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The Mass is at the heart of the life of a priest. A good priest is pleased to show the place where he offers the Holy Sacrifice daily on the altar; and he can be sure that all part hurts, memories, and failings can be offered up and 'burned up' in the great fire of love which is Christ's sacrificial prayer to the Father.

When Christ was in torment, hanging on the Cross, He suffered mental and spiritual torment too, from the knowledge of all the people who would ignore His message, and would refuse to repent: especially those who would request or carry out abortions. The sight of hundreds of dead babies grieved His tender heart.

Christ saw dreadful sights as He suffered on the Cross. He saw the aborted babies whose lives would be cruelly ended; but even worse for Him was the sight of many 'dead' souls: diseased souls in mortal sin, souls now made foul and repulsive through their own thoughts and actions; so Christ's torment was spiritual and mental, as well as physical, in His Passion.

A holy statue is a means blessed by the Church, to help us to focus on a particular holy person in prayer, and a means of propelling our thoughts towards a person who is now in glory, or to a particular topic, such as the Passion of Christ, or another Scriptural event.

Many Christians make a dreadful error in refusing to know Our Lady or to seek her prayers. They draw a curtain over centuries of Christian devotions to her, devotions she deserves because of her central place in God's plan of salvation. How shocking, to ignore the mother of God!

Many non-Catholic Christians will be embarrassed, after death, as they realise what a dreadful error they have made in their refusal to honour Our Lady or to seek her help, as they drew a curtain over the most important Christian devotions of the first centuries. They will see just how much Christ loves His Mother.

A Christian who deliberately leaves out the name of Christ, to join in mixed-religion or inter-faith prayer, and make himself acceptable to other people, is detaching himself from Heaven, for it is through Christ that he has access to Heaven and to the Father.

Few of us sufficiently appreciate our good fortune. To be baptised, and purified, and a member of the Church, is to be guaranteed a hearing, when we pray. It's as if each of us is held in Christ's arms, as He says to the Father: 'She is Mine. Hear her. Do as she asks!' The state of such a person is more secure that the state of a person who does not know Christ but calls out in prayer, uncertain that he is heard.

Through faith in Christ, the Baptised person can call out to the Father, confident that her prayers are heard and answered. Because of her obedience to Christ, the Son of God, Who intercedes for her, it's as if she is held in Christ's arms, as Christ vouches for her, before Heaven, because she is a 'child of God' - unlike people who don't know Him, or who have refused to believe in Him.

The state of someone who trusts in Christ, and who therefore prays confident prayers in and through Christ to the Father is very different from the state of a person who seems to say to Christ, in unbelief: 'Go away. I don't believe in You.' That person has rejected the one means of being brought towards Heaven and having access to the Father; in other words, he has refused to be saved.

A person who refuses Baptism refuses to be made a member of the Body, for whose members Christ prays: Christ who is the Son of God, God-made-man, and Head of the Church, as He prays for all members, and perpetually intercedes for them. It is a dreadful thing, to refuse to allow Christ to pray for one's Salvation! This is a much-neglected truth.

Every Pope deserves our prayers. Each Pope who faithfully fulfils his duties works to save people from the pit: to bring them to know and love Christ, or to renew their knowledge and love. He follows Christ in the office of Saint Peter, and often does so despite the physical and emotional cost. He has a world-wide flock, which is the Catholic Church.

It is a marvellous thing, to teach, preach or evangelise. Just as there are dark streets and alleys where no-one feels safe, and sensible people are glad to be shown the way to the well-lit reads nearby, so, in the moral sphere, wise people respond to any invitation to leave the dark paths on which they walk at present, to enter the Way of Christ, which is the sure way to Heaven, lit by Divine Light.

Some theologians are reluctant to accept Christ's claim to be the only Saviour. It's as if they are willing to explore a dark cave in the hope that it will lead to a cave-system that will stretch as far as the bright land beyond the mountains, when there is only one way over. Similarly, there is only one Route to heaven: Christ Himself - visible, safe, and well-known - which begins in Baptism.

What Christ told us is true, that there is only one Way to Heaven: His Way, which is like a road we travel safely when we have received his life in Baptism and have been freed from sin. If people are not willing to revere Christian Tradition they are not acting as true children of God, for example, Christians who are searching for another Way.

Christian women who live and work in the world need not fear they are sinful if they take care of their appearance, and try to look attractive for their husbands. Sensible decisions about clothing and hair care are necessary; it is only vanity and extravagance that are unworthy of people bound for Heaven.

Christ said: 'You can do nothing without me'; so we need to turn to Him in prayer, for help, so that He can do what we cannot do. He can open the door to let grace into our lives, or to deliver us from sadness, or to show us the Way to Heaven - or to work some other good thing to help us to achieve sanctity.

Whether we are Christian or non-Christian, we cannot be saved if we are guilty of grave sin and refuse to repent. God gives constant helps to human beings, including those who do not know His Son Jesus, to help them to do good. Though minds have been darkened by original sin, all people can realise, through reflection, and use of their conscience, if they are willing, that certain things are wrong: stealing, murder, rape, slander, betrayal, and much more.

Christ is deeply touched when we thank Him for the spiritual benefits He has brought, as well as for everyday helps. He is glad if we appreciate our Baptism, and other sacraments, and if we remember to celebrate the anniversaries of such events.

Our Blessed Mother looks with gratitude and joy upon all the faithful priests who are living as her Son lived, doing His work - many of them celibate like Christ, and so most surely repeat His pattern of self-giving, in order to save souls and to give glory to the Father.