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The truth which we have learned from Christ and His Apostles is still true, is still taught by the Catholic Church, which Christ founded, and is still meant to be told to everyone in the world who is willing to listen: that God loves us so much He has come down from Heaven, and that Jesus, God-made-man, is the only Saviour.
In asking me to paint a Last Judgement, the Lord intends (He explained) to sum up for everyone the entire message which He has been giving me during over twenty years of teachings-in-prayer: the message that we are each on our way to Heaven or to Hell, which is why Jesus said: 'Repent and believe the Good News' about His love for us, and our hope of salvation.
What a lot of work must be done by a newly-converted soul who wants to make progress in the spiritual life, and please God by every thought, word and deed. A convert's penances, prayers and mortifications are like the hard work a gardener does, who clears the ground around a new plant, and prunes it, to make it grow strong and true.
"I Am Here", in the Sanctuary, Christ said to me. "I AM HERE, IN ALL MY GLORY, LIZZIE. PUT THIS IN YOUR PICTURE" - which meant, in the painting of the Last Judgement. In the area where I show people living a virtuous life, and going to Mass, I should place the figure of Christ, in His Risen Glory, in the sanctuary - just as I have seen him today.
Christ our God acted with the Father and the Holy Spirit, to give life to us. As human beings, each person consisting of body and soul together, we can be certain that Christ likes us to value our bodies, and the loveliness of human beings, though not to give in to self-worship.
It is the Will of God that people act with reverence and respect in church, in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, in a sacred space consecrated for prayer. By noisiness and disrespectful behaviour, people give no honour to God and make it difficult for fellow-Catholics to pray.
When a new convert acts pleasantly, when he has formerly acted against the Church, it can be difficult for other Catholics not to be suspicious about his sincerity. St. Paul, too, was not immediately accepted. Each Catholic, nevertheless, must treat fellow-Catholics - 'new' or old - as brothers and sisters in the family of God.
Once Christ had become a man, we learned how precious is humanity to God. We are all brothers and sisters to Christ and to one another; and each of us should treat others with respect, as Christ treated people in His earthly life-time.
The little child who was born of Mary is the Divine Saviour Who is worthy of all the glory we can offer Him today in our churches. In crossing the threshold we are in a sacred space, consecrated for the praise of the Blessed Trinity. What God always wants to see in our hearts is the simplicity and humility which were in the heart of the infant Jesus.
Children today marvel at stories of wizards, and secret formulas; but a greater marvel is the transformation of a weak person into a Saint, by the grace of Christ. Our 'formula' is the morning offering. Our heroism is to give glory to God not to ourselves, and the Mystery we speak of is not for a select few. Everyone is invited to enter the Mystery which is God.
Children today like to hear a dramatic story; yet we should help them to see that there is no more dramatic story than that of God becoming a little baby. When He grew up, people who knew Him could witness to His goodness and truthfulness. Then when He was killed by His enemies, and came to life again, He provided the evidence that He was trustworthy. He had really come down from Heaven to save us.
The Lord lifted my soul up high. He showed me that He cannot refuse the prayers offered by the Mother of God, Mary for her needy children. He showed me that she was straight away consoling a despondent person on earth, to give him great hope.
God the Father gave us a Child at Christmas, for a special purpose - our Salvation. A further purpose was to show us that every infant is precious in His sight. Every child has been given life by God at conception; and those who reject those little lives are rejecting God's gift and insulting the Good Creator.
No matter how people die, whether of sickness, old age, or in what seem like accidents or freak storms or earthquakes, no-one leaves this life one second earlier or later than the time appointed by God the Father, Who governs all things and all people.
No-one dies and leaves earthly life at a moment that has occurred by accident. No-one leaves earthly life one second before or after the moment decreed by the Father, Who loves us all and governs our lives, and the whole Universe.
Christ is pleased to see the traditional form of the Mass encouraged, yet Christ is Really Present in His Risen glory, after the Consecration, in every valid Mass offered by a Catholic priest, whether the words used are the traditional Canon in Latin by a priest facing, with the people, towards God the Father, or by a priest using the more recent form of words, as the priest stands behind the altar.
The Reason for Christmas: Christ was born on earth, God made man, because human beings were trapped in their sins, since the sins of our first parents. We could not save ourselves, but were like people behind a barred window, captive on a sinking ocean liner.
People who persist in sin, and 'drown', are doomed souls 'lost' in the ocean, and utterly lacking the grace of God which is life. Yet they will rise up at the end of time, for the Last Judgement, when the justice of God will be revealed, as well as His marvellous work of salvation.
Just as the Titanic was lost, with many hundreds of lives, because of the decisions and actions of a small number of people, so the human race was 'lost' - deprived of supernatural life - because of the decisions and actions of a small number, who were our first parents. Yet Christ came to save us. The Father could not allow mankind to sink in hopelessness and sin.
The Lord advised me to approach my 'Last Judgement' picture just as I approach a domestic task. If I need new tablecloths I measure the table, choose the fabric and make decisions about my time. In the same way, with a huge painting to do, I can simply measure, prepare, reflect, and take one step at a time.
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