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By sincere prayer in Christ's name, we can make a 'bridge' - thanks to Divine grace - between what we desire now, and what we ought to desire in order to become holy. A new stage of determination and repentance can give us a real hope of making progress on our spiritual journey instead of continuing in mediocrity or worldliness.

We are right to pray for prisoners, as we think of one needy group of people, then another, as we make our intercessions; yet the worst sort of 'captivity' is brought about by grave sin, when a person imprisons himself through freely deciding to do what is gravely sinful, or to neglect an important good. The good news is that, helped by Divine Grace, he can repent, and open the door of his 'prison', and set out on the path to Heaven.

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.

All sad and wounded persons can find help through prayer. Every victim of abuse by a priest can find help and strength if he will turn to Our Blessed Lady, who will lead him towards her son. Healing rays of Divine Grace can work marvels in the hearts, minds and souls of those wounded in childhood, and still preoccupied, today, with horrible memories. God can even help them to live out their faith by forgiving their abusers.

Some of us imagine that if we have set out on a sinful way of life we can never escape from it - as if we have entered a train that is carrying us away to our doom; but even trains have an emergency cord to pull, if we are brave. And in the spiritual life, we can decide, of our free will, to co-operate with Divine Grace, and to 'stop in our tracks', to change our way.

If we want to be saved, we must abandon our sins, like good people of past ages. Wise people follow the teaching of the Church. It is Christ Who wants us to believe what she tells us about faith and morals. There are people who call themselves 'practicing Catholics', however, whose ways of life include acts regarded with horror, for centuries: unchastity, contraceptive us, divorce with attempted re-marriage, and a failure to hand on the Faith to their families. Everyone needs the Divine grace given through prayer and the Sacraments, to be able to put the Catholic Faith into practice.

Jesus Christ is Divine. He is God-made-man, whereas His mother is only human - though very pure and holy. Christ did not simply use the Virgin Mary as a conduit for His arrival on earth. Her life is inextricably entwined with His, and will be so forever, as she intercedes for the Church, at His side in Heaven. It was by Divine grace that she was conceived Immaculate, worthy to be the mother of the Infant Jesus. She taught Him in His boyhood, then saw Him teach others, in His adult life. She suffered with Him, as He endured the Cross; and after His Resurrection and Ascension she guided the disciples. She was with them at Pentecost. But when her work on earth was done she was assumed, body and soul, to Heaven, to be with her beloved son forever, interceding for us who need their prayers.