Thursday, May 9, 2013

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


 

17 comments:

  1. Good reflection Mary. Years ago I read somewhere, I think it was in a book called, Sins of the Tongue (or was it called, The Back-biting Tongue?) that when we commit grievous sin, we not only hurt ourselves and the person we sin against, but our sin causes an evil somewhere else in the world. A child may get cancer; someone may be killed in a car accident. And yet, when we pray, do sacrifice and bring joy to the world, good things begin to happen. Someone may have a conversion; a hungry child may be fed even though the action seemingly had nothing to do with we ourselves. We really should strive to have love in our hearts even for our enemies. We should keep close watch over what we say just as you said. A single unkind word can cause so much grief.

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  2. Hi Monica,
    Sin has a ripple effect but so does goodness and the scope of the effects of goodness are more far reaching than the effects of evil, thankfully.

    Marino Restrepo often speaks about the dangers of living in satan's territory: this is when we walk outside of God's will in numerous areas of our lives through our lack of love and our sins. A person living in a chronic state of unrepented mortal sin is basically already living a form of hell in their hearts because hell is a state of being as well as a place. (The same with heaven.) When a person repents this changes of course, but it's a dangerous state to be in.

    Thanks for commenting!

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  3. O my goodness, this is wonderful. You've put into words a sense I've had for months now, and it's as if you opened a door and showed us Truth. "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... Every person who lives in mortal sin harms others, knowingly or unknowingly.... the water pools into one place and stagnates, polluting themselves and others around them."

    And we just don't see it, do we? Yes, it is frightening - especially when we take note of what lifestyles we see lauded in the media and proclaimed by the press. May God have mercy on us all. Thank you for a post filled with the Light of Christ!

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  4. Well done, Mary. If everyone made it a point to say something kind daily to the people we deal with every day, this world would be immediately a better place. That requires looking outward rather than inward.

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  5. Hi Mary, wonderful reflection about us as individuals and as families. We do all matter and our actions, words, thoughts... all of it can be for good or not. It's a constant battle and the saints are our best examples!

    Have you read Vassula Ryden's book? Heaven is Real But So Is Hell?

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  6. The problem, as I see it, is that too many people simply do not believe that they are a spiritual being as well as a physical body. The current fashionable trend is to believe that we are human and when we die - this is the end.

    With such beliefs, it is consequential that people will focus on the here and now, on the physical, on the material, on what gives them pleasure and happiness, however or whatever temporary in nature it might be.

    How often have I heard "I owe it to myself to be happy" to justify peoples' actions and beliefs regardless of consequences and responsibilities.

    Yes ... we need Saints. But how many even believe in them?

    God bless you for a great article.

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  7. Great post, Mary! I must say that it has always been my desire to get to know the saints better...to imitate them more. They are such treasures! Every now and then, I run across someone that is virtually unknown...not as popular. What gifts they are. The quote from JPII is very timely. Do you have any suggestions for reading about the lives of the saints...maybe a less popular saint?

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  8. Please pray. Just found out two teenage brothers were murdered in my small town...probably by another teenage boy. Please pray.

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  9. Too many wordless thoughts came from this for me to make a sensible comment, Mary. The Body of Christ, the tapestry of life and the jigsaw puzzle that completes itself in the Church, etc, etc, etc.

    You articulated it perfectly, Mary.

    God bless:-)

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  10. So much to think about here. Thanks for the reminder that each act is important. BTW my daughter thinks I should change my blog color to pink,like yours.

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  11. Oh, yes, I needed this word today!

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  12. Mary, what an insightful and important post. You do make me think!

    I loved the first part about the Saints, and the huge effect even one of them can have for good in the world. It just gave me such joy..that God has these holy souls who love Him so much. And..it's a delight to see all that He loves to accomplish through those who are totally His.

    Yet, like you wrote, the darkness is all around us. May God increase His Light in us!

    I always find "light" here. Thanks Mary! :) xo

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  13. Hi Everyone! Thank you for your comments! I'm sorry it took so long to comment back. We have had a very busy week and today was my nephew's First Communion!

    Noreen, I haven't read the book you mentioned here. Is it a book about a NDE?

    Nancy, I have to admit that most of the saint books I've read are about the more well known saints. The internet is a good place to research some of the lesser known saints though. I hope your kids are feeling better!

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  14. No, it's not about a NDE. She claims that Jesus comes to her with messages for the world. Like Mirjana from Medjugorje. Or St. Bernadette from Lourdes. She's been receiving these messages for years but I hadn't heard of her until recently.

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  15. GREAT post Mary. I hope many many many people read this and pass it on.

    God Bless you.

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  16. Hi Noreen,
    Oh! I'll pop online and research her. That's the great thing about computers :) Thanks!

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  17. Hi Colleen,
    Thanks for commenting :) I hope you and your husband are well!

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