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This is the ideal, for a priest: to be totally conformed to Christ - and for lay-persons too, who want to do the Will of God. Whoever conforms his will to the Will of Christ, and believes and practices the teachings of the Church, for love of Christ, and has a pure heart, avoids all sin, and shares the Faith where he can, and loves his neighbour, is a channel for God's powerful graces to others, even if he or she has weaknesses and imperfections from character defects, or poor upbringing.

God sets free from foolish ideas those who love Christ, believe in the teachings of the Church, and faithfully try to practice them, guided by the Pope and the other Catholic Bishops. Catholics who constantly grumble about teaching and discipline displease Christ, are unfair to the Popes, and distress faithful Catholics who are rightly shocked by public dissent, witnessed by the Church's enemies.

A little child can scream for attention, and dispute every instruction from his mother, so ending up alone and miserable - or he can co-operate, and experience her companionship, her wise words, and her consolations; and so it is in the Church. A Catholic can disbelieve parts of the Faith, grumble about discipline, speak with hostility about the Pope, and become a slave to his own opinions, or he can choose to co-operate with God and the Church, and in that trust and obedience find not slavery but freedom, and joy, and peace of soul, and hope.

It's as if the Holy Souls are invited to wait, on a ledge, able to see the Abyss from which God has saved them. They cannot yet enter Heaven. Some people need a lengthy purification because, when on earth, they made compromises with the world which were scandalous or shameful, in the sight of God, Who sees everything. When our attempts to 'fit in' lead us to scorn or disobey God's Commandments, we shall have a prolonged Purgatory to endure, to be made worthy of Heaven, even when we have confessed our sins before we die.

Christ asks us to share the truth with hesitant Catholics, that the surest way to a holy life, and a confident but holy journey to Heaven, is to make a good Confession; then, freed from all sin, and trusting in Christ, in prayer, and guided by the teachings of His Church, the Way ahead becomes clear.

A person who recognises the Catholic Church as the One Body founded by God Himself to lead us on the Way to Heaven is wise to come in. Christ, the Son of God, has given us authoritive teachings, and Divine power, so that faithful followers can persevere in the Faith, and lead holy lives, and spend Eternity at the heart of the Blessed Trinity, in Heaven.

The Saints in Heaven are overjoyed that we love and serve God, and that we believe what the Church teaches about the Communion of Saints, and ask them to intercede for us. The Saints, who all love Christ and His Mother, are also full of joy on seeing us, too, honour the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave us our Saviour, and who has appeared at Lourdes, to Saint Bernadette, asking us to pray and do penance.

In God's sight, it is a cause for sadness that some of the Clergy, who have been ordained to preach the truths handed down in the Church, now teach a religion which they have tailored to suit their own ideas and desires. Most of these do not realise that they are being used by the evil one to lead people astray. Priests endanger their own souls, too, when they are proud and disobedient.

This is the truth: The Catholic Faith, as taught, for example, through the Maryvale Institute, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This is the Faith handed down through the centuries, in the unchanging Deposit of Faith, and not the distorted version so often presented to enquirers today.

While there is admirable catechesis given by certain institutes, groups and movements, there is a version of the Faith being handed on today, in many parishes, which has been distorted by people unknowingly influenced by Satan. It is in his interests to discourage use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, cast doubt on her moral teachings, poke fun at the Tradition, and traditional devotions - including Jesus' Real Presence. People who accept this version are led dangerously close to the Abyss which separates earth from Heaven.

While there is admirable catechesis given by certain institutes, groups and movements, there is a version of the Faith being handed on today, in many parishes, which has been distorted by people unknowingly influenced by Satan. It is in his interests to discourage use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, cast doubt on her moral teachings, poke fun at the Tradition, and traditional devotions - including Jesus' Real Presence. People who accept this version are led dangerously close to the Abyss which separates earth from Heaven.

There is a distorted or truncated version of the Catholic Faith which is widely taught today. It is the evil one who wants people to hear that they can disregard the sure teachings of the Church on sexual morality, neglect her devotions, down-play reverence towards the Holy Eucharist, ignore Christ's ever-Virgin Mother, and look upon the Pope as having no authority unless each of his acts delights all of the Bishops.

This is what happens when the Faith is not preached in its fullness. A Bishop who has not preached about sin and repentance, Heaven and Hell, but more about self-esteem and trivial matters, will find himself in a Church which appears to be in decline, with fewer priests, fewer devotions, a faithless laity, few signs of hope, and bored school-children. The great drama of salvation, and the Real Presence of Jesus, should be preached with fervour.

The Church was badly damaged by changes, events, opinions and foolish decisions that followed the Second Vatican Council, and by misinterpretations of Council documents on catechesis, evangelisation, the Sacred Liturgy and Ecumenism. The Lord has acted, for example through some of the New Movements, to mend the damage, and to restore faith in the constant teachings of the Church.

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 man who expects to hear the truth about sin and salvation, Church and evangelisation, holiness and Heaven, will often be disappointed at ecumenical gatherings where people are afraid of appearing divisive. They stick to safe subjects such as consumerism, pollution, nuclear war, and global warming, while people long to be helped to understand the meaning of 'Church', or helped in their personal spiritual journeys.

We can picture a Bishop in Purgatory, thinking of how he would re-appear to his fellow-Bishops, if he could, to say how much he now regrets his past silence on the subject of invalid Orders, and on sexual immorality - including contraceptive use. In failing to teach his flock, and failing to speak the truth to others, he has only avoided Hell because he was badly taught, when he was being catechised, and then trained to be a priest. All that the Church teaches is true.

We can picture a Bishop in Purgatory, thinking of how he would re-appear to his fellow-Bishops, if he could, to say how much he now regrets his past silence on the subject of invalid Orders, and on sexual immorality - including contraceptive use. In failing to teach his flock, and failing to speak the truth to others, he has only avoided Hell because he was badly taught, when he was being catechised, and then trained to be a priest. All that the Church teaches is true.

Christ's saving work on earth was something that only He could do. As God-made-man, He enabled sinful human beings to know and love Him, and, through Him, the Father. We can neither free ourselves from our sins nor know, without Christ and His Revelation, exactly how to please the Father. Through His Spirit, given in Baptism, we receive power; and through His Church, in every age, Truth, to guide us.

A priest or Bishop who speaks only of generalities, year after year, when he meets with Protestant Ministers, is failing in his duty. To practice ecumenism does not mean never mentioning the glorious truth that Christ founded one united Church, upon Peter: a Church which exists today, with its door open, for everyone willing to come in and practice the Faith, guided by her sure teachings.