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Some souls lead lives of such resolute self-will that, instead of being full of Divine warmth and glory they are like snowy waste-lands, where the snow is frozen on the trees, or even like those places in Siberia where the permafrost never melts. These souls will need a lengthy purification in Purgatory - if they die in a state of grace; not mortal sin. Their love for God has grown very cold.

The soul of a fervent person in a state of grace is not like the cold, half-dead soul of someone whose love for God has grown cold. It is like a Cathedral, in that it is a beautiful soul, a worthy place in which to welcome Christ in every Communion: a place in which the Holy Spirit can move freely, inspiring that person to offer sincere prayers, and to do good works.

In all sorts of buildings where people gather to worship with those of the same beliefs, there can be found aspects of truth; yet the Truth that God the Father wants everyone to know is that His Son has been sent into our world, as man, to save sinners and to bring us to Eternal Life. Only in one place - the Catholic Church - is the Truth shown out in its fullness, and the full means of Salvation given.

Everything that happens on earth has been planned, permitted or chosen by God. Yet God's gift to everyone in His plan of salvation, and to everyone on earth, is freedom. Whoever serves Him does so having freely chosen to do so. God coerces no-one, not even the Mother of His own Son, Jesus Christ. If we look past the figures of Christ and Our Lady, to whom we pray so often, and approach the Invisible Father, we can remember: a wise person is one who chooses Life.

Except in special circumstances, we can find that, if we open our hearts to God, even in difficulties which seem insufferable, we allow God to act in our lives and our souls, whether by unexpected changes, or simply by pouring upon us His comforting graces. As Jesus said: 'Come to Me if you are burdened, ...and I will give you rest'.

As we try to love God more and more, in a state of grace, we should be alert, and attentive, eager to please Him and serve Him well; yet we must not be made despondent by our tiny faults. In His sight, they are like tiny specks of dust on a polished table: insignificant, almost inevitable, and quite unable to diminish His love for us, in our loving union with Him.

God is pleased to see people welcome children, to see the love for life in the hearts of many people on earth; He is also pleased to see that some of the faithful even have a 'love for death', in the sense that they have banished their fears, by His grace, and even long to go through death, as through a doorway, in order to meet the Lord, when He calls them 'home'.

Each of us will appear one day, before the throne of God. The aim of family members should be to love God and one another, and to help one another to do good and to reach Heaven. If they have any other goals, they should be subordinate to the desire for holiness. Nothing should impede their progress towards Heaven.

No mother should fear for the future of her departed baby. God the Father loves every person He has created, including the very tiny and innocent infants who die unbaptised because they died through abortion, or miscarriage, or after birth but before Baptism could be administered - or when it was denied them by unbelieving parents. He cannot allow the innocent to suffer after death, for He is just; and so in some way they live eternally in His loving care: as if having fallen at death into a comfortable nursery cot.

No unbaptised baby will suffer after death. All the innocent babies who die by abortion, or in miscarriages, or in infancy, fall into the care of God. Though not praising God in glory with the Saints, they are held in God's love, in peace. It's as if they have fallen into a comfortable cot, held out in the loving hands of Jesus.

If we ask, God will rescue us wherther we are priests or laity. To live in alienation from God is like living, spiritually, in an Arctic world, cold and barren, swept away by icy winds, and not supportive of life. To choose to leave that world, by turning to God in trust and penitence is to find the road, that leads to Heaven: a road which is icy at first, but which leads to a warmer 'climate', and towards perfect union with God.

We should not forget our departed friends and relations. The Holy Souls in Purgatory are safe in God's care, as their purification prepares them for the glory of Heaven; yet they yearn to benefit from our intercessary prayers. They are helped to move closer to Heaven, by our prayers for their souls, as we pray in the name of Christ, Who wants everyone to act, to help them.

We need to refocus our thoughts: on Heaven! Someone sad can gain a new perspective, by looking at a traditional scene, and realising that he or she enjoyed many more happy Christmasses than sad ones. What counts is to realise that in every season we are deeply loved by God, as precious individuals whom He wants to bring to enjoy eternal joy with Him.

Really to love God is to prefer His Will to our ambitions. The Lord is glad to see a non-Catholic Christian come into full Communion with the Catholic Church. Yet from that 'spot' on the road there is a lengthy journey to be made, towards Heaven, and much to learn. Growth in faith, hope and love should be achieved, by God's grace, through prayer, spiritual reading, self-mastery, and acts of kindness, in humility, patience and trust.

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.

God never leaves us alone on earth in our sins and miseries. He is constantly pouring out His graces upon us, calling us to be washed clean, and find refreshment and peace; it's as if people in earthly life live in a dark cave, when living water pours from a giant funnel. Some people immerse themselves and are transformed, others choose to remain filthy and parched.

We are present at Mass to the one Sacrifice of Christ by which mankind was redeemed. This does not mean that everyone is saved. Christ died for all. Everyone is offered opportunities in life, by God, by which to benefit from the graces poured out for souls through Christ's self-giving love; but He sees how tragic it is, that so few of us believe in Him, and follow Him.

God our Father loves us. He hears us, every time we pray. As we 'hold up' before the Father, in the name of Christ, people who are dear to us, and people who are sick, bereaved, or suffering temptation or other trials, it's as if we are strolling round our neighbourhood, asking the Father to grant His peace, strength and joy first to one person then to another; and our prayers are worthwhile, whether or not we notice visible results.

A Catholic who can not be bothered to practice the faith has a soul so dead, perhaps, as to be almost lifeless - like the frozen landscape pictured here. Where can he go when he dies, except into the Abyss, if he has refused to acknowledge, honour or serve God and enjoy His friendship - if he has refused the help of the Holy Spirit, Who carries towards Heaven, after death, all who die 'in Christ': as friends of God?

God looks on us with gladness whenever we pray for victims of oppression, whether for people in danger of injustice or death for political or religious reasons. God sees those forgotten millions whose bodies are dumped in mass graves, just as He sees the tragic sight of abortion, by which millions of tiny babies have been killed in the wombs of their own mothers, usually at her request.