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If we have faith in Christ, and a fervent spiritual life, we can become like the healthy mustard-plant that Christ described, in which 'the birds of the air can rest'; but if we have very little faith in Him, and are full of self-pity about our difficulties, resentful of the crosses we carry, and prickly towards our neighbour, we are like a thorn bush amidst all the beauty and life that is seen around us.

God can work wonders through our perseverance. When a priest, or any sincere follower of Christ, finds it hard to believe in the saving power of the Cross, and sees life as a grim progress with little hope, he should reflect on this truth: whoever imitates Christ and accepts the Cross, in patience, finds that, little by little, it becomes a living thing, fruitful, putting out new branches and leaves, precisely because that person is reproducing Christ's life, and being fruitful in saving souls.

A loving person takes care in setting the table for a family meal, just as a person who loves God takes care in making the sign of the cross. To be careless in making that sign of our Faith is to be like a careless person, before a meal, who throws the cutlery onto the table.

All who travel by the Royal Road of the Cross, faithful in love and sacrifice, can reach Heaven, both in their prayers, and when they die. They will meet the Saviour Who placed His Cross as a bridge across the Abyss between earth and Heaven, and whose saving work is celebrated in our feast: 'The Triumph of the Cross".

Just as God arranged that all who were bitten by serpents could gaze upon the bronze serpent and by spared, so God arranged that His own Son, Jesus Christ, would be lifted up on a cross; to look on Christ, and believe, brings healing from sin, a healing that, if continuing, leads to life with Christ in Eternity.

Christ sees dark clouds of evil across much of the globe, clouds which hide the many cruelties and evils practiced against people of other races, religions, or another gender: all sorts of enslavement and torture, by people who want to retain their power. Black clouds over western Europe represent the evils occurring in abortion clinics.

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.

Jesus Christ our God asks us to gaze above the rooftops, and across the whole of our land. He asks us to be aware that in this supposedly Christian country, in a supposedly civilised world, some politicians want to issue edicts that forbid us to teach right and wrong - especially about marriage, and purity.

None of us need fear that God is powerless to help us withstand the assaults of the evil one. Christ on the Cross seemed to be weak; yet He was powerful enough to rise from the dead; and so He is certainly powerful enough to enable us to endure the assaults and temptations that come to us through the evil one. We ought not to live in fear, but rather, to be confident that Christ will keep His promises.

When we begin again in the spiritual life, and by sincere prayer we cross a chasm that separated us in our mediocrity from the climb to sanctity, we should be glad and grateful; but we must not suppose that our difficulties are over. There is still a long way to go before we reach holiness or Heaven. Patience and fortitude are essential.

All of those Catholics who cannot be bothered to go to Mass once a week are like people marching across an icy landscape towards the Abyss. The snow represents the deadness of the souls of all who, by refusing to attend Mass, are as if saying to Christ: 'I don't need your prayers, at the Holy Sacrifice' - 'I'm not bothered about my salvation'; 'I'm not going to confess my sins, to be reconciled with You'.

If we know someone who endangers his own salvation, and we pray to the Father, in the name of Christ, with faith, it is as though Christ on the Cross has freed an arm, in order to point to that great sinner, saying: "He is one of Mine: one of those I came to save"; and so, for Jesus' sake, the Father hears and grants us Jesus' prayer, obtained through our intercession. We should be joyful that, in Christ, we have so much power.

We must not give up when trials come. We sometimes meet what seems like an earthquake on our 'road to glory', as we follow Christ's way to Heaven. Whether it is caused by opposition, or assaults, or natural disasters, or weakness springing from our own nature, we can still move forward, even amidst our difficulties. It was said of Christ, 'for the sake of the glory that lay ahead, he bore the shame of the Cross'. So it can be with us.

Children deserve to have peaceful childhoods, with mixed work and fun. Can anyone who really cares about little children want them to learn about sex and reproduction? They are too young. It is their parents' task, for later on - and not something for early years, discussed and illustrated in mixed classes, with little or no moral content. What would our reaction be, if children came across pictures of body parts and sex techniques and contraceptive devices?

If we are willing to be united with Christ in bearing unavoidable sufferings with patience and trust, and praying for the Church and the world, we become like Him, we join in His redemptive work of the Cross. It's as though we are with Him, beside the Cross, busy applying His Precious Blood as a healing remedy to the wounded souls for whom we pray.

Christ understands what many of the elderly suffer. On the Cross, He suffered not just pain, but also the helplessness, weakness and loss of control that many patients experience who are neglected in hospitals, and who should turn to Him for consolation when they are grieving about the apparently disastrous end to their lives.

Satan is at work to draw us towards foolishness and sin. Wherever there is a crisis, stirred up by the influence and power of the evil one, innocent bystanders are caused to suffer - just as our Blessed Lady suffered as she stood beneath the Cross, though she was innocent, and watched her son die in agony. We must pray for all who become embroiled in tragic events, that they will remain united to Christ, and not lose heart.

If we want God to make a beautiful pattern out of our lives, using our various gifts, interspersed with weaknesses, failings, unhappy memories and foolish ambitions, it's as if we must allow Him to shake up our lives, by the various crosses we carry and the trials we endure. Then, from all those odd pieces, God can form a beautiful, unique pattern, as seen in a wonderful kaleidoscope such as children enjoy.

Since God the Father's plan was that Christ came to us through Mary, bringing His saving graces, He is always the Father's gift - and always through Mary. The gift is never taken back. Hence her title of 'Co-Redemptrix'; though Christ is the only Saviour, who died on the Cross for our sins.