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If we hope to be saved, the importance of Baptism cannot be exaggerated. It is the means chosen by God by which a person's state becomes glorious. Sin is banished, and Divine Life is given, life which enables that person to live in union with God, and in the hope of attaining Heaven, by the grace of Christ.
Whoever praises the Father in Christ's name, in the Spirit, is united with Christ and with all the saints who worship in Heaven.
Whenever souls encourage one another in holiness they help one another to rise up in prayer towards Heaven: freed from fear, doubt or hesitation.
I must descend a 'stairway' from the heights of prayer, to re-enter ordinary life; yet in Heaven, there will be unending celebration.
It is love for God that 'counts' in prayer. Someone who gives his entire attention to God in love and reverence might find himself rising to the 'heights' with no effort, as if on a magic carpet - unlike those who try to storm Heaven with loud demands. The Saints lean down, to encourage us all to approach God with patience and humility.
As a seagull soars effortlessly on high, resting on the winds as it gazes all around, so the soul can soar effortlessly in prayer, 'resting' on the Spirit's power, gazing towards Heaven, towards the invisible Father Whose touch is felt, but Who cannot yet be seen.
If we are one with Christ in the Mass in the living memorial of the Sacrifice of the Cross, we are one with Christ in His Eternal self-offering in the inner life of the Blessed Trinity. That is why the Holy Eucharist is a pledge of future glory as well as a sacrifice for sin. To belong to Christ and to receive Him in Holy Communion is a foretaste of the union and communion that we can enjoy for all Eternity if we remains faithful.
If we are one with Christ in the Mass in the living memorial of the Sacrifice of the Cross, we are one with Christ in His Eternal self-offering in the inner life of the Blessed Trinity. That is why the Holy Eucharist is a pledge of future glory as well as a sacrifice for sin. To belong to Christ and to receive Him in Holy Communion is a foretaste of the union and communion that we can enjoy for all Eternity if we remains faithful.
Some people do not believe in the 'bridge to Heaven', which is Christ; or they allow themselves to be carried away by the crowd to follow another, Godless way of life. At death, suddenly arriving at the Abyss, and nowhere near the 'bridge', they plunge to their doom. Nothing can stop them from falling. They have nothing to hold onto.
The Christ we meet in Holy Communion is as if at the 'doorway' of three areas. He is the point at which His friends of earth, Purgatory and Heaven meet. We on earth are close to Him, but not yet wholly secure; the Holy Souls are safe forever, but cannot yet 'hold' Him; the Saints share His glory, and can never lose Him.
Our Blessed Lady was with me, with her Son, offering an Easter greeting. They were both delighted by my joy at seeing them, and my joy at knowing they are happy in Heaven.
If we live 'in Christ', we are enfolded in His Spirit as if in a candle-flame, and rise to the edge of Heaven, to Christ, and the invisible Father, through the Spirit's light and power.
Every time we pray the "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord" we join our voices with the saints and Angels who offer the same praise in Heaven.
Every time we pray the "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord" we join our voices with the saints and Angels who offer the same praise in Heaven.
At the 'Edge' of Heaven: I saw that Christ and His mother, with all the saints and angels, crowded forward to congratulate our priest.
What does the 'eternity' of hell or heaven mean? It means 'captured unchangeably', whether in selfishness or a state of grace; either being held eternally without God, by the free choices of an individual soul, or being held forever in friendship with God, to the degree to which the soul enjoyed at the moment of death. As a fly, suddenly imprisoned by a drop of amber, is held 'forever' in the state it was in when the liquid fell upon it, so the soul retains forever its state at the moment of death - even though those held in God's friendship can undergo some purification.
It seems to some people that the pathways they personally carve in the rocky walls of their lives can lead to God. Though we can admire the little gems of 'insight' they find embedded in the walls, we have been shown by God that Christ's Way is the only true way to Heaven. He who came from Heaven to earth knows the Way back; and we must help other people to find it.
It seems to some people that the pathways they personally carve in the rocky walls of their lives can lead to God. Though we can admire the little gems of 'insight' they find embedded in the walls, we have been shown by God that Christ's Way is the only true way to Heaven. He who came from Heaven to earth knows the Way back; and we must help other people to find it.
When Christ was hanging on the Cross in torment He was aware of all human tragedies from the beginning to the end of life - including the sufferings of those on 9/11. God does not look on impassively as mankind suffers; on the contrary, the Son of God came down to earth to share our sufferings, even to die. When Christ rose from the dead, He made a way to Heaven for all who would follow Him.
When Christ was hanging on the Cross in torment He was aware of all human tragedies from the beginning to the end of life - including the sufferings of those on 9/11. God does not look on impassively as mankind suffers; on the contrary, the Son of God came down to earth to share our sufferings, even to die. When Christ rose from the dead, He made a way to Heaven for all who would follow Him.
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