Every Christian is important - important to God, to the world, and to the kingdom.
Interpretation
Every person's worth is significant in the eyes of God, impacting both the world and the spiritual realm.
This quote by Mother Angelica emphasizes the intrinsic value of every Christian individual. It reminds us that each person holds a special importance not only in their own life but also in the broader context of the world and the spiritual kingdom. This perspective encourages individuals to recognize their unique contributions and the significance of their faith in shaping the lives of others and the society at large.
In practice
In a church sermon discussing the value of community.
I am not like a pebble on the beach - a grain of sand on the seashore or just one of millions of human beings past, present and future. No, I am a unique human being loved by God as if I were an only child - the only fruit of his creative powers.
I must not permit the evil capabilities of human nature to sour my faith in the tremendous good that is possible despite the frailty of that nature.
The sinner who suddenly realizes God's love for him and then looks at his rejection of that love feels a loss similar to the death of a loved one. A deep void is created in the soul and a loneliness akin to the agony of death.
Our memories are our own, and we cannot blame anything or anyone in the past for any pain dwelling there. If we open the door to them or keep hashing over past incidents in our minds, we have only ourselves to blame.
Man can and does rationalize his sins. He finds reasons for all his weakness, invents excuses that first calm and then deaden his conscience. He blames God, society, education, and environment for his wrong doing.
Love has been defined, analyzed, explained and excused. It has been the cause of wars, feuds, heroism, martyrdom, inordinate passion, and beautiful friendships. It pulls two people of opposite temperaments together into a married state and permits them to live happily. It makes friends understand each other without the necessity of words.
In civilized communities men's idiosyncrasies are mitigated by the necessity of conforming to certain rules of behavior. Culture is a mask that hides their faces.
Our culture is so fixated on dying and going to heaven when the whole Scripture is about heaven coming to earth.
...It all seemed to him to have disappeared as if behind a curtain at a theater. There are such curtains that drop in life. God is moving on to the next act.
Tension is the great integrity.
We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved.
Throughout history many nations have suffered a physical defeat, but that has never marked the end of a nation. But when a nation has become the victim of a psychological defeat, then that marks the end of a nation.
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