Bishop Fulton J. Sheen Channel | Life Is Worth Living Show // Roman Catholic Church

[Applause] friends what are the most curious reasons for ever listening to this program was given last week one woman said to another be sure to listen to Bishop Sheen he’s wonderful you know in order to get an audience all he uses is a piece of chalk in a blackjack well you asked for it Emily the subject of angels we receive many requests for that particular subject as you know there are various names that are given to angels sometimes a pedestrian the jump too late is called an angel every year is a leap year for the pedestrian and then of course those who give money to produce Broadway shows are also called angels we do not know the origin of that expression possibly because their money has wings then before marriage many young girls are called angels by the young men who are in love with them after marriage they are called angels too because they’re always harping on something [Applause] and sometimes but perhaps less often young men before marriage are called angels but the young ladies who love them then after marriage well one little girl said to her mother mommy she said I’ve never seen an angel with a beard or a mustache who may never go to heaven and your mother said yes child but they get in by the close shave [Applause] whenever I travel I am always asked where is your angel well as the matter of fact I always tell them but they never seem to understand it well I have my angel with me so of you cannot see the angel but our modern world does not believe in angels curious but an angel is put in a category of a myth around Christmastime we have a number of gold ones for commercial purposes but it is felt to be just a transitional period between infancy and that of adult maturity and the reason we do not believe in angels is easy enough to understand our modern world happens to be rather materialistic and so most people live in a closed universe in the sense that they believe that man is just an animal has no immortal soul the sole purpose of life is little security and a little pleasure there’s no world of spirit outside this world of matter modern minds are very much like the Soviet world Soviet world is a closed society the only great influence from the outside world the Soviets allow in his science that’s because they can turn science back against the world well if you live in a materialistic universe which denies spiritual values obviously there’s no place for angels then there are other penalties to a one shows up in architecture have you noticed that modern architectures absolutely without decoration look at the building of the United Nations it looks like a kind of a cracker box cellophane windows many of the buildings that are going up on Park Avenue why this type of architecture but simply because since there’s no spirit world nothing immaterial then there’s nothing to represent symbolically when people hey and when they believed in a world beyond this then matter was used to symbolize the spirit such as gargoyles and Cathedral Phoenix’s and the like when we settle down to the dull drab existence of a material universe decoration passed out we also see this effect of materialism on the relationships of person with person how little courtesy there is in the world of the day there used to be courtesy and politeness simply because we believe that every other person bore within himself a divine image since we treated that person with respect today little courtesy anywhere I am the other day I got up on a subway and gave my seat to a woman who was holding on to his strap she was rather surprised and she said to me why did you do that well I looked at her and I saw that she was absolutely in capable of understanding a spiritual reason and I said to work or madam I tell you ever since I was a little boy I’ve had an infinite respect for a woman with a strap in her but the fact that our materialistic world has no room for angels does not mean that it still needs the infinite and the spiritual look at our children they are not taught anything about angels but a child cannot abandon the infinite he tumbles among the stars you might almost say he’s Stardust he with the infinite constantly asking the question why and so when his parents do not give him anything of this spirit world what does he have space cadets captain video captain midnite Superman all substitutes for angels in the world of spirit so it is with adults we have not the infinite so we manufacture substitutes we speak of the ins in the inferiority complex did you ever see an inferiority complex out for a walk so we’ve become interested in the inhabitants on Mars and flying saucers all these are poor substitutes for the world of spirit but a carnal eyes materialized world cannot believe in angels the reason can we know there are angels how do we know well we know first of all let me tell you what an angel is the origin of the word Pangalos means messenger an angel was understood to be a creature far below God and yet far above man purely spiritual without a body but possessed of an intellect and will Jews believed in angels as a matter of fact they believed the Saint Michael the Archangel is the protector of Israel Muslims believe in angels Christians believe in angels and pagans believed in angels reason demands angels Seneca speaks of angels so does Virgil so does ploop talked heavyset teacher said that every man is a guardian angel Plato and Aristotle said that God used the angels for the government of the world and the reason pagans believed in angels was something like this an angel to a pagan was necessary because of the hierarchy of the universe first they said here is the world of matter then above that is the world of light above that is the world of sanction sea belonging to animals above that is the world of intellect and will in man with a body therefore they said there ought to be some creatures above possessed of an intellect and a will but without a body and below God and hence they people their world with angels