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When we die, and enter God's presence - if we have not immediately hurled ourselves away from the God we hate, into Hell - we shall hear Him say to us, gently: "What have you done with your life, my child?" How happy we shall be if we have loved and served Him and our neighbour; but how sad, if we had been solely in search of pleasure, or preoccupied by trivia.

A wise person tries to lead a life worthy of Heaven, and so is already living in God's glorious light, when at death, she is called to step forward into Heaven. People who are trapped in mortal sin, by their own free choices, are as if held in a deep pit, in this life. If they do not repent before they die, they will be in that pit at death, unable to enter Heaven, separated from God for all Eternity, by their own fault.

When we die, perhaps unexpectedly, a person is in one of three states: either standing in the Light of God, ready to enter Heaven, or still at the foot of the stairway to Heaven, so that our Purgatory will consist of necessary purification, or else still trapped, by our free choice, in a grossly selfish way of life: trapped in unrepented sin, unable to enter Heaven, and therefore in Hell for all Eternity.

A person who is in mortal sin who not only disobeys God's Commandments but deliberately leaves the Church is like a man on a narrow ladder, in a mine-shaft, above a fiery pit, who deliberately cuts the safety-rope that God had put around him to save him from falling into the flames.

The Lord explained about a further image of Hell, where people are trapped as a result of their own free choices, if they have not repented before they die. He said that very few people preach today about Hell; but if more will speak of it, a greater number of sinners can be helped to repent, and be saved.

To meet Christ at death whilst in a state of grace is to be wearing the wedding garment necessary for Heaven, even if it is stained, and must be washed clean in Purgatory. Good people who have never known Christ meet Him at the edge of Heaven; some greet Him gladly, when told He is the Saviour of the world and so receive a white garment. Others refuse to accept Him, and condemn themselves, and cannot therefore enter Heaven.

It is a tragedy when people die suddenly, especially if they are unprepared or trapped in mortal sin. Each is catapulted into the presence of the Creator, and is carried towards Heaven, if in a state of grace, possessed by the Holy Spirit, or else falls into Hell. We should all give up our sins, and love God, and show love for Him and our neighbour.

It is tragic that so many people are trapped underground in natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes; yet the worst disaster is to become trapped in the deep caverns of Hell, for Eternity, as are all who do not reach out to help the young and needy but rather prey on them: by child abuse, abortion, sex trafficking, pornographers, people who enjoy sadistic pornography, and others - if these sinners do not repent before they die.

It is important to treat the dead with respect. Yet, no matter what type of death people die, no matter in what way they will be mourned, what counts, when they die, is whether they did so in friendship with God - which means they are on their way to God - or alienated from Him, forever to be without His love and beauty and peace. We all ought to prepare to leave this life.

God invites us to love Him, to follow the hard road of obedience until we die, and share His love, with the Saints, eternally. People who refuse to love God and who deliberately take the broad road, refusing to repent of their sins, find that at death, by their own choice, they remain on the same path, on which there is no light from Heaven, nor any Heavenly peace, joy, beauty or companionship. To be without God is to exist in Hell.

In a story, a kind king told His children that He would give them every advantage, and make them very happy, but they must learn to take responsibility for their behaviour. He said: When you are grown-up, and if you deliberately do grave wrong, you will go to prison. They all agreed that the king's words are wise and just. And so it is, with the warnings given to us by Jesus Christ our God and King, about persistant grave sin, and Hell.

The path of love for Christ, and obedience, leads straight towards Heaven, for the faithful. Those Catholics who are disobedient or faithless take a dark, downward path. There can be an opportunity, before death, for repentance, at which the soul can be drawn up towards Heaven's light instead of falling down into Hell.

Christ is overjoyed by those who love and obey Him. One of the worst experiences of Christ's Passion, as He hung on the Cross, was the sight He saw - by His Divine insight - of those who would take no notice of His words, or of His desire to save them. His heartache was indescribable, as He saw souls walking away, towards damnation, through their own choices.

Some people who fly up to Heaven when they die can see how narrowly they missed Hell. We need to think about our current behaviour.

Some people are catapulted into Hell, at death, having turned away from God and having refused to repent. Other people, not yet perfect, but sincerely loving God, are swept by a tide of Divine grace towards the safety of Purgatory where they can be purified and prepared for Heaven.

A teacher or theologian who freely fixes a curtain between herself and the Papacy, so that she need not put into practice the constant teaching of the Church, will be in danger, when called home to God at death. She will be entangled in the 'curtain' of dissent and heresy which she herself erected, and will risk being unable to rise up to glory, and risk going down to Hell.

God is a spiritual fire of love, and all who have become like living flames of love, in earthly life, transformed by God at their consent through prayer and penance, can enter God in peace when they die, because they are like Him. Those who have refused to be changed, are so unlike Him that His nearness brings only torment. Having finally turned away from God they suffer forever, in Hell.

When we expand our prayers for people on Earth, and pray for people now in Purgatory, we can look upon the Holy Souls as blessed souls; for despite the sufferings of their purification they are glad to have avoided Hell - which has engulfed so many careless sinners.

We are right to pray for people in need: our neighbours, and the Holy Souls in Purgatory who have avoided Hell - and people all over the world, who live in the darkness of superstition, unbelief and atheism, and who are at risk of ending in Hell, unless they repent and change.

It is a terrible sight for Christ to see, from Heaven, as people walk resolutely towards the flames of Hell: people who have refused to listen to His wise words about repentance and transformation: people who will be separated from Him eternally, through their own fault, if they do not repent of their sins before they die.