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Christ is Really Present in our church. He delights in our visits. When I was on retreat at Douai Abbey, Christ spoke to me, on Good Friday, about His delight that I had kept Him company in His Passion. He was even more pleased that I had offered my whole adult life to Him, for the doing of His Will; and so He gave me reassurance and comfort.
Through the free gift of Divine grace, all that Christ out God did for us in His earthly life has been given to the Church to dispense. It all stemmed from His being made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. As man, He preached the truth, suffered and died for our sins, rose up from the tomb, and by rising up to Heaven made a Way in which we can follow, by our union with Him in our Baptism: a union made stronger by prayer, sacraments, and good works.
The Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, became man, and bore suffering and death in order to fulfil His Mission, for our sakes. He knew He would rise from the dead; and by His Resurrection He proved that He has conquered death; and He can conquer our sins, if we put our trust in Him.
When we suffer heartache, in earthly life, because our own children are sad or in trouble, we do well to remember Our Lady, and the heartache she suffered: not just at her son's Passion, in Jerusalem, but earlier in Galilee, when she waved to Christ as He left her to set out at last on His adult Ministry.
By His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, Christ made a Way to Heaven. It's as if His head is in Heaven, as He speaks to the Father from our midst at every Mass, as a great mass of needy people encircles the altar on earth.
It is important that we give gentle answers to people who try to defend the practice of abortion. But we should point out the truth: that there is a remedy for mothers who have had abortions, if they are willing to repent and be forgiven. But there is no remedy for the dead babies, torn from the womb, to be thrown away.
It is important that we give gentle answers to people who try to defend the practice of abortion. But we should point out the truth: that there is a remedy for mothers who have had abortions, if they are willing to repent and be forgiven. But there is no remedy for the dead babies, torn from the womb, to be thrown away.
God rewards all who have done His Will. Just as the Father has compassion upon every innocent child who dies through abortion, so He has compassion on everyone who dies not by such deliberate acts, but by natural disasters, by floods, famine, hurricanes, tidal waves and earthquakes, for example. Each individual is precious to Him, and receives a just judgement at death.
God rewards all who have done His Will. Just as the Father has compassion upon every innocent child who dies through abortion, so He has compassion on everyone who dies not by such deliberate acts, but by natural disasters, by floods, famine, hurricanes, tidal waves and earthquakes, for example. Each individual is precious to Him, and receives a just judgement at death.
When abortion was always a crime in English law, it was sometimes judged compassionately by those who knew of a woman's difficult circumstances, yet it was true, all the same, that a death had occurred. It is an outrage, in God's sight, that some politicians today support the killing of unborn babies, and have made it easier to do, and are applauded for it.
The Lord wants to see a crucifix on every altar, large enough to serve as a reminder for everyone that they are present at a solemn, living memorial of His Sacred Passion and death. The Mass is therefore not an appropriate place for frivolity, pop music, dancing, or chatter, or anything else which would draw hearts and minds away from the awesome act which takes place.
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.
God our Father wants us to know that although He is holy, He is compassionate and understanding. If there are intensely shameful or embarrassing things in a person's life, that person should believe that nothing is too shameful to bring to God in prayer, in a search for help. Each of us should have faith in God's infinite love for us, which goes hand-in-hand with His desire to make us happy and holy.
God our Father wants us to know that although He is holy, He is compassionate and understanding. If there are intensely shameful or embarrassing things in a person's life, that person should believe that nothing is too shameful to bring to God in prayer, in a search for help. Each of us should have faith in God's infinite love for us, which goes hand-in-hand with His desire to make us happy and holy.
An honourable man is patient and compassionate. A person of honour is one who is kind, steadfast in doing good, with a love of justice and mercy, and a horror of violence, wrong doing and vengeful acts and attitudes. In the house of an honourable man there is no thought of acts of revenge being waged upon people judged to have brought disrepute upon the household.
Many politicians do not see how strange is their stance on life. They claim to be compassionate persons who want to save lives, in countries blighted by war, poverty and earthquakes; meanwhile, in their own countries and elsewhere, they build or allow a conveyor-belt of procedures by which unborn babies - live human beings - can be slaughtered just because they are unwanted by their mothers.
Pontius Pilate said, of Jesus: "I find no fault with Him". Yet he gave Him to be scourged and killed, to satisfy the clamour of the crowd. That is what is done today, as politicians allow innocent, unborn babies to be slaughtered in the womb, to satisfy the clamour of people who don't want their own children.
If we accept unavoidable sufferings with patience, from love for Christ, and offer them as a penance for sinners' conversions, in union with Christ, like Christ, it's as if we help Him to carry His Cross. We give evidence that His Passion was not wasted on us, but that we have accepted His graces and long for salvation for ourselves and others.
God the Father looks from Heaven upon our lives. He sees that men who injure women, or women who abort their babies, are, in effect, crucifying Christ, because whoever engages in evils such as sadism or killing, is placing himself or herself on the side of Satan, who does not want us to act with love and compassion, and tried to overcome Christ.
Christ invites us to reflect on this question: How would we have treated Him, had we met Him when He was a child, or a Preacher, or a condemned criminal? Our attitude to people today in such categories is a fair indication of the stance we might have had towards Him. Do we dismiss children, including the unborn, or mock preachers, or despise criminals?
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