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It is as if the Holy Souls are suspended in God's love, as they move closer to the light, little by little, helped by our prayers, until the moment when each can enter joyfully into Heaven, and share in the blissful life of the Saints, at the heart of the Most Blessed Trinity.
Even when family members are plainly affectionate and helpful to one another, they are capable of doing terrible things if they live in ignorance of God's laws, without the life of grace, in disbelief of God's existence, and with their minds unable to understand God's wishes or to carry them out. They need the grace of God, and conversion. People are not saved by good humour or optimism, if they lead utterly Godless lives.
It is tragic that so many people have not been baptised. A family which is affectionate but which ignores or disbelieves in God, and has no respect for the Commandments, cannot be saved by qualities of optimism or human warmth - but only by the grace of Christ accepted. They need the prayers of the faithful, that they will open their eyes to the truth which they have never encountered, or have half-heard, and dismissed.
Whether we suffer from frail minds, or assaults from the evil one, if sad memories of past times keep on cruelly returning, we can freely choose with God's help to turn away, and to dwell on present-day gifts and grace. We can be like a sensible person who, instead of staying in a cinema to finish watching a horrifying film, for 'entertainment', goes through the exit, to enjoy sunlight, and real life.
Have we repented, and become children of God? The Father and His Son invite us to look at other people just as The Blessed Trinity look upon us, seeing us as we are now, in a state of grace, serving God and our neighbour. We should forget the behaviour and outlook of past times, which people have repented of, and left behind. If we are charitable, we resemble Christ, Who is transforming us.
Just before Christ ascended in triumph to Heaven, after His Resurrection, He sent out His disciples, so that they would tell the world the truth about Christ. He asked them to say: "He who believes and is baptised will be saved, but he who refuses to believe is condemned", which means, condemns himself through refusing the Eternal Life which is given with Baptism. To say 'no' to God, and His Son, brings terrible consequences, through one's own fault.
Christ is pleased when a mother imitates Him by giving thoughtful, unconditional love to her children, and being close to them, helping them at each new stage, whether basics like washing and dressing, or giving them confidence when they go to school, teaching them good manners, and encouraging love amongst relations - and love for God, shown by reverence in church.
People who become proud that they have spent their lives perfecting human skills, but without attending to God, or virtue, or prayer, have little possibility of reaching Eternal Life, unless they turn to God in repentance and trust, and put Him first in their lives, and keep His Commandments.
The Catholic Faith should make Saints of us, people baptised, forgiven, transformed, enlightened, and worthy to worship on the threshold of Heaven, before the altar, until the time God calls us home to Heaven. The watered-down Faith sometimes offered today, which minimises the supernatural and even fails to request that candidates and catechumens give up their sins, is almost on a level with a Boy-Scout manual which requests good deeds but not faith or contrition.
Christ our God, Who created the whole Universe, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is over-joyed by those who appreciate His Creation, which the Blessed Trinity made in order to delight us. We are right to see, in nature, evidence of the existence of God, and of God's Wisdom, and artistry and beauty.
Those members of the Clergy or Religious Life who mislead the faithful by direct dissent from Church teaching or by subtle suggestions that she is wrong on matters of faith or morals, are offending God, endangering souls, and indeed propelling themselves towards Hell by their behaviour. Unlike some heretics who have the virtue of honesty, even if mistaken, these dissenters corrupt the Church from within, whilst claiming to be orthodox.
It is easy to forget God's gifts, and to remember only our difficulties. Everyone on earth has suffering to bear, some much more than others. Yet we can freely choose whether to cope bravely with it, by God's grace, or to give in to self-pity. Some of those faithful people whose love for Christ was sincere but weak, and who were full of self-pity, or who even committed suicide, now languish in Purgatory, seeing at last how much they have sinned.
Just as a person with a computer but no instruction manual presses various buttons but has no help from the computer until the booklet arrives, so many persons baptised outside the visible Communion of the Catholic Church have received a valuable gift, and try to live according to the various theories of various Christian leaders, who argue about faith and morals; but only when they are received into full Communion do they receive clear instruction about holy living, and receive the power from God in the Sacraments.
When people have a man-centered faith, with a too-exalted view of human beings, in relation to God, and make excuses for their sins, convinced that all people will be saved, and that penance and sacrifice are old-fashioned concepts, they develop a faith so distorted that they never humble themselves sufficiently to be lifted up to Heaven.
We are right to help the poor; but Christianity is more than good deeds. In Christ's sight, modernism flourishes where people do not have sufficient awe of God. Many good hearted Catholics, through poor instruction, have a faith that revolves around what humans need, rather than what the Father requests and deserves. They have a too-exalted view of man, in relation to God, which distorts the whole picture; whereas Catholics really grateful to God for Jesus Christ accept the Church's teaching without constant grumbling, shoulder the Cross, and strive for holiness like the Saints, out of love for their Saviour.
Christ is deeply touched whenever people speak, work and pray, so that the truth will be known about injustice, but especially about the unjust and merciless killing of unborn babies. They have been given life by God. They are precious in His sight, and have done no wrong; yet they are slaughtered because their presence is inconvenient.
Christ is delighted by every effort we make to show people that the tiny babies who are rejected, and even dismembered or poisoned by abortion, are human beings, no matter how small. God gave them life; and like all humans they are worthy of respect and tender care, not slaughter because they are judged inconvenient or disabled.
Some people refuse to open their hearts to God about their fears, sins and weaknesses, even though they go through the motions of leading ordinary lives as faithful Catholics. It's as if their soul is like a garden, hidden behind locked gates - the will - as they keep God out, but also keep out His wisdom and His consolations.
God's faithful people are walking steadily towards Heaven, bravely remaining true to Him, and to His laws, and united in love for Him and one another. Dissident Catholics are like people who stand at one side, saying to them, "You're going the wrong way!" - and inviting them to ignore the teachings of the Church and to resent her discipline.
There are deep caverns in Hell, crammed with sinful souls who have refused to repent of their sins, but have freely chosen to walk on the path to Hell, despite all sorts of warnings. There, they are tormented by the demons whose advice they have followed in life, instead of listening to God.
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