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If we want to be adorned by gifts which will make us beautiful and pleasant to look upon, there are no 'jewels' more beautiful than those given by God. To posses love for God, and a kind heart, is to be beautiful in the sight of Heaven.
Every priest needs a charitable heart. God the Father, like Jesus, knows what a man is like. He sees each man's soul and personality, gifts and background and attitudes. He calls to the Sacred Priesthood only men who are suitable for that special vocation.
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.
To arrive in God's presence, at death, without being clothed in the life of grace, is like arriving on earth at a wedding, in a naked state, having to endure the embarrassment, and the embarrassed gaze of fellow-guests. We need to prepare our 'wedding garment' for Heaven, by our holiness of life and love for Christ.
The journey to union with God is only a slow journey, if a person is half-hearted in serving Him and fearful of His demands. The one who surrenders completely to God by obedience to Him in everyday life makes swift progress in prayer, as if travelling in a fast vehicle, not on foot.
Whole societies allow the barbarity of abortion to continue, because it is hidden away in clinics and hospitals, behind smart facades and smiling faces; but the truth is that from those smart places leaves a pile of small, dead bodies - in whatever way they are disposed of.
When an employer pays himself an outrageously large salary whilst leaving his workers struggling to pay for their own basic food and clothing, he is treating them unjustly. It's as if he is stepping over an employee as one steps over a mere obstacle, in order to achieve his ambitions and goals.
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.
Christ assured me that if I made a hat to wear to my grandson's Baptism I would honour Christ by obediently covering my hair in church, honour the occasion by special dress, and honour my husband by looking so smart!
The whole purpose of life on earth is to love and serve God our Creator, before sharing His life in Eternity. Which of two women does the Will of God? One who cherished the child she conceived, given life by God, or the one who disposes of her own infant, refusing to let it live? To kill a baby, whether after its birth, or in a clinic before its birth, is to act against God and His Will.
It is a tragedy, that the legislation of abortion has led to an ever-dimishing sense of responsibility, amongst young people, for their behaviour. A woman can assure a man: "If I forget to take my pill, I can always have an abortion" - and so sex is seen merely as a leisure activity, and not as the intimacy at the heart of marriage.
What the Lord sees, amidst the muddle of a sewing kit, or the tools of a well-loved trade, are an enthusiasm for life, a delight in the skills He gives us, and a desire to enhance our lives on earth as sociable, being willing to work, to make efforts to improve matters or to create beautiful garments or objects.
From the heart of the Godhead, from the Three Divine Persons, light and grace fall upon a little child below. This is an image of the power of Baptism. The new life given from God in this holy sacrament is a share in the life of God - and a promise of Heaven for those who remain faithful. This is the greatest gift, after life itself. The Three Divine Persons now dwell within the soul of the Baptised.
Millions of babies have been killed in the womb, and have been denied not only life on earth but also Baptism. They do not become saints in glory, but they are in God's care - as if tiny clouds which float peacefully in front of heaven.
The Lord said that of all the millions of souls created, only a few love and serve Him, and persevere to the end, proving worthy of the gift of Heaven. Babies who are aborted not only lose their lives on earth, but lose any possibility of Baptism, through which people inherit Heaven. Deliberately to deny a baby the possibility of birth and Baptism is a terrible thing for sinner and victim, and dreadful in God's sight, Who gives the gift of life.
A Woman who chooses to have a direct abortion denies earthly life to the child in her womb; yet what many forget, or do not realise, is that she denies Baptism for the child, and so deprives the infant of the Beatific vision in Heaven - although we can be certain that the tiny innocent soul is in God's merciful care.
This image of a baby is a gift from Christ, as a reminder that human life is a gift from God. Each person conceived is a unique and precious human being: precious in God's sight - and meant to be cherished by those on earth who are his parents.
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 a great natural disaster strikes, people are suddenly taken from what was preoccupying their heart, mind and efforts. They will be judged by God, who sees who was occupied with ordinary duties, who was planning an adulterous affair, for example, or who was cooking a meal and whether she was holy or in a state of mortal sin. How blessed are those who are ready to die at any moment.
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