and failures are not obstacles to God, but rather the very material He works with. Sheen explains that God allows trials and tribulations in our lives—likening them to pouring wine from one vessel to another—not to punish us, but to purify us by separating the "dregs" and "lees" of our imperfections, making our souls richer and more pleasing to Him.Sheen further develops this analogy by exploring what happens when the vessel is "spoiled in the potter's hands"—a powerful metaphor for human sin and failure. He reveals that God, unlike a human craftsman, does not discard the broken clay in frustration. Instead, the Divine Potter patiently picks up the failed vessel, reworks it on His wheel, and lovingly molds it into a new creation. While it may not be the grand "vase" originally intended, it becomes a beautiful and useful pot, still capable of holding His grace, demonstrating God's unwavering and redemptive love for us even in our brokenness.The ultimate destiny of the "pot" is revealed through the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. After encountering Christ and recognizing Him as the source of "living water," she immediately "leaves her pot behind" to share the good news. This, Sheen explains, is a symbol of our own journey. At the moment of death, we will leave our earthly vessel—our body—behind, as our soul, the true treasure, goes to God. The pot is not forgotten, however, as Sheen concludes that on the last day, even our physical body will be glorified and transformed, perfectly reflecting the divine life it once contained.

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• Youth and Sex: A Message on True Freedom

  With his signature blend of humor, wit, and profound insight, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen addresses a young audience on the urgent topics of freedom, morality, and love. He begins by humorously recounting anecdotes about his clerical attire before drawing a sharp contrast between the past—a time of trust and safety—and the modern world. Sheen argues that a critical turning point was the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, an event that symbolically erased moral boundaries and ushered in an era defined by the selfish philosophy of "I gotta be me, I gotta be free," which he contends leads not to happiness, but to chaos.The core of the address focuses on the true meaning of sex, which Sheen defines as a profound mystery and a sacrament. He explains that it is far more than a physical act; it is a sacred participation in God’s creative power and a living symbol of the sacrificial love between Christ and the Church. In a key piece of practical advice, he highlights the fundamental difference in how men and women love: a man can be drawn to a part of a woman, whereas a woman loves the whole person. This, he warns, is why young women must be wise and understand that true love requires commitment and cannot be found in partial, fleeting affection.Concluding his talk, Bishop Sheen offers guidance on navigating a world of fading belief. He suggests that when people reject faith, it is often a cover for an underlying moral struggle rather than a purely intellectual problem. He passionately encourages the young women to embrace an "apostolate of beauty," where their virtue makes them truly attractive, and he reminds the entire audience that they are the future of the Church. His message is a powerful call for youth to reject the emptiness of license and instead embrace the challenging, joyful, and ordered life of true freedom found in faith and moral discipline.

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• Kenosis: The Self-Emptying of God - Part 2

  Bishop Fulton Sheen begins this profound meditation by introducing the theological concept of kenosis, or God "emptying Himself." To illustrate the sheer magnitude of this act, he uses a startling analogy: imagine the humility required for a human to put their soul into the body of a dog, limiting their expression to barking and their actions to instinct. The distance between God and man is infinitely greater, yet this is precisely what Christ did. By becoming a slave and taking on human flesh, God humbled Himself in a way that is almost incomprehensible, laying the foundation for our redemption by choosing to experience our limitations and frailties.The core of Christ's mission, Sheen explains, was the "transfer" of humanity's burdens onto Himself. He breaks this down into three categories of evil: physical, mental, and moral. Christ took on our physical ills not by being sick, but by feeling our pain through a deep, divine sympathy, which is why He "sighed" and "wept" before performing miracles. He took on our mental ills—our doubts, loneliness, and despair—by crying out from the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", making our darkest question His own. Most importantly, He took on our moral ill of sin, illustrated by the powerful story of a soldier on the Burma Road who falsely took the blame for a missing shovel to save his comrades from execution, just as the innocent Christ took our guilt upon Himself.Ultimately, Bishop Sheen calls the listener to participate in this redemptive work. Just as Christ transferred our burdens, we are called to transfer the burdens of others onto ourselves through prayer and sacrifice. Using the moving example of a prostitute who returned to the confessional after he asked hundreds of penitents to pray for her, he demonstrates the real-world power of intercession. The Christian life, therefore, is not a passive admiration of a teacher, but an active relationship with a Savior. The path to this relationship is through the Gospels, where we come to know the person of Christ and begin to understand the depths of His self-emptying love for us.

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• Kenosis: The Self-Emptying of God - Part 1

  Bishop Sheen begins this profound meditation by introducing the theological concept of kenosis, or God "emptying Himself." To illustrate the sheer magnitude of this act, he uses a startling analogy: imagine the humility required for a human to put their soul into the body of a dog, limiting their expression to barking and their actions to instinct. The distance between God and man is infinitely greater, yet this is precisely what Christ did. By becoming a slave and taking on human flesh, God humbled Himself in a way that is almost incomprehensible, laying the foundation for our redemption by choosing to experience our limitations and frailties.The core of Christ's mission, Sheen explains, was the "transfer" of humanity's burdens onto Himself. He breaks this down into three categories of evil: physical, mental, and moral. Christ took on our physical ills not by being sick, but by feeling our pain through a deep, divine sympathy, which is why He "sighed" and "wept" before performing miracles. He took on our mental ills—our doubts, loneliness, and despair—by crying out from the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", making our darkest question His own. Most importantly, He took on our moral ill of sin, illustrated by the powerful story of a soldier on the Burma Road who falsely took the blame for a missing shovel to save his comrades from execution, just as the innocent Christ took our guilt upon Himself.Ultimately, Bishop Sheen calls the listener to participate in this redemptive work. Just as Christ transferred our burdens, we are called to transfer the burdens of others onto ourselves through prayer and sacrifice. Using the moving example of a prostitute who returned to the confessional after he asked hundreds of penitents to pray for her, he demonstrates the real-world power of intercession. The Christian life, therefore, is not a passive admiration of a teacher, but an active relationship with a Savior. The path to this relationship is through the Gospels, where we come to know the person of Christ and begin to understand the depths of His self-emptying love for us.

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