Mother Angelica is my role model. Not only are her words on everyday spirituality extremely relatable, as a media major, I find her especially inspiring. In the 1980s, she started broadcasting religious programs from a garage in Birmingham, Alabama. Over the next twenty years, she developed the first Catholic media network that included radio, TV, and internet channels as well as printed media. Because of her perserverance and willingness to do what had never been done before, the now global Catholic television network has helped spread the word of God to many souls.
Last week marked the 36th anniversary of the founding of EWTN by Mother Angelica. In honor of this celebration, and to spread an extra kick of inspiration during finals week, here are 14 Mother Angelica quotes that are totally relatable to Catholic college students:
1. “All life is a school of holiness and everything that happens to you from bad weather to an ingrown toenail is an opportunity for you to be like Jesus. Don’t miss the opportunity.”
We're in college to learn, but not only from textbooks. We can also learn how to be more like Jesus from daily life experiences.
2. “Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: ‘St.’ It’s a much more difficult degree to attain. It takes a lifetime, and you don’t get your diploma until you’re dead.”
It's easy to get distracted in college, but we can't forget the real reason that we are here...to become saints and get to heaven!
3. “My ‘Do/Drop System’ is to do it and drop it. When you live in the Present Moment you do whatever must be done, then you drop it and move on. You don’t dwell on the past, or on your past accomplishments. That’s all over. Do it and drop it.”
Mother's Do/Drop System can be used daily throughout the semester. For example, after taking a stressful exam, don't obsess and linger over how you did. Do it and drop it, and move on to the next important thing in your life.
4. “Everybody is searching for their identity. But the real you only emerges when you are united to God."
College is a time to find yourself. Everyone is trying to figure out who they are and where they're going. But you can't find yourself without God. Identity is understanding who you are and why you were created by God.
5. “One-third of your life is spent sleeping. If you are sixty, that’s twenty years! But do we give our sleep to the Lord before retiring each night? We should say, ‘Lord, I unite my sleep tonight to Your sleep: when You were a Babe, when You were grown and tired. I unite it with the nightly rest of the Blessed Mother.’ All of the sudden, there I am snoozing along—but it’s sanctified. I’ve made my sleep holy.”
Every college student naps... a lot. Try Mother's advice and make your sleep holy!
6. “Every work can be a holy work. Look at laundry for a minute. We are all in the cleansing business. Just like I cleanse my soul, I can use this mundane type of work to remind me that I am a work of purification. I can offer the laundry to God so that the clothes I wash are not only purified from dirt, but that they may purify the soul who wears them or uses them.”
Mother is able to put a positive spin on everything. Even the most miserable tasks, such as laundry, or that campus job, can be offered to God and help make us holy.
7. “The apostles were dodos, dummies. But all the smart people in the world at the time wouldn’t take chances. That is the same problem we have today. The world is looking for intellectuals and the Lord is looking for dummies. That’s why I’m here.”
I love this quote! Don't ever feel like you're not special enough for God. The apostles were just regular people, but God used them to carry out a special mission. Just have faith. As Mother Angelica also said, God needs people who are willing to do the ridiculous, so He can do the miraculous.
8. “We’re all trying to get master’s degrees, and so often we forget the Master.”
Don't forget that you wouldn't be where you are now without Him!
9. “If you’re not a thorn in somebody’s side, you’re not doing Christianity right.”
It's your obligation to speak the truth. You can do this simply by inviting your friends to come to Mass with you on the weekends!
10. “God wants you to be in the world, but so different from the world that you will change it. Get cracking.”
The best way to lead is by example.
11. “What is it in your life and in my life that smothers the real truth? What is covering it over? Is it riches? Is it a desire for human glory? Is it lust? Is it alcohol? Is it sex? Pride? What is it that covers up the glory of the kingdom and makes us desire the very least? Why are we willing to spend eternity in a mud shack, when we could have a spiritual mansion?"
It can be hard to live your Catholic faith on a college campus. There are so many temptations that can lead us away from God. But these are passing joys. Only God can bring us true happiness.
12. “If it wasn’t for people, we could all be holy.”
Group projects, heartless professors, weird roommates... life would be so much easier without these people, right?! Wrong. Of course Mother is joking here...it really isn’t other people who make or break us. We are the ones who make or break us.
13. “Try to laugh a lot, because life is funny and everybody today is too serious. The only tragedy in the world, my friend, is sin.”
Take Mother's advice and be joyful! Even though some days are really busy and stressful, there's still so much to smile about.
14. "God from all eternity chose you to be where you are, at this time in history, to change the world."
Get out there and use your God-given talents to make a change...the world needs you.
