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It is true that Holy Souls in Purgatory are safe in God's care, and certain to go to Heaven when they have been made ready to enter. But some are so long in Purgatory that they look on, over and over again, as other souls speed away to Heaven. It's as if those guilty of grave sin, but saved at the last moment of life by the Last Sacraments, have to watch one train after another go to Heaven without them. Their purification is very lengthy. They, especially, need our prayers.

Whenever we make choices that lead us away from God it's as if we leave the safety of our home-town to wander off into a vast desert where there is neither shelter nor refreshment. Only by coming 'home' to the Church and the sacraments can we find peace, nourishment, the companionship of Christ, and the hope of Heaven.

When healthy people feel trapped in doubt, gloom or lack of hope, they might hide away in darkness, doing only the minimum of ordinary duties, and generally inactive and unsociable. The life of a Christian inevitably stagnates or decays if it is not regularly employed in the praise of God, and acts of love towards others.

Does not a great tree spring from a seed, in the dust of the earth? Why should God not have brought a man out of the depth of the earth, by His almighty power? He is capable of doing what is described in Sacred Scripture.

Who can claim that when some creatures, similar to humans but not human, were living at one side of a fast-flowing river, God could not have created, at the other side, human beings, who would begin life in simplicity and peace?

If we do wrong, we must not imagine that Christ begins to hate or despise us. He is always gazing upon us with love and compassion; but each of us can say: "When I sin, I distance myself from Him. I have failed to act like a child of God; but by repentance, I can become close to Him again.

We are wise if we adopt a habit of prayer, shutting the door so that we can pray in our 'secret place', as Christ suggested. It is a good preparation for fruitful prayer at Mass. It can also mean that we worship God with our bodies, too, as we feel able to bow, or prostrate ourselves in private before our all-holy God and Saviour.

Just as a jug can only be swiftly filled with water if the lid is wide-open, so the gifts of God can only pour into a soul in full measure when the person opens her heart wide, to God, in deeply reverent prayer, with all sins confessed, all distractions banished, and an attitude of patience and trust.

A wise person is aware of real intentions. We are not wrong to pray to God when we are comfortable, enjoying mood music and a hot drink. But the pleasant feelings developed are sense-pleasures, not indications of the presence of God. He is most reverently approached, for prayer, by those who kneel or stand, or otherwise indicate humility before Him, and who, during prayer, shun pleasure, in order to make room, so to speak, for whatever gifts and graces God might choose to give them.

These are difficult times for Catholics; yet in our day, in Europe, we have not yet had to remain hidden away, fleeing to underground passages, like the first Christians in the catacombs. But we can learn from their example. What devotion to Christ - and to Mary, when, at the end of persecutions, they built a great basilica to celebrate the Faith, for the glory of God!

The truth about salvation is that no unrepentant sinner can reach Heaven. Those who have freely chosen to refuse God's friendship and to continue in their sins are lost. Entry into Heaven is an amazing privilege: a gift given to the pure, not a right. Those who insist on enjoying forbidden pleasures, and never repent, shall fall into the pit, when they die.

If we could see into Heaven, and if the Lord said to us: 'Is there anything bad, sour, impure, unloving, cruel or in any way sinful, here?' we would have to say 'No'. Then we would need to reflect: 'How can anyone enter Heaven if he has not yet been willing to change his life?' It is not complicated, to reach towards God. We can all start, in private prayer.

It gives joy to the heart of God, to see people helping one another, and especially to see people with special needs being helped by kind friends, relations or parishioners. These needy people are those whom others would have thrown away, at birth, since so little respect is shown for the gift of life, and for individuals.

The Church is like a city with St. Peter's basilica at the centre. There are demons outside the city, attacking people, as they cry out for mercy. Yet there are angels guarding the city and its inhabitants. The Church is guaranteed God's help and protection, through the power of the sacraments, the wise guidance of the Angels, the frequent blessing by the Clergy, and the prayers of the Baptised.

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.

We are right to be concerned, as Catholics, about the teachings and influence of many non-Catholic Christians, especially of those who unfortunately teach that contraception and even abortion is not wrong. There are children playing today who would not have been born, had their parents not been faithful Catholics who treasure God's gift of life.

God asks us: 'In how many Catholic homes is the Faith really practiced?' All who work to share the Faith should be certain that God is pleased with their efforts. Change and decline alternate with stable periods of joy, in human history. We can picture, in one age, pagan worship at Stonehenge, but then the life and work of Christ - followed by the stoning of St. Stephen, and, much later, a triumphant sculpture of Christ placed on high in Rio di Janeiro. And today? Weak faith, again, in very many places.

God's choice of a man for the Priesthood is forever. God does not change His mind about a man to whom He had given great gifts, at Ordination, for the sake of the Church - though a man might disqualify himself from active service for various reasons.

The Mass is at the heart of the life of a priest. A good priest is pleased to show the place where he offers the Holy Sacrifice daily on the altar; and he can be sure that all part hurts, memories, and failings can be offered up and 'burned up' in the great fire of love which is Christ's sacrificial prayer to the Father.

Many Christians make a dreadful error in refusing to know Our Lady or to seek her prayers. They draw a curtain over centuries of Christian devotions to her, devotions she deserves because of her central place in God's plan of salvation. How shocking, to ignore the mother of God!