The Catholic Church has the distinction of providing America with its first tele-evangelist, Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Sheen was seen Sunday nights on prime time TV when there were three networks and no cable stations. His 30 minute show was seen by millions of Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

I was very fortunate to grow up in a household where we gathered around the ‘big screen” each Sunday night to watch Archbishop Sheen and his band of invisible angels. I can still picture him writing on his blackboard, how it would disappear off screen, and then reappear completely cleaned! Sheen explained the angels were at work, magically erasing the boards.

Archbishop Sheen re-entered my life recently when I received his “first new book” in over 25 years, “The Secrets Of St. Therese’s Holiness Revealed” which was released in late 2007. This very inspirational and spiritually provocative book is based on Sheen’s lifelong study of St. Therese’s spirituality which he shared in a series of talks given on 100th anniversary of her birth in 1973. The Commemorative Edition includes all eleven talks, possibly the last letter Sheen ever wrote, and 11 pages of biographical photos of Archbishop Sheen. At the time, these talks gained instant popularity due to Sheen’s ability to open up Therese’s unique spirituality in new and impressive ways.

The eleven talks address: Therese’s being “a saint for today’s trouble times”; how we can become a saint in our daily lives; the virtues of faith, hope and perseverance; intercession; the value of suffering; the sword and spiritual warfare; our relationship with God through Our Lord; fighting Satan; suffering for the sake of love; the way of the child; and sin and mercy.

Passages that I found particularly useful for meditation and highly recommend include:
* A saint is one who makes Christ lovable.
* It is not about being perfect but, rather, about our striving towards perfection.
* Live life the way you are now, only make it holy.
* Love’s delay.
* Suffering – sometimes lovers squeeze too tight.
* Rather than seeking consolation from Our Lord, console Him. He is living in His body on earth and he is suffering many indignities now just as He suffered indignities when he walked the earth.
* Begin to love and your happiness and zeal will increase. This is a new way which is an old way.
* The world is quiet about Satan today. Satan is strong when he is not recognized.
* The sword she loved was the sword that cut the seven pallbearers of the soul – pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth.

Archbishop Sheen points out that St. Therese is quite a modern theologian as she gives us an uncomplicated way, the “Little Way,” to understand Our Lord and our role in God’s plan. The “Little Way” is to recognize our nothingness so we can be empty. Once we are empty, God can then fill us with the Spirit of Our Lord then work on us and through us.

The “Little Way” is a path anyone can take in today’s world with “Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s St. Therese” pointing the way.

Thomas M. Loarie; Danville, CA; February 2008

Almsgiving is one of the tools of the Lenten season. Along with prayer and fasting, Our Lord encourages us to look to the needs of others. “Seeking the good of another” is the classical definition of love. Using our resources: our time, talent, or treasure for the sake of others, is the concrete way of expressing love of neighbor.

We usually apply the New Commandment of Christ to ”love one another as I have loved you,” to each person individually. As Christians I think we should also apply this to each corporate entity that we have responsibility for. Each of our businesses and organizations should accept the responsibility to use available resources for the good of others. Yes, businesses exist in order to produce a profit for their owners, but this doesn’t release them from looking toward the good of others, including customers, clients, employees, and the local community.

Good works are good business. Not only are we providing for the needs of others, but the very action of doing good is good for our businesses by showing us to be concerned about others, by strengthening the bonds of our customers and clients with us — because they see the good we are doing, and similarly because our customers truly participate in our good works since it’s through their patronage that we can do good for others.

We can even encourage others to seek the good of others by simply asking our customers what needs they see in the local community. Perhaps your business could help out in a few of the suggestions. At the very least you have encouraged them to look toward the needs of others – and this is good in itself.

As we continue our journey through Lent, consider also praying for your customers, for your employees, and for the lives that are touched through your enterprise. Never underestimate the good that one dedicated heart (or one dedicated business) can bring to the world through God’s Providence and loving guidance.