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Earthly idols have sometimes been so glorious as to make men tremble with awe - yet the glory of Almighty God is a million times greater. How important it is, that we sinful creatures show reverence and love towards God. Christ, the Son of God, looks with kindness upon all who approach Him or His Father in sincere prayer; yet it is reverent souls who are invited to enjoy intimacy with God.

We must work and pray to help the lost to avoid disaster. Many Catholics are falling away from the practice of the Faith. They don't seem to notice the moral vacuum at the centre of their lives, or in the life of society. It is like a great hole in the ground which endangers the lives of all who thoughtlessly walk or run around it. The hole has appeared through Christian societies introducing immoral laws, careless of the consequences: abortion, and other evils. Family life, and national life, are endangered.

It is a cause for concern, when someone is following the Way of Christ, and had seemed willing to continue, but keeps pausing, wasting time, as he puts off doing the good things that he needs to do, to be worthy to enter Heaven joyfully rather than have to suffer in Purgatory. The temptations which threaten to overcome us could lead to our falling into the Abyss, nearby, and rising Eternal Loss.

In every age, since the time of the Apostles, priests have faced opposition and persecution as they have gone about their work. It is important that they are faithful to preaching the truth - the Faith in its entirety - and faithful to the Mass. That is his task: to teach the faithful how to lead good lives and prepare for Heaven, and to feed the faithful with Jesus Christ's Sacred Body and Blood: to transform them.

Just as sailors at sea know how to 'batten down the hatches' and survive in a storm, because of some basic duties and basic wisdom, so must we hold fast to some Catholic 'basics' that will help us to remain faithful in all the storms of life. We need to know and love Christ, to turn to Him in prayer and in the Sacraments, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and Confession. If we study the Scriptures, and ask for the prayers of the Saints and Angels, and show love to our families and to the poor, we do well.

If we could pierce the Heavens, we would still not 'understand' all about God. If we search the Sacred Scriptures, we can find out why Christ came to earth, but we cannot find out everything about the Mind of God in Eternity. He is far above us. We can draw reasonable conclusions about His plan, however. We need not say, 'Christ would have come to earth had man not sinned'. The freedom, through which man sinned, was always part of God's plan; so the sin was always foreseen.

Christ makes the souls of sinners beautiful by His grace; and we sinful people can make our souls very beautiful by our trust in Him. When we really believe in His love for us, and act as though we believe that - confident in the power of prayer, and of the action of Divine Grace - our soul is like a beautiful temple, in His sight.

It is important that we persevere in our intercessions for the needy. There are many people who have not yet accepted the truth about God's love for them, His desire to free them from their sins, and the need for repentance and prayer, so that they can share God's life, through Christ, and follow the sure Way to holiness and Heaven. Without the life of grace, within them, people are trapped in sin and ignorance, as if in semi-darkness, in an area of chaos and hopelessness, beneath a shining highway.

Wise people recognise the truth that there are three states of life, in relation to Eternity. There are people already on the Way to Heaven: the bright Way made by Christ; and His Church calls all people to walk along it. Other people are in a gloomy, rocky area, not yet having found Christ, or not yet having put their trust in Him. And here and there, another state is seen, as someone is sitting on the edge of the Way to Heaven, temporarily overcome by inertia or lack of hope.

Christ wants us to realise that wherever there is suffering and injustice, His love is needed: His love, and respect for all who are generally treated as inferior or even worthless: girls and women, the uneducated or sick or disabled, or people of another race or background. A really just society is one that follows the teachings of Christ. We can ask, as a 'measure' of justice anywhere on earth, 'How are women treated in their families?'

It is not enough for a bishop to rely on committees, in managing the education, catechesis and liturgical celebrations in his diocese, if this results in unorthodox statements or programmes being put forward, or irreverent or foolish liturgical practices. He has been given authority by Christ; and should step in, to ensure that everything is in accord with the 'Mind of Christ'

"Radiant Light" Images: These provide a sort of 'Catechism in pictures'. The purpose of 'Radiant Light' images is to cast light upon the teachings of the Catholic Church, to enable people of all places and backgrounds to see with clarity the most important truths of the Catholic Faith, to help them to enter or persevere on the one Way to Heaven, following our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Christ is explaining to all who are called to be celibate priests that in their celibate state they can imitate Him, by His grace, not treating celibacy as a burden but a help to total self-donation to God, in the Church. They can be confident of receiving the necessary graces; and seminarians have the inestimable privilege of having Jesus Christ Really Present amongst them in the Blessed Sacrament of the tabernacle and altar.

Christ is weeping, horrified at witnessing the abuse of innocent children by priests who should have been trustworthy figures in their lives, indeed, should have been 'icons of Christ', holy, loveable and loving, chaste and kind.

When we turn to our friends, the Saints, to request their prayers for ourselves and our intentions, it's as if the Saints lead by the hand the one who prays, to bring her closer to God. It has been the delight of Christians, since the earliest days of the Church, to know that those who have gone before them, to Heaven, are alive in Christ, and praying for them.

Only the holy can share God's holiness in Heaven, in perfect joy and peace. There are people who say - 'I'm not a bad person. I try to be good, but I don't need all that advice about prayer and Church-going'. They reveal the depth of their ignorance by such words, and on their state of soul. It's as if, within them, is a labyrinth of blocked passages and alley-ways: of unchristian attitudes, prejudices, unused spiritual faculties, a dark conscience locked in a cul-de-sac, and the gloom caused by Original Sin.

Some truths can scarcely by borne. It is tragic that a child in our world, who begins by trusting others, sometimes has that trust shattered - by family problems - or by war, when even children have ended a train journey in concentration camps. Despite these horrors, Christ asks us, who believe in Him, to trust Him, who is trustworthy. He asks us to be like little children, confident that He Who is good and loving, can help us to endure all trials, and eventually reach Heaven.

Those of us who lead busy lives need not feel guilty about longing for more time for peace: both for prayer and for relaxation. Christ Himself got up early, to go to a lonely place, to avoid the crowds, and sometimes stayed up all night, to pray. We need to ask, however, do we make sensible plans, and allow enough time for reflection and prayer?

The Church is a home like no other: a true home for sinners. Christ wants us to hold up our heads bravely despite all the criticism currently made of the entire Church because of the wicked acts of a very small number of priests. He sees the Church as a giant, amongst institutions and organisations as She sustains and promotes life through her medical work, educational projects and care of the poor - as well as her main task: the care and salvation of souls, for the glory of God and our eternal joy.

Christ asks all the members of His Church to love one another with a holy love. If we cannot do that, He asks, how can we possibly act with authentic, holy love towards people outside the Church, many of whom oppose our teachings, our plans, and our participation in the life of our community or country?