Heavenly Matters

Thank the Lord for saints. The entire world is blessed through them and their lives reverberate through the ages. They are like a mighty river flowing all through the earth watering everything in its path. Such is the strength of God's grace that flows through them. They knew that:

Everything matters. The smallest word, the tiniest action...it all matters.

The saints used every aspect of life as a stepping stone to God.

The spiritual territory of a great saint can be very large. Saint Pio comes to mind here, as do many other saints. So great is the light of God pouring forth from these great souls that it gives light to others. We NEED grace-filled souls like these here on earth, especially in these days when so many people are in a state of grave sin. No light spills forth from a soul in mortal sin, only darkness. This is why it's so frightening when many, many people around the world are in such a state - they have given their spiritual territory over to Satan. I'm not sure they understand how dangerous this is. Every person who lives in mortal sin harms others, knowingly or unknowingly.  One mission all people have in common is that we were meant to be a blessing to one another and when a person stands in enemy territory, when they live in darkness, the gifts that God placed in them become blocked. Like a stream that is dammed, the water pools into one place and stagnates, polluting themselves and others around them.

Everyone matters. Every person makes a difference.

The reason for this is that human beings are like pieces of an interlocking puzzle and each piece is unique in that it adds something beautiful to the picture that forms once the puzzle is complete. When pieces of a puzzle are lost, damaged, or incomplete much of the beauty of the picture is lost. Take families for example: we often see this type of incompleteness in many of the families of today's world. Families are broken and this takes a heavy toll on both present and subsequent generations.

Families matter.

"As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live." These words were spoken by the great John Paul II and truer words were never spoken. Human families were meant to form a tapestry of love from which blessings flow.

The things we do or fail to do matter. Because we are spiritual beings as well as physical our words and actions have spiritual ramifications as well as physical ones. Take words for example: words can have a powerful effect on others. Our words can bless or curse. You cannot really separate the physical from the spiritual. A parent's careless or unloving words to a child affect the child physically AND spiritually. Since the spiritual effects are not as obvious to our eyes we may downplay them or  ignore them but they are still there.  Even things done in secret with no one around have spiritual ramifications, both for the good and the bad. Thus, a  hermit who rarely has contact with the outside world can bring about immense change.

It all matters.

God knows this. The saints know this.

Even satan knows this but his pride resists it.

Pride looks down on things or people that it considers smaller and less important than itself.

The humble know differently:

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest thing right and doing it all for love.”
                                                              St. Therese