Seven Words to the Cross

This book is a collection of sermons from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen where he speaks about seven different groups of people found at the foot of the cross at Calvary over 2,000 years ago and how these groups are still present today.

There are millions of souls in this great country of ours who have no religion whatsoever. Their attitudes vary from an earnest yearning for religion to an intense hatred of it. It is quite possible that all of them could be reduced to seven distinct categories.

Our Lord spoke seven times from the Cross — and these are called His Seven Last Words. But those who were on Calvary's Hill that afternoon addressed seven words to Him on the Cross, thus revealing the seven different impacts the Cross makes on souls.

The seven words, which Our Lord spoke from the Cross were not specific answers to specific challenges, but they do reveal lessons applicable to the challenge.

TO THE HUMANISTS

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

"TO THE SINNERS

"This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."

TO THE SELFISH

"Woman, behold thy son! (Son) Behold thy mother!"

TO THE INTELLIGENTSIA

"My God!  My God!  Why hast Thou hast abandoned Me?"

TO THE MODERNS

"I thirst."

TO THE SENSATIONALISTS

"It is finished."

TO THE THINKERS

"Father, into Thy Hands, I commend My Spirit."

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was a man for all seasons. Over his lifetime, he spent himself for souls, transforming lives with the clear teaching of the truths of Christ and His Church through his books, his radio addresses, his lectures, his television series, and his many newspaper columns.

During the 1930s and '40s, Fulton Sheen was the featured speaker on The Catholic Hour radio broadcast, and millions of listeners heard his radio addresses each week. His topics ranged from politics and the economy to philosophy and man's eternal pursuit of happiness.

Along with his weekly radio program, Sheen wrote dozens of books and pamphlets. One can safely say that through his writings, thousands of people changed their perspective about God and the Church. Sheen was quoted as saying, "There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be."

Possessing a burning zeal to dispel the myths about Our Lord and His Church, Sheen gave a series of powerful presentations on Christ's Passion and His seven last words from the Cross. As a Scripture scholar, Archbishop Sheen knew full well the power contained in preaching Christ crucified. With St. Paul, he could say, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

During his last recorded Good Friday address in 1979, Archbishop Sheen spoke of having given this type of reflection on the subject of Christ's seven last words from the Cross "for the fifty-eighth consecutive time." Whether from the young priest in Peoria, Illinois, the university professor in Washington, D.C., or the bishop in New York, Sheen's messages were sure to make an indelible mark on his listeners.

Given their importance and the impact they had on society, it seemed appropriate to reintroduce these reflections once again on the seven words spoken to the Cross.