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Where families are faithful to the teachings of the Church, out of love for Christ and His pastors, they act as a seed-bed for vocations to the Priesthood and religious life. How can the Faith be handed on fervently by Catholics who don't believe or practice it?

Where families are faithful to the teachings of the Church, out of love for Christ and His pastors, they act as a seed-bed for vocations to the Priesthood and religious life. How can the Faith be handed on fervently by Catholics who don't believe or practice it?

Christ told me of the message He offers to all who dissent from the teaching of the Catholic Church: "Imagine, if you can, that the Church's teachings are all true, that her discipline is wise, her customs admirable, her Saints active and the holy Angels powerful. There things are true; and I invite you to believe Me".

Many Catholics today, who do not believe in all the teachings of the Church, paint a caricature of the era before the Last Council. They say that the laity did nothing but 'pay, pray and obey', but seem unaware of how much Christ admires people who lead prayerful, humble and obedient lives, in any age.

Many Catholics today, who do not believe in all the teachings of the Church, paint a caricature of the era before the Last Council. They say that the laity did nothing but 'pay, pray and obey', but seem unaware of how much Christ admires people who lead prayerful, humble and obedient lives, in any age.

Many Catholics lead lives unworthy of God's children, and are not sorry for going against His laws - hence the empty confessionals in this era. Most Catholics who disobey the moral law on contraception, for example, brush away their feelings of guilt. Few can plead total ignorance of the teaching of the Church.

Many Catholics lead lives unworthy of God's children, and are not sorry for going against His laws - hence the empty confessionals in this era. Most Catholics who disobey the moral law on contraception, for example, brush away their feelings of guilt. Few can plead total ignorance of the teaching of the Church.

We should be obedient to Christ, Who teaches through His Church. A lone soldier working on a special mission in a dangerous country can be more likely to stay out of danger if he obeys the precise instructions given by his commander, who can see the whole area. We too should obey our Commander's instructions even when we do not understand the need for certain moves. He wants to save us.

It is the Catholic Church which keeps asunder the cloud of ignorance and hopelessness which once covered the world. In every age, despite the sins of her members, she does what Jesus did in His earthly life. By His Spirit's guidance and power, she teaches truth, forgives, heals, prays, offers the Holy Sacrifice, helps the poor, and makes people holy.

When people want to be good but have not yet made firm resolutions or adopted firm principles, they are like climbers on a mountain on which there are large patches of loose shale - small stones. It is only too easy to take a few steps up, and then to slide down again.

Pope Pius X fought bravely against heresy, Christ said. It would be wonderful, the Lord said, if everyone could do what this Saintly Pope has done, and decide to fulfil the Father's Will, for His glory, and to save souls, rather than seeking personal satisfaction. It is sad that many Catholics criticise that Pope's life and works, and want to overturn the Church's teachings, even on moral issues.

A child who has a mother and a father who are married to one another, in a stable marriage, has an admirable start in life. There is 'imprinted' in the child the idea of family life, as God Wills it; and it is therefore easier for the child to appreciate the Will of God for society - and related teachings of the Church.

The Deposit of Faith is handed on in the Catholic Church from age to age. Some other Christians teach some of the truths which the Church proclaims - but the Church has no need to go to other Christians to learn what she should teach. Her teachings stem from Christ and the Apostles. Yet individual Catholics can learn from the virtuous example of charity, patience, etc. given by other individual Christians.

Those who freely and deliberately decide to disobey Divine Law on sexual morality, as taught by Christ through His Church, and who lead unchaste lives, are like people who freely board a train, laid on by Satan. It steadily descends, then enters a great hole in the ground.

Just as Moses insisted that he wished all of God's people were prophets, so Christ insists that He wishes all of His friends in the Church were fervent in believing and defending the teachings of the Church.

Far fewer persons would commit adultery - or any mortal sin - if they really believed the truths proclaimed by Christ through His Church, that He lavishes rewards in Heaven upon the Saints in Heaven, but that people who commit mortal sin and die unrepentant fall into Hell, and experience the loss of God, with all the damned.

Catholics who persist in disbelieving much of what the Church teaches are like men struggling to walk up a mountain, taking care not to fall into narrow gullies, water-logged ditches, or near loose boulders, when they ignore the fellow Catholic who calls out to them, asking them to join him on the safe, narrow path which leads directly to Heaven. Dissenters support one another, but do not move to the safe route.

A person's life can be seen as balanced if he believes all the truths of the Catholic Faith and tries to practice them; yet if he jettisons too much of the truth, he endangers his own soul, and might even fall away into the darkness. The boxes, here on the scales, represent our doctrines.

A firm and mistaken private judgement about a moral issue is like a boulder in the heart of someone who claims to have examined Catholic claims and found them inadequate. A private opinion that abortion is a right, for example, prevents sincere and fruitful exploration about the Catholic Church.

All who are sent as missionaries, to share the Faith with other people, should listen to the Church, that is, to the Holy Father and the other Bishops who hand on the truth - that Christ is the only Saviour, and that Baptism is the gateway to Divine Life. No other Gospel should be preached.