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Actor Martin Sheen says his Catholic religion saved him
IrishCentral.com ^ | April 13, 2011 | PATRICK COOPER

Posted on 04/16/2011 3:24:11 AM PDT by GonzoII

 

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Actor Martin Sheen says his Catholic religion saved him

Charlie Sheen’s father says ‘we all look for the sacred.’


Read more: Pierce Brosnan talks about his deep Catholic faith

Charlie Sheen’s father Martin Sheen says his Catholic religion has taken him through very tough times.

Sheen, now 70, gave an interview about his upcoming film projects that appeared in last Saturday’s Irish Times.

Though he broke with the church for a while, Sheen says he came back into the fold after suffering a heart attack at the age of 40.

“It’s always a crisis that brings you back. And we begin to ask those two fundamental questions, if your gonna reflect on your life and take serious responsibility for it: who am I, and why am I here? And you reflect on those. I damn near died; I had the last rites,” he says.

“I started going to Mass again but it was out of fear and apprehension that I would die . . . and so it was another four years that I actually committed to come back. I came back to the Church of Vatican II, which I didn’t have a clue had gone on in my absence.”

Perhaps Sheen was thinking of his son when he spoke about how Catholicism can provide a concrete and real way forward when other vices fail.

“We all yearn for the sacred, we are always looking for a transcendence; some people go about it with drugs or alcohol or sex or power or ego, whatever, and when they prove not satisfying and we come to our senses, we begin to realize that there’s another costly journey,” says Sheen.

“It has to cost you something; if something worthwhile doesn’t cost you something, you are left to question its worth. And so I decided to go on that journey and, you know, I’m still at it.”

His latest role, in the Irish production Stella Days, sees him playing a Tipperary priest in the 1950s who loves music and film, but feels as if he has nothing in common with his parishioners. Father Daniel Barry seeks to raise funds for a new church by opening a cinema in the town, but meets opposition at every juncture.

Sheen’s mother was born and raised in Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary, and the Catholic faith is one that he follows as best he can, so the movie was a natural fit.

“I was raised Catholic, my parents were devout Catholics,” Sheen told The Irish Times. “My mother had family rosary most nights in the house, I remember growing up. But when something is given to you, it’s not unusual to let it slip through . . . I loved the church and the faith. But it wasn’t really something personal, it wasn’t costing me anything.”

No word yet on when Stella Days will be released in Ireland, or what the plans are for the film over here.

Read more: Pierce Brosnan talks about his deep Catholic faith

 

 

 

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Copyright © 2009 IrishCentral LLC



TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events
KEYWORDS: martinsheen
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"We all yearn for the sacred, we are always looking for a transcendence; some people go about it with drugs or alcohol or sex or power or ego, whatever, and when they prove not satisfying and we come to our senses, we begin to realize that there’s another costly journey,"
1 posted on 04/16/2011 3:24:14 AM PDT by GonzoII
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To: GonzoII

‘we all look for the sacred.’
Really?
Not so much...


2 posted on 04/16/2011 3:35:40 AM PDT by BigCinBigD (Northern flags in South winds flutter...)
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To: GonzoII
Many people have to hit absolute bottom before they will see that they have reached the end of themselves and admit their helplessness in themselves and their utter need for God.

For Martin Sheen, that bottom was a heart attack.

Hopefully, his son will soon get to that very necessary place before his lifestyle kills him. So far, it's not looking too promising.

3 posted on 04/16/2011 3:37:09 AM PDT by GiovannaNicoletta
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To: GonzoII

Interesting. But Martin never said that he has a personal faith in Jesus Christ, only that his Catholic religion brought him back to the church.
Jesus explicitly said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, not a church.


4 posted on 04/16/2011 3:43:04 AM PDT by Buddygirl
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To: GonzoII

Charlie Sheen: poster boy for cradle Catholics.


5 posted on 04/16/2011 3:46:26 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (You is what you am.)
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To: Buddygirl
Interesting. But Martin never said that he has a personal faith in Jesus Christ, only that his Catholic religion brought him back to the church. Jesus explicitly said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, not a church.

umm, it doesn't get more personal than eating His body and blood.

peace out.

6 posted on 04/16/2011 3:48:15 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (You is what you am.)
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To: Buddygirl
Interesting. But Martin never said that he has a personal faith in Jesus Christ, only that his Catholic religion brought him back to the church. Jesus explicitly said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, not a church.

Not everyone is going to express it the way you have. The message is certainly implied. Jesus established his Church on earth by sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. To deny this is heresy and you certainly don't sound like a heretic to me.

7 posted on 04/16/2011 3:52:14 AM PDT by johniegrad
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To: GiovannaNicoletta

Exactly!!!! I pray for Charlie, if he dies in the spirit desert he is in right now without the saving grace of Jesus, he’ll be in hell.


8 posted on 04/16/2011 4:00:11 AM PDT by MsLady (Be the kind of woman that when you get up in the morning, the devil says, "Oh crap, she's UP !!")
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To: the invisib1e hand
My favorite image of Sheen. His mouth taped shut.


9 posted on 04/16/2011 4:02:15 AM PDT by WildWeasel
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To: GonzoII

Two nights ago, I watched Ramon in the Hawaii Five O episode from October 7th, 1970, “Time and Memories”. Netflix is maika’i a’e.


10 posted on 04/16/2011 4:06:23 AM PDT by mainevet (Get an M1911 or two or three or four)
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To: GonzoII

With Holy Week/Easter coming, may many more “cradle Catholics” come to true faith, hope, and love in Jesus.

BTW, for the Evangelical Christians, THANK the RC Church for giving to the world Holy Bible, for it was from that Church that made it possible.


11 posted on 04/16/2011 4:50:42 AM PDT by Biggirl ("The Best Of Times, The Worse Of Times", Charles Dickens)
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To: GonzoII

Yeah - another pro-abortion, social justice, hate-filled leftist claiming to be a Catholic. You, Marty, are a sorry excuse for human being.You belong in the pews with Bishop McCormack.


12 posted on 04/16/2011 4:53:10 AM PDT by NHResident
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To: GonzoII
I had to laugh at how he's described as "Charlie Sheen's father". Once upon a time Charlie would have been known as "Martin Sheen's son" but the ubiquitous and currently crazy Charlie appears to have taken over the planet. I guess that's what happens when you're "winning", as Charlie likes to say..........

Seriously, I have no idea where Martin is at on his own journey but I wish him well and pray that his faith continues to grow and deepen.

13 posted on 04/16/2011 5:31:23 AM PDT by marshmallow ("A country which kills its own children has no future" -Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
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To: NHResident
Yeah - another pro-abortion, social justice, hate-filled leftist claiming to be a Catholic. You, Marty, are a sorry excuse for human being.You belong in the pews with Bishop McCormack.

Sheen is your typical marxist catholic. Pro life but liberal on everything else - unionism, enviromentalism, anti nukes, illegal immigration, social justice, anti war, etc.
14 posted on 04/16/2011 5:33:03 AM PDT by nhwingut (Palin '12... Accept No Other)
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To: nhwingut
I don't like Martin Sheen's Politics

But every parent worst nightmare is his son Charlie.

God Bless you Mr. Sheen

15 posted on 04/16/2011 5:36:00 AM PDT by scooby321
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To: GonzoII

Wow. Sheen has a positive message about himself that mirrors millions of people past and present (liberal, and yes, conservatives). And yet, several posts strive for the negative? A. Rand is alive and well on several levels ...


16 posted on 04/16/2011 5:47:22 AM PDT by dmam2011
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To: WildWeasel

...he spoke about how Catholicism can provide a concrete and real way forward when other vices fail....

***
I suspect you and I are not buying his supposed embrace of the Faith. Sounds like a cafeteria Catholic to me.


17 posted on 04/16/2011 5:54:53 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Palin in 2012)
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To: GonzoII

Another Hollywhacked lib pretending to be moral. Apple/Tree.

Pray for America


18 posted on 04/16/2011 5:55:37 AM PDT by bray (Has Oboehner surrendered to his master yet?)
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To: Buddygirl

I’ll give him credit for this. He is surprisingly and courageously pro-life — alienating his old Hollywood liberal friends.


19 posted on 04/16/2011 6:30:55 AM PDT by heye2monn
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To: the invisib1e hand
umm, it doesn't get more personal than eating His body and blood.

What cannibals have said from ancient to modern times. "I loved that guy, so I ate him."
20 posted on 04/16/2011 6:55:04 AM PDT by Tzfat
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