Martin Sheen reflects on life, Catholic faith

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One of my favorites:


http://ncronline.org/blogs/conversations-sr-camille/sheen-reflects-life-catholic-faith

Martin's own childhood was spent in Dayton, Ohio. His parents were married in 1927 and his mother had 12 pregnancies; 10 children survived. His father was a factory worker who spoke English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Martin, who had three sisters, was the seventh surviving male. He grew up in hand-me-down clothes, attended Catholic elementary and high schools and from the age of nine to fifteen made spending money by caddying.
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His desire to act was tested throughout his school days. He performed in many plays and, although his father wanted him to attend the University of Dayton, Martin's heart was set on moving to New York City. Martin's father's desire for him to get a solid education was based, in part, because Martin's shoulder had been injured by forceps used to help his delivery. He would not be able to take on heavy manual labor.

But Martin followed his dream to New York City where he took on a few jobs, including working as a stock boy for American Express, the whole while looking for a way into the theater. One of his theater jobs was as a curtain puller. That netted him five dollars a week.

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Martin's Catholic faith is very important to him. Although he was away from it for a few years, he came back in 1977 after a serious heart attack. Now he admits he can't imagine living without it. Back then he made some changes to his life. He'd developed a drinking problem and gave that up. He had to learn to be true to his separate roles: husband, father, and actor. A trip he made to India for the filming of Gandhi in 1981 made him conscious of the many suffering the miseries of poverty. He was influenced by the book, The Brothers Karamazov. He spent time in Paris and remembers the impact of St. Joseph's Church on the Right Bank, an English speaking church that Oscar Wilde had known. It became the site of his own spiritual renewal. That experience in Paris alerted him to the realization that the internationality of the church allows it to offer a home despite geographic distances.