This address champions the profound spiritual wisdom of being "impractical"—a selfless generosity that prioritizes faith and charity over worldly calculation. Bishop Sheen suggests that this is a vital message for anyone who feels their efforts are small, as he argues that saints, poets, and all truly great people operate on this principle of giving without counting the cost. He proposes that the greatest spiritual endeavors, like the Catholic Medical Mission Board itself, are founded not on pragmatic business plans but on a radical trust in God's providence, making this a powerful call to embrace a life of service and faith-filled giving.

Bishop Sheen develops this theme by honoring the impracticality of everyone involved in the mission's success. He celebrates the donors who give from their resources, illustrating with a parable that we are spiritually fed only when we "feed our neighbor." He extends this praise to the pharmaceutical companies, describing their millions of dollars in donated medicine not as a business loss, but as a beautiful adherence to the biblical command to leave "grapes on the vine" for the poor and the passerby. He explains that this care is not for a specific creed, but for "humanity," for the human clay that God has fashioned.

The talk culminates by focusing on the doctors, nurses, and medical professionals who volunteer their skills, representing the highest form of impractical love. Through moving anecdotes about figures like Dr. Tom Dooley and Mother Teresa, Sheen shows that this selfless action is the most powerful form of witness, proving that healing and forgiveness are two sides of the same mission. He concludes with the touching story of a doctor whose simple office sign, "Updike, Upstairs," became his epitaph, a perfect summary of a life lived in service to others and a reminder that the reward for such impracticality is eternal.

• Title podcast: Upstairs: The Impracticality of Charity

• Name speech: Address at the 50th Anniversary of the Catholic Medical Mission Board

• When he gave it: 1978

• Where, on which occasion: This was a keynote speech delivered at the 50th Anniversary Dinner of the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB)

This is one of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's most celebrated and insightful talks, essential for anyone seeking to understand the true nature of love beyond sentimental clichés. You should listen because Sheen masterfully unpacks the three different kinds of love—Eros, Philia, and Agape—and reveals how our modern confusion stems from reducing all love to a single, often selfish, dimension. With his trademark wit and profound wisdom, he explains that the Christian life is a journey of elevating our natural affections into a supernatural, divine love that is sacrificial, committed, and ultimately, the only kind that can bring us true and lasting peace.

Sheen begins by exploring Eros, the love of attraction and friendship, lamenting how it has been tragically degraded in modern culture into the purely "erotic," an experience-driven impulse that forgets the person. He then moves to Philia, the selfless love for all humanity, illustrating its power with the incredible true story of prisoners of the communists who shared a single lump of sugar for two years, keeping one another alive through an act of profound charity. This sets the stage for his explanation of the highest love, Agape—the divine love of God for us, a love that is not earned but freely given even when we are unlovable enemies.

The Archbishop brings this theology to a stunning climax with a powerful analogy of a courtroom, where God the Father, as judge, condemns His own Son to die in our place, demonstrating the perfect union of justice and mercy. This divine Agape, he argues, is the love we are called to, a love proven not by feelings but by the will. He concludes by explaining that our human hearts are created with a "piece missing," a void that no earthly love can fill, and that we will never be whole-hearted or truly at peace until we return to God to reclaim the part of our heart He has been keeping for us from all eternity.

This sermon offers a masterful and deeply spiritual explanation of the Rosary, transforming it from a simple set of prayers into a profound meditation on the entirety of the Christian life. Bishop Sheen invites the listener to see the Rosary not as a repetitive task, but as a powerful tool for understanding our own journey of joy, suffering, and ultimate hope. This talk is essential for anyone who seeks to deepen their prayer life, find meaning in their struggles, and understand how the life of Christ is meant to be a living pattern for their own.

Sheen masterfully structures his talk around the three sets of mysteries, presenting them as a complete spiritual roadmap. The Joyful Mysteries, he explains, represent the mystery of becoming a Christian, where God asks for our human nature, just as He asked Mary for hers, so that Christ can live and act through us. The Sorrowful Mysteries tackle the universal problem of suffering, arguing that Christ did not eliminate pain but entered into it, taking our place. Sheen reveals the profound truth that our own sufferings, when united with Christ's, become redemptive and are used to "fill up" the passion of Christ for the sake of His Body, the Church.

Finally, the Glorious Mysteries represent the mystery of our faith and our ultimate destiny. Bishop Sheen emphasizes the foundational Christian principle: "Unless there's a Good Friday in our lives, there will never be an Easter Sunday." He beautifully illustrates how the Rosary allows us to live with this hope, seeing Christ as the "Sun" and the Blessed Mother as the "Moon" who reflects His light into the darkness of our lives. The sermon is not just an instruction on how to pray the Rosary, but a powerful call to live it, uniting our entire existence with the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.