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What a comfort is our God! Even if we are being mercilessly treated, we know that God's love for us is so great that He came amongst us in the Person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who made Himself one will all who suffer. He was willing to live and die, as man, to fulfill the Father's plan of Salvation. He triumphed over sin and death; and we can triumph, too; if we live and die 'in' Christ.

When someone has proclaimed that he has no need of God, or doesn't believe in Him, and so endangers his own salvation, that person is in need of our intercessions. Through our prayers, and the graces won by Christ for us, a sinful person can be brought to repentance, unexpectedly - and a complete conversion will bring him to his knees, even feeling unworthy, at first, to face the God of Love.

God is enabled to act powerfully upon the earth, wherever people are willing to carry out His wishes, and so to fulfill His plan to lead us to holiness; yet His plans are delayed or stopped, on earth, where Catholics raise their voices, and challenge faithful Clergy members who are faithfully handing on the Faith in its fullness. Those who dissent on faith or morals undo God's work, unlike Catholics in the new Movements or Orders, or following in traditional ways, who persevere no matter what the cost.

There are Christians in other countries whose lives seem to be as desolate and hopeless as an icy, snow-covered field. Yet we can bring hope to them, open doors in their lives, and ease heavy burdens, by the intercessions we offer with confidence, to God our Father, in the name of Christ, His beloved Son.

Thousands of people flocked to see Jesus in Galilee, not only because He healed people; it was also because He was such a lovable person: wonderful to be near: helpful, kind and encouraging, as we can read in so many Gospel stories.

If we picture an underground car-park, after an earthquake, with its floor a mess of broken concrete, and people feeling really unsafe on the uneven floor, with little hope: it will be worse than that for all who have preyed on the poor and have committed every sort of evil, and who have not repented before they died. They will experience Eternal separation from God and from loving friends and relations.

Those who use their roles in Government to support injustice and sin will meet the same fate as those who commit it - unless these politicians repent before they die. They risk Eternal separation from God, than which nothing is more horrible; yet they themselves would be to blame.

All who do the Will of God will act justly. His Will has been made known fully through Jesus Christ Who was sent to us from Heaven. If we disobey the laws of God and the will of Christ in attempts to promote what we call 'justice' we in fact promote things that are unwise or unjust, even if doing so through ignorance or fear, for example, trying to cure poverty by offering abortions.

When a person convinces herself that she is justified in a course of action, freely deciding to disobey God's laws - especially His laws about married love, it's as if she slides away downhill, in a snowy landscape, so slippery as to be like a ski-slope. It is very hard for her to return to the heights of a state of grace after such a lapse in faith and morals. Indeed, it is impossible, without God's grace, and without a willingness to change.

We must take care not to halt the action of God in our lives. When a person refuses to do the plain Will of God, shown out in the constant teaching of the Church, it's as though she places a cloth on the ground, saying to God: 'This little enclave is yours. Don't come into my life any more. The rest of this area is mine". It is impossible for God to use people for great works who refuse to do the ordinary works.

Priests, especially, must not regret their state of life. We cannot avoid all suffering, in this life, but God can help us to bear it. No-one should envy people who have another vocation. Which is the greater sacrifice: doing without marriage, to become a priest, or suffering within a difficult marriage, to be faithful to the Lord's teaching? God the Father will reward all who make sacrifices for His sake, since He is just.

Our prayers 'in Christ' are very powerful! When we turn to a Blessed or a Saint in Heaven, asking for their intercessions, to help ourselves or other people, we can be sure that the Father hears their prayers whether we pray for a Bishop, a priest, a lay-person, or for departed souls. Grace is poured out upon souls, because of God's goodness, the merits of Christ, and our Faith.

God knows all our needs, fears, hopes and joys. God asks us to live in a beautiful relationship with Him, now that we have been reconciled. He asks us to entrust ourselves to Jesus as comfortably as a tiny child entrusts itself to a good mother, never doubting that she is there to feed, console, hold and nurture him.

God's entire nature is Love. He is never unloving. The Father wants us to entrust ourselves to His care as confidently as a tiny child who entrusts himself to the care of his good mother. He knows of our sufferings and problems; yet He can bring good out of evil, make the weak strong, and make us joyful, ready for the joy of Heaven.

Christ knows that a person whose love for Him is sincere, who recognises the wonderful graces given to him, and realises his privileged state as a sharer in Divine life, is truly grateful; and such gratitude expresses itself in praise and thanks, offered to God with outward as well as inward expressions of reverence. A person who acts in this way opens his heart to receive an even greater number of graces.

The Clergy sometimes, individually, make mistakes. We are right to respect the man and his office, and to accede to his wishes in the service of God, the Church and our neighbour. We should act with truth and charity towards him; but we are not obliged to believe the personal opinions he expresses if he is in error or offends against charity. A bishop in error confuses us by confusing two contradictory messages: his own, and also the one that he should embody as our Shepherd who guides, teaches and governs in the place of Christ.

Only by the grace of God can we persevere in grace. We should give thanks to God, and take no pride in our success, whenever we manage to endure a distressing or painful episode, or a time of persecution, without becoming resentful, envious, or full of self-pity or gloom. It is as though we have forded a dangerous river, with our soul held high above our head.

God wants us all to help one another, yet there are souls in the depths of Purgatory who have never been prayed for by their Protestant relations who do not believe either in Purgatory or in prayer for the deceased. But when we pray for the dead it's as if we let down a rope, to help people to rise up towards Heaven. We need to share reminders about the importance of such prayer.

The priest is the man at the heart of the process of conversion. He brings good news about God's love, and the forgiveness given to repentant sinners. He brings Jesus to us: in His Word, in the Real Presence of Christ at Mass and in the tabernacle. He organises Catechesis; and he preaches, offers the Holy Sacrifice, prepares us for death, guides and helps the bereaved - and the faithful priest will be marvelously rewarded, even in this life. His greatest friend is Jesus Christ.

Celibacy is about love: Love wants to give up everything for the Beloved; and, for the priest, the Beloved is the Father Who has called him and asked him to act as His Son.