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The Church hands on the message of Jesus Christ. People who ignore God, and hate the Church or her teachings are seen by Christ as living in a degree of spiritual darkness, even if they were not told good things about the Catholic Faith when they were young. And no-one can enter Heaven without having shown some degree of humility and penitence before God. That is why we, today, should proclaim the message of St. Peter: "Repent - that your sins may be blotted out". Unbelievers, and proud people, cannot enter.

Whenever we offer up our sufferings, willingly accepting them in union with Christ in His Passion, we can know that we win graces for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, or for people on earth who are trapped in sin. We enable someone, somewhere, to leave gloom behind and to move towards the light of Heaven. We do their penance, for them.

We cannot carry our baggage into Heaven. We can only carry a charitable heart, and a pure mind full of pure thoughts, and pure intentions in everything, out of love for God. If we have sins, or ambitions, or grudges, or wounds unforgiven, or feuds, or hearts full of anger or self-pity, it will be, at death, as though we are trying to 'check in'; but we are being asked to surrender all we own, before our 'flight' to Heaven, with the Holy Spirit.

By our own freely-made choices, we alter our destiny. Those who persist in selfishness and sin, despite the help given by God to reflect upon their lives, and to turn to Him in contrition and trust, will find themselves led, at death, into total alienation and spiritual hopelessness, as if through a dark doorway, unlike those who have persevered in faith and love, and who are raised up in the glorious life of Heaven, to share the joy of the Saints, forever.

The Lord has a question for us. He invites us to look at a picture of the Saints who are gazing towards Christ in awe, love and adoration; and the Lord asks us: 'Are you ready to join them?' - by which He means: 'Have you been reconciled? Have you decided to lead a life of purity, holiness and charity?'

A person who cannot love his own family is unlikely to love others, and is more likely to refuse to join the Church than to make a humble request to be received - and he is less likely to enter Heaven in the end, unless he changes. This is one of the reasons why the family is so important. It should be a training-ground in virtue as well as a home.

There is a horrible surprise in store for a person who has deserted Christ and the Church, and who arrives at the moment of death, then finds himself helpless between the Evil One who had been leading him astray, and the pit into which he might soon fall, to remain there forever. But Christ appears, with a merciful face, to ask: 'Is that really your wish: to go to Hell? If you reach up your arms to me, I will save you.' He must choose well, and reach up in humility, if he wishes to reach Heaven one day.

We should follow Christ through the 'narrow gate' that leads to Heaven, and avoid the darkness of sin and discouragement

Any priest or bishop who makes compromises in his teaching or example, to fit into society, is as if living in semi-darkness; and to die in that state is to be far from the 'ladder' which represents a swift ascent to Heaven for those who have lived in the light.

At Pentecost, the Blessed Virgin Mary completely surrendered yet again to the light and power of the Holy Spirit as they poured down upon her from Heaven. She had followed the Spirit's guidance for the whole of her life, and that is what the Spirit asks us to do, and to do so by following all that He teaches and advises us through the Church, and in our individual vocations.

The prayer that is offered with real faith in Jesus' name goes swift as an arrow to Heaven, whereas the prayer offered in half-belief is like a little flame of hope that is swiftly extinguished by a new, doubting thought, then is set alight again by an influx of faith, but not yet strong enough to reach Heaven.

Each of us needs to remember that we shall one day die. Shall we go to the grave in the love of God, confident that He will rescue us, and bring us up to Heaven, or shall we die when we have, at some stage of life earlier, cut ourselves off from Him? By our decisions and our behaviour today, each of us is making our way towards Heaven or towards Hell.

If we are serious about wanting to avoid serious sin, we should act firmly, to avoid occasions of sin. Just as a sailor makes sure he keeps away from the currents that could draw him towards a whirlpool, where he would be sucked down and lost, so people attracted to evil images should avoid television and the internet, or be very careful, if they long to watch pornography, or love to watch violent films. Are we drawn towards Heaven or Hell by all we allow to influence us?

All Christians should recognise the power of Christian prayer. To pray 'in the name of Jesus' - or 'through Christ our Lord' - is to pray with faith in our union with our one and only Saviour: the God-man Who sacrificed His life for us, but conquered death and sin by His death and R+D5182esurrection. It is also to pray with faith in His prayer, Who perpetually intercedes for us with our Heavenly Father. It's as if all the people, projects and situations I pray about, or intercede for, are swept up in one great prayer from my heart to Heaven, in the power of the Holy Spirit: Spirit of Jesus.

Through the goodness of God the Father and the merits of His Son, our Lord, we can help the Holy Souls by our prayers, including those who usually have no-one to pray for them. We can help them towards Heaven, where they are greeted, and welcomed into glory, to join the Saints at God's Heart. It was with a similar welcome that Christ greeted the Saintly Souls, such as prophets and patriarchs, in the underworld, after His death and before His Resurrection; and He told them that their long wait was nearly over.

The Blessed Virgin sacrificed her life, to give the world its Saviour. The Church has issued formal declarations in modern times of what she has long believed about Our Blessed Lady: about her purity (The Immaculate Conception) and her triumph (Her Assumption, body and soul, into Heaven); yet Christ wants to see honour paid to her courage and love, through a formal definition of her titles, proclaiming her, 'Co-Redemptrix', and, 'Mediatrix of all Graces'.

Are we ready for Heaven, if God calls us now? We are wise if we sometimes think about the moment of our death. When we arrive before the Father's throne, and hear His loving voice, will He be leaning forward, asking, 'Is there anything you've forgotten, my child?' He will mean: Is there unconfessed sin that we regret, or good deeds left undone?

Until we are safely in Heaven, by God's grace and mercy, we must remain vigilant. Our enemy, the devil, prowls around like a hungry lion, seeking someone to devour, which means, he wants to draw us into Hell. We must pray and strive to avoid all evil, and to do only good, in union with Christ.

As if throwing precious cargo into the sea, there are non-Catholic Christians who delight in discarding long-standing Christian beliefs because they want to fit in with popular culture, mistakenly supposing that they will draw people to Christ. It is a dreadful thing, in Heaven's sight, that prominent Christians, through the desire to be 'modern', can encourage others to ignore God's laws about sexuality, marriage, and other tremendously important matters to do with salvation.

Christ wants His faithful people to realise the truth: that all their efforts to serve Him and to pray for others are immensely worthwhile. Even when it seems as if there will always be another hill to climb on the Holy Mountain, we are doing great things for God and other people by our penances and intercessions. It's as if we are hauling a trolley-full of needy people towards Heaven.