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A priest deserves honour in the Church. It is the Will of Christ that we treat with special devotion and respect those 'other Christs' in our midst, who remain worthy of honour even if sick, disabled or old. Christ has chosen them for their elevated state, which is recognised even by the Angels.

A sure proof of devotion to God and the Saints is the keeping of a calendar or diary of the Church's year, when a Catholic looks up the feasts and seasons, prepares for them, and prays sincere and appropriate prayers.

The Lord wants us to remember, when we speak to God to thank Him for the Saints, or when we ask them for their prayers, that they are real people, alive in Heaven, close by. We can count on their help. They love us, and delight in our devotion, and in our humble requests for their prayers.

Christ asked me to paint a picture of what it is like to be welcomed and hugged by Him, in a spiritual Communion, when I am aware of my weakness but put my trust in Him. There is no-one more compassionate to sick people, no-one more grateful that we honour Him by our love and devotion.

If we wish we could give to a beloved relation all the wisdom and goodness that we have received from God in a life-time, the best means is by encouraging them to receive Christ with devotion in Holy Communion. In Christ is His Divinity, wisdom, power, beauty, and goodness: more than enough to fill our hearts, if we open our hearts fully to receive Him.

God is loving, pure and wise; therefore God chooses, for intimate friendship, a person who loves Him and is reverent, prayerful, humble and obedient. That obedience includes loving his neighbour, and the Church. God cannot bring into close union with Himself those who hate fellow creatures, or believe Jesus was a liar, or hide away in sin, or despise the Church, or are self-important, or pray with little reverence, or despise popular devotions that lead people closer to Heaven, including honour to the Blessed Sacrament, and to the Virgin Mary and other Saints.

When we pause to pray by a statue of our Blessed Lady we are addressing the real person whom the statue represents. Our Lady is in Heaven, her arms out to welcome us in prayer. She is our Mother, who loves to see us confide in her, and show love for her.

It saddens Christ when Catholics pour scorn on Traditional prayers and devotions, or on those traditional clothes worn by the Clergy in honour of the Sacred vocation they have as Ministers of the altar and members of the Hierarchy.

It is a sad thing for the faithful, the Lord explained, when a church is built which has few indications that it is a House of prayer, and where there are few of the signs and symbols which have marked our Catholic devotions, buildings and practices since the early days of Church life; and in a place that looks like a grubby stadium people behave as if in a stadium, instead of with reverent silence before Christ our God.

Almighty God wants us to honour Christ's Mother Mary. Our Blessed Lady's soul was adorned with such sublime virtues, at her Immaculate Conception, that only her son, later on, surpassed her in His soul's beauty. She deserves to be honoured by our adorning her statues, with decorations worthy of a Queen, and crowning them, and in other ways.

We should honour Our Lady, and have confidence in her prayers. No-one's prayers are more powerful - except her Son's - than those of the Immaculate Mother of God. What millions have believed is indeed true, that just as an earthly king refuses nothing to his beloved mother, so Christ our King can refuse nothing His Mother asks. We are not wrong to pray by statues of Our Lady, which help us to fix our minds on her who lives in Heaven.

The closer is our union with Christ, in prayer and in everyday life, the greater is our understanding of Sacred Scripture. It can seem as if, by reading the Gospels, we are given a glimpse into Christ's life, Christ's mind, and Christ's purposes; and we seem to be brought even closer to Him by our act of reading with devotion.

Each priest should be Eucharist-centered. The Mass and Holy Communion, and Christ's Real, sacramental Presence, should be at the heart of each priest's reflection, his words, his devotional life, and the catechesis he offers to his flock. He will arrange regular Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

It can be helpful to turn from habitual prayers to a Litany, or to Sacred Scripture. If our routine prayers are disturbed by assaults from the evil one, or unwanted images, temptations or suggestions, we can change our plans - not by, abandoning prayer, but by praying in another way, so that his plans are confounded; and we shall still give glory to God, and benefit our own souls and those of other people, as we remain in the 'bright cloud' which is God, our hearts full of love for Him.

Our spiritual lives should be balanced, as we follow Christ. There are people who love to be busy with works of practical charity, yet who sit in judgement on people who show devotion to Christ and His Mother, and label them as 'Holy Joes'. The First Commandment is to love God, so a busy person who is kind but does not pray is failing in love; however, every prayerful person should desire, out of love for God, to keep the Second Commandment, and to love his neighbour. It is wrong to neglect prayer, or works of charity.

While there is admirable catechesis given by certain institutes, groups and movements, there is a version of the Faith being handed on today, in many parishes, which has been distorted by people unknowingly influenced by Satan. It is in his interests to discourage use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, cast doubt on her moral teachings, poke fun at the Tradition, and traditional devotions - including Jesus' Real Presence. People who accept this version are led dangerously close to the Abyss which separates earth from Heaven.

While there is admirable catechesis given by certain institutes, groups and movements, there is a version of the Faith being handed on today, in many parishes, which has been distorted by people unknowingly influenced by Satan. It is in his interests to discourage use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, cast doubt on her moral teachings, poke fun at the Tradition, and traditional devotions - including Jesus' Real Presence. People who accept this version are led dangerously close to the Abyss which separates earth from Heaven.

There is a distorted or truncated version of the Catholic Faith which is widely taught today. It is the evil one who wants people to hear that they can disregard the sure teachings of the Church on sexual morality, neglect her devotions, down-play reverence towards the Holy Eucharist, ignore Christ's ever-Virgin Mother, and look upon the Pope as having no authority unless each of his acts delights all of the Bishops.

This is what happens when the Faith is not preached in its fullness. A Bishop who has not preached about sin and repentance, Heaven and Hell, but more about self-esteem and trivial matters, will find himself in a Church which appears to be in decline, with fewer priests, fewer devotions, a faithless laity, few signs of hope, and bored school-children. The great drama of salvation, and the Real Presence of Jesus, should be preached with fervour.

When a Catholic church is designed not to be the threshold of Heaven, for a holy people, who adore Christ Really Present in His Divine Glory, but as an architectural gem, of beautiful proportions but with no sign or symbol of Christian faith, it is unworthy of the name "House of God". The Faithful deserve to see reminders of the crucified Saviour and of His ever-virgin mother, and of the Angels, the glory of Heaven, and the Communion of Saints.