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We ought to prepare for a 'good death'. A soul in danger can be saved, by faith and the sacraments - whether little known people or Popes.
It is strange that when so many children are given patient instruction on matters such as re-cycling, or taking exercise, there is a great silence on far more important matters, such as chastity, honesty, love for others and reverence for God - without which we endanger our very souls.
It is strange that when so many children are given patient instruction on matters such as re-cycling, or taking exercise, there is a great silence on far more important matters, such as chastity, honesty, love for others and reverence for God - without which we endanger our very souls.
It is strange that when so many children are given patient instruction on matters such as re-cycling, or taking exercise, there is a great silence on far more important matters, such as chastity, honesty, love for others and reverence for God - without which we endanger our very souls.
Christ asks us to speak out not just about the immoral causes of poverty, but about all sorts of sexual immorality, that endanger souls.
A dense cloud seems to cover those parts of the earth where there is war, which cuts off many people from God. Wherever there is conflict there is danger for souls as well as bodies. Except amongst those who stay close to God, there is immorality or hatred or revenge or other evils being worked bodily or within souls.
War can endanger or corrupt the fighters. It can even endanger the souls of the injured innocent by making them bitter or full of hate. What sort of preparation for Heaven is armed struggle and all the evils that cause war to flourish?
It is a dangerous thing for someone to be so unwilling to leave his own interests or obsessions that he is prepared to ignore the cries of someone in distress or desperate need.
A soul who is absorbed in itself, devoid of warmth towards its fellow creatures, is in a dangerous state. It resembles the frozen wastes of the Arctic, where there is little life or joy or hope.
By a sincere prayer for help, a person can receive from God enough grace to be able to turn round, move away from spiritual danger, and climb up high, to rejoin the narrow way that leads to light, which is life in Christ.
To move carelessly into serious sin is to be in danger of being cut off from God forever. It's like when a diver in a flooded cave keeps moving into the next cave, without a guideline. Catholics are wise if they rely on sure doctrine and regular prayer.
It is worthwhile to persist in prayer for people in need, or in great trouble, and to pray even when there seem to be few results and little help. By prayer, a fervent soul can stop another from committing worse sins. By prayer, we can even prevent dying souls from falling into Hell.
In intercession, it is as if God allows one person to descend on a rope to rescue another person who is stranded in a deep shaft underground. Both are dependent on God, but the one praying is in touch with God and the one waiting to be rescued is on a broken ladder, with no way 'up'.
In intercession, it is as if God allows one person to descend on a rope to rescue another person who is stranded in a deep shaft underground. Both are dependent on God, but the one praying is in touch with God and the one waiting to be rescued is on a broken ladder, with no way 'up'.
When someone perseveres in intercession for a person in danger, it's as if someone allows herself to be suspended on a rope and lowered into a mineshaft, to rescue someone trapped on a broken ladder with no way up and only danger below. The 'rescuer' has to be supported from above; but she can invite the endangered person to hold on, and to be brought up high, to light and safety.
To commit grievous sin is like climbing down towards Hell, where the suffering of unrepentant sinners is so great that it can be pictured as 'fire', in which the demons wait for new victims to torment.
There are people today who wrongly say "No, there's no Hell" - thus contradicting Christ. They are unaware that the entrance to Hell is very close to them - ready to receive all who carelessly or passionately embrace evil, and who at death are still apart from God.
If we refuse to follow the teachings of Christ and His Church, and lead immoral lives, we are like people who ignore a 'danger' sign and walk across a road where there is severe subsidence. They will risk losing limb or life. We risk our eternal life with God.
If we refuse to follow the teachings of Christ and His Church, and lead immoral lives, we are like people who ignore a 'danger' sign and walk across a road where there is severe subsidence. They will risk losing limb or life. We risk our eternal life with God.
We are right to speak of 'falling' into sin, or of the danger of falling 'down' into Hell. Just as we are deeply saddened when earthly lives end in tragedy, so we should be saddened even more by the results sin can bring us, in the 'pit' of damnation.
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