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A very talented musician can produce work even more beautiful if she listens to the advice of her coach about very tiny improvements she can make; and so it is with people who already love Christ, and have sacrificed much for His sake. They can become even more saintly by following His guidance in even little details that could be improved, or little flaws that could be avoided.

We must expect to meet criticism, especially about chastity. Critics of Christians and Christianity call good people 'prudish' or old-fashioned, when care is taken to wear modest clothing, to lead chaste lives, and to avoid indecent films and art displays, and to protest at public nudity. This must not deter Christians from keeping the Commandments, and striving to be 'as pure as Christ'.

In wanting to share the good news about Christ, and the Catholic Faith, we do not begin by accosting people we do not know, to accuse them of sin. We imitate Christ, Who first got to know a person - as in Simon's house - and only when a bond was established gently mentioned things which Simon needed to know, above love for a neighbour.

Have we repented, and become children of God? The Father and His Son invite us to look at other people just as The Blessed Trinity look upon us, seeing us as we are now, in a state of grace, serving God and our neighbour. We should forget the behaviour and outlook of past times, which people have repented of, and left behind. If we are charitable, we resemble Christ, Who is transforming us.

Christ is pleased when a mother imitates Him by giving thoughtful, unconditional love to her children, and being close to them, helping them at each new stage, whether basics like washing and dressing, or giving them confidence when they go to school, teaching them good manners, and encouraging love amongst relations - and love for God, shown by reverence in church.

Christ's self-sacrifice, for the fulfilment of the Father's plan, was total. A priest, more than anyone, can only benefit his Sacred Ministry fully and the people he serves if he imitates His Master's self-sacrificing love even to accepting celibacy, willingly, so that he is totally committed to Christ and His Church, without reserve.

The Lord asks us to deal with some injustices in the manner of Saint Francis, who was reported as saying: if he were to trudge for miles through a snowy landscape, in darkness, and hungry, only to be met with insults, picked up and thrown aside - and yet be able to bear all this with patience, without food and warmth, that would be perfect joy, because then he would have been found worthy to be treated like Christ, and to be able to imitate Him.

A hard-hearted person has a heart as strong and unyielding as the thick ice in the garden in winder, on the bird table. He has little humility or compassion, and is only too happy to declare: "Why should I do what the Pope tells me to do?" or, "Why should I forgive that friend?", or, "Why doesn't that Doctor do what I want?" These proud, unforgiving people are simply un-Christlike.

God looks down from Heaven, ready to distribute lavish gifts upon us, yet sees many dispirited priests who are too afraid to teach the Faith in its fullness; thus they are unwilling to imitate their Saviour and risk criticism from those they teach; and so they omit to mention the wrongness of adultery, contraceptive use, desertion of spouses, and neglect of children by mothers, and much more. In failing to rescue people from sin they fail in their duty, as if hiding away in a pit, hoping to be unnoticed.

Whether we are single or married, called to the lay state, or single and called to Priesthood or the Religious Life, we are invited by God to have firm faith in His power to help us. It's as if He has arms full of gifts such as courage, hope, greater faith, and love and humility. If we ask for them, He will lavish them upon us, so that we can be good and obedient like Christ.

It is not the Will of Christ that priests keep their thoughts almost exclusively upon earthly matters, even though they work amongst people in the world who are beset by dreadful trisls. The ultimate aim of priests should be to give glory to God, and to bring themselves and other people towards holiness and Heaven, doing so by the priest's union with and imitation of Christ.

Even if a man were to walk barefoot round the whole world, on hot coals, to prove himself worthy of union with the Divine, he would not be successful. No-one can make himself pleasing to God by his own efforts, although it pleases the Father when people try to do what is right. Union with God is achieved through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in a living faith, which leads believers to reproduce in their lives the good works that Jesus did.

Christ asked us to reflect upon which of several priests is the one most like Him. It is the one who teaches the truth about God and man, sin and salvation, Heaven and Hell, though also teaching about love for God and neighbour. A kind attitude in a priest is not enough. Boy Scouts can be kind. A priest must hand on the Truth as Christ did, to make Him known.

It is a blessing that we now have the new Catechism of the Catholic Church to help us. Christ asks all of us to repent of our sins. But if some of the Clergy are arguing about what is sinful and what is not, they are hampering the Church's mission and failing to imitate their Divine Saviour. They are ignoring the teaching of the Pope and Bishops who have given us the Catechism to guide us.

A call to the Sacred Priesthood is a call to a man, from the Most Blessed Trinity, to accept a way of life in a most exalted state, which no-one can deserve. This call is made in the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Archangels; and loving service as another Christ, in this world, however arduous, will be followed by a glorious welcome in the next.

Christ has ordained certain men to be as 'other Christs' amongst us, to guide and govern us. We are not wrong to speak with gentleness and truth about words publicly offered by a priest or Bishop which are heretical or foolish; but Christ is grieved when He sees His priests needlessly criticized for personal appearance or habits, or cruelly slandered.

Christians should ask for the grace to be charitable; but this does not mean that we must fail to speak necessary truths in order to spare people's feelings. Charity without truth is merely flattery, or leads us to placate those who need help in order to change. We should be as simple and straightforward as Christ, in our speech: kind and gentle, but unafraid to offer unpopular truths.

We are sometimes humiliated, slandered or ignored, because of our Christian faith. In His Passion, Christ set us an example. He kept silent, as an example for His friends to follow, as He accepted the Will of the Father, to fulfill the Father's plan of salvation. He had confidence in the Father's love, and the Father's power to save Him.

Whether people are atheists or God-fearers, they suffer. There is so much suffering in earthly life that we are tempted to complain; but if we were to load all our pains and problems onto a large lorry, to send them away, we would soon have another collection. What counts is to live a good life here on earth, even with suffering. We can please Christ when we resemble Him in patience and obedience, in union with Him, and interceding for others. We give glory to God, grow in virtue, and prepare for Heaven.

A selfish person, always determined to have his own way, whatever the cost to people in particular, or to society, is like a raging bull, ready to charge. He knows nothing of patience or charity. If he calms down now and then, it takes only a pinprick to make him bellow again. Only by Divine grace, and conversion, can that sort of nature be changed and made Christ-like.