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We are right to pray for prisoners, as we think of one needy group of people, then another, as we make our intercessions; yet the worst sort of 'captivity' is brought about by grave sin, when a person imprisons himself through freely deciding to do what is gravely sinful, or to neglect an important good. The good news is that, helped by Divine Grace, he can repent, and open the door of his 'prison', and set out on the path to Heaven.

Wise people look at human life from the perspective of Eternity. We are right to try to be free of our ailments and handicaps - which seem like a great 'cloud' above us - as we move through life, towards Eternity. But even people who are, for example, deaf, or have speech problems, should be confident about life. What is important is communion with God, Who can 'hear' a single thought. Our ailments need not stop us from being close to Him, until our lives end in His presence, where He welcomes His friends into His embrace, in perfect communion, for all Eternity, all 'clouds' dispersed.

It is a cause for concern, when someone is following the Way of Christ, and had seemed willing to continue, but keeps pausing, wasting time, as he puts off doing the good things that he needs to do, to be worthy to enter Heaven joyfully rather than have to suffer in Purgatory. The temptations which threaten to overcome us could lead to our falling into the Abyss, nearby, and rising Eternal Loss.

In every age, since the time of the Apostles, priests have faced opposition and persecution as they have gone about their work. It is important that they are faithful to preaching the truth - the Faith in its entirety - and faithful to the Mass. That is his task: to teach the faithful how to lead good lives and prepare for Heaven, and to feed the faithful with Jesus Christ's Sacred Body and Blood: to transform them.

If we are in need of purification in Purgatory, when we die, we should welcome it, because we would be unable to bear the sight of God's glory; so our purification can be seen as a sort of acclimatisation. When we are ready, we emerge, joyfully, longing to enter Heaven, just as a diver ends his slow acclimatisation by bursting joyfully though the surface of the water to be greeted by his friends.

If we could pierce the Heavens, we would still not 'understand' all about God. If we search the Sacred Scriptures, we can find out why Christ came to earth, but we cannot find out everything about the Mind of God in Eternity. He is far above us. We can draw reasonable conclusions about His plan, however. We need not say, 'Christ would have come to earth had man not sinned'. The freedom, through which man sinned, was always part of God's plan; so the sin was always foreseen.

It is important that we persevere in our intercessions for the needy. There are many people who have not yet accepted the truth about God's love for them, His desire to free them from their sins, and the need for repentance and prayer, so that they can share God's life, through Christ, and follow the sure Way to holiness and Heaven. Without the life of grace, within them, people are trapped in sin and ignorance, as if in semi-darkness, in an area of chaos and hopelessness, beneath a shining highway.

Satan is tireless in his efforts to corrupt and endanger God's friends. There is a holy Way on which we can walk: a way of light and peace, on which we can walk in the knowledge and love of God, confident that by His grace and mercy we are making our way towards Heaven. Yet we must be vigilant until the moment of death, determined not to allow Satan's tricks, or our own weaknesses and sinful instincts, to draw us off that road.

Wise people recognise the truth that there are three states of life, in relation to Eternity. There are people already on the Way to Heaven: the bright Way made by Christ; and His Church calls all people to walk along it. Other people are in a gloomy, rocky area, not yet having found Christ, or not yet having put their trust in Him. And here and there, another state is seen, as someone is sitting on the edge of the Way to Heaven, temporarily overcome by inertia or lack of hope.

All who persevere in love, and enter heaven, find that the blind, the lame, the deaf are healed. No-one suffers shame in Heaven. All are forgiven; and they are as joyful as carefree children. And no-one is sick or disabled. They might bear visible wounds, as Jesus does; but the formerly blind now see, the lame walk, the deaf hear; and everyone - the Blessed Trinity, and all the Saints, and all the Angels - is beautiful!

"Radiant Light" Images: These provide a sort of 'Catechism in pictures'. The purpose of 'Radiant Light' images is to cast light upon the teachings of the Catholic Church, to enable people of all places and backgrounds to see with clarity the most important truths of the Catholic Faith, to help them to enter or persevere on the one Way to Heaven, following our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We can picture Heaven as being like another country. Wise people who want to enter a new country have some humility, and are willing to allow their documents to be examined, to see if they are in order. We are foolish if we expect to drift into Heaven if we have made no preparations for our new way of life, have no humility, and rely only on God's kindness towards us, while forgetting His blazing holiness, that only the holy can understand!

People who want to enter a foreign country are foolish if they routinely make fun of its ruler, mock its laws, and make few preparations, whilst blithely expecting to enter, and find a warm welcome, when they feel like entering there. Heaven is reserved for those who are true friends of the King. Having enjoyed His friendship, those friends continue it in Heaven, unlike those who made no preparations.

We should rejoice, if we have the relics of a Saint amongst us. We should ask for the prayers of the Saints, and receive their wonderful help, which is God's help poured through them. No matter how little-known some are, each Saint is now glorious in Heaven, and is a powerful intercessor for members of the Church: for those of us on earth, and for those in Purgatory.

When we turn to our friends, the Saints, to request their prayers for ourselves and our intentions, it's as if the Saints lead by the hand the one who prays, to bring her closer to God. It has been the delight of Christians, since the earliest days of the Church, to know that those who have gone before them, to Heaven, are alive in Christ, and praying for them.

Only the holy can share God's holiness in Heaven, in perfect joy and peace. There are people who say - 'I'm not a bad person. I try to be good, but I don't need all that advice about prayer and Church-going'. They reveal the depth of their ignorance by such words, and on their state of soul. It's as if, within them, is a labyrinth of blocked passages and alley-ways: of unchristian attitudes, prejudices, unused spiritual faculties, a dark conscience locked in a cul-de-sac, and the gloom caused by Original Sin.

Some truths can scarcely by borne. It is tragic that a child in our world, who begins by trusting others, sometimes has that trust shattered - by family problems - or by war, when even children have ended a train journey in concentration camps. Despite these horrors, Christ asks us, who believe in Him, to trust Him, who is trustworthy. He asks us to be like little children, confident that He Who is good and loving, can help us to endure all trials, and eventually reach Heaven.

The Church in every age meets mockery and persecution; and she prays to Heaven for help and is always answered. God sends star-bursts of light, which are persons and movements which show out truth and love, renewing the Church, bringing new hope to the weak and consolation to the faithful.

God has asked us to become perfect, like Him; yet the journey to perfection can seem like a steep stairway, almost impossible for weak people to climb. Christ asks us to believe that, as long as we keep on climbing, with His help given through prayer and the sacraments, we shall find that He draws us up, towards that doorway which leads to Heaven, as soon as we are ready, and our work is done.

God gives us all sorts of help, in earthly life. When we turn to a favourite saint, to ask for his or her prayers, it's as though we have turned towards an elder brother or other relation about building a home, for example, if he were an architect. Christians are wise if they turn to the great experts in the Faith: the heroes and heroines who remained faithful and reached Heaven.