Mother Angelica has passed away. I’ve given copies of her book (Mother Angelica’s: Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality) to friends and included her quotes in correspondence. Her sermons on ‘living in the present’ continue to be a source of inspiration.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“The riches of heaven are the things we should be desirous of–not the things of the world. The only treasures we know are the sunken variety. We’ve all seen those movies where the pirates open the trunks filled with diamonds and rubies, and we know there is tons of stuff buried at sea. It shows you what God thinks of them–they’re down at the bottom~ God’s concept of treasure is a soul that deeply loves Him and deeply loves its neighbor. That invisible reality is far more valuable than the passing trinkets of this world.”

Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. – St. Paul

“Holiness is not a match light or a 50-watt bulb, it’s a super-nova–one holy person can save a city, a nation.”

“I believe if we want this world to stop going to hell, if we really want to do something about the darkness–then you have to light the light. There is no other way to banish darkness. You can sit in a dark room and fuss and complain about it, but all you have to do is turn on a light. God has placed us all in a dark room, hoping that we will have sense enough to turn the light on and not yell and scream and panic over the darkness, because we know where the light is–we know who the light is! And we have Him. The tragedy of this age will be if those who have the light do not let is shine. Christians of all denominations have literally put the light under a bushel.”

“The Scripture says. ‘We are only earthenware jars’ (2 Cor. 4:7). Cracked pots! That’s what you are, a cracked pot that holds this great treasure. We are, all of us, imperfect, but we must remember that the Spirit of God is inside each of us.”

“We have to learn to live in the Present Moment. We have to ask God: What are you calling me to do now, in this Present Moment? Not yesterday or tomorrow, but right now. God’s will is manifested to us in the duties and experiences od the Present Moment. We have only to accept them nd try to be like Jesus in them.”

“In the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord tells us, ‘Set your hearts on His kingdom first and His righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow’ (Matt. 6:33-34). Now here is a sentence we forget entirely: ‘Tomorrow will take care of itself.’ Why? Because tomorrow will soon be now! Have you ever noticed that there is really never a tomorrow? It’s always now. Your whole life is now…Every day, every instant of your life is brand new–you make it old by living in the past. And you make it a dream world by living in the future.”

“Love is not a feeling. It is a decision. Jesus cannot command that you have a feeling. He can only command us to make a decision, and love is the greatest decision we will ever make.”