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God wants us to be at peace in our souls and minds. When our lists of things to do become so large that we seem to have a dark cloud over us, crushing our joy, it is time to shorten the list: to work out what is essential, and to do some of the rest when it is possible later on.

When we greet Christ carelessly in Holy Communion we treat Him, our God, with a dreadful lack of respect, even worse than when people show disrespect towards a Monarch in earthly life by casual or rude behaviour. Our God, coming to our hearts, deserves to be greeted with humility, reverence, joy and gratitude.

There are good people of other religions who have never heard of Christ, or learned of His true nature. When they die, it's as if they will be shown that only through His mercy can they cross the bridge He has made, which takes people from earthly life, across the Abyss to Heaven. Those who see and accept him will be saved.

We can picture Christ in His earthly life as He prays to His Father: "I want men who will act for me" - as He thinks about His future Church; and the Father tells Him: "Choose men. Anoint them. Set them apart. Let them look to me every day, as you do, as intercessors and mediators for sinners, opening the way to Heaven. They will offer your Sacrifice through all the ages, until you come back to Your People on earth.

Mother Teresa, and Pope John Paul II, each suffered greatly in earthly life, but did so without grumbling; rather, they accepted and offered up their pains in union with Christ, to save souls and to help the Church; and, through their faith in Christ, and His grace, they are now being embraced by Him in Heaven. They are immensely joyful.

The life we lead on earth must inevitably lead to either Heaven and Hell (even if to Heaven via Purgatory). Those who love Christ, and persevere in charity and purity in earthly life, will enjoy Eternal life in even greater charity and peace, with Christ. People who seethe with hatred, ambition or resentment, in this life, and persist in their selfish ambitions, will find themselves in Hell with others who are self-centered and lack love for Christ.

There is no end to the caverns and canyons of Hell, where unrepentant sinners go, to find themselves being tormented by the demons whose advice they have followed in earthly life instead of following God's laws.

The souls in Purgatory are faithful people, some of whom are still marred by attitudes unworthy of Heaven - hence the need for the purification wrought in each person by the Holy Spirit. No-one can enter Heaven unless full of gratitude, joy and humility. No-one can go in, still thinking, about his health in earthly life, or other matters: "Why should I be treated like this? I deserve better".

The souls in Purgatory are faithful people, some of whom are still marred by attitudes unworthy of Heaven - hence the need for the purification wrought in each person by the Holy Spirit. No-one can enter Heaven unless full of gratitude, joy and humility. No-one can go in, still thinking, about his health in earthly life, or other matters: "Why should I be treated like this? I deserve better".

We should not expect people to reward us for our charity. God will. Christ asks us to show love to everyone, like Him: unconditional love. This does not mean that we cannot make prudent divisions about who has first place in our lives, who is trustworthy, who needs correction or even reproof; but we must be kind, and look for the best in them; however, we cannot expect that our love will always be reciprocated. Some people will ignore or reject us, no matter how kind we try to be.

Some parents are automatically banished to a care home. Some people neglect their elderly relations, and lead busy and joyful lives even though their old parents are hundreds of miles away in poor accommodation, with little care and no luxuries. The Fourth Commandment is about honouring our father and mother, which means, no matter how old or frail they become.

Christ's friends live as if within a bight cloud, of God's love. When we live in union with God in everyday life, nourished by the Sacraments, forgiven and in a state of grace, we do not need to see the path ahead, before we can love and serve God well. We don't need to picture the future. Even if we are uncertain of His plans for us, or unsure of our vocation, we should be confident that here, from moment to moment, we can delight Him by doing His Will, in our ordinary circumstances.

Christ wants everyone to be reminded that life ends. By our choices and actions today we are choosing to move towards Heaven or Hell. Either we are good children of God who will be confident that the Holy Spirit will carry them to Heaven when they die, or we are in danger of falling into the Abyss, to join the demons in Hell, by our own fault. Christ wants each person to think about this question: "What are you doing with your life?"

We should use the time well, doing good, and preparing for Heaven. At the end of earthly life, each of us will be on our way towards Heaven - carried by the Holy Spirit across the Abyss, even if we then pause in Purgatory - or on our way into Hell, in the depths of the Abyss. Our freely-made choices in this life affect our destiny. God is asking each of us: "What are you doing with your life?"

Some people wonder how we can believe that the Mass is a Sacrifice. At every Mass, by Divine power, Jesus Christ is made truly Present, under the appearance of bread and wine. He is God as well as man; and in being with Him now, we are also present to the events of His earthly life which - because He is God - always remain powerful and significant, including His Passion and Death. At Mass, those events are made effective for our salvation, through our union with Christ and His Church.

It is not the Will of Christ that priests keep their thoughts almost exclusively upon earthly matters, even though they work amongst people in the world who are beset by dreadful trisls. The ultimate aim of priests should be to give glory to God, and to bring themselves and other people towards holiness and Heaven, doing so by the priest's union with and imitation of Christ.

A priest fulfils the Will of Christ, and becomes joyful, when he has begun to accept the Cross, in being conformed to Christ in a sinful world. By his union with Christ, and His imitation of Christ, he can be freed to do what he is called to do, which is not primarily to help people with their earthly cares, but above all to bring them and himself towards holiness and salvation, and thereby to play his part in God's plan of salvation.

The Saints pray fervently for our well-being and salvation. Their prayers draw down upon the earth a great torrent of Divine graces, as they look with pity and love upon us, in our struggles to be holy. They persevered in the Faith, in love for Christ, until the end. Earthly life seems very brief, to them, who now enjoy God's love in Eternity.

A President of a great country has political power. But the most ordinary, apparently insignificant Christian has power: the power of the Truth, which, boldly spoken, can change hearts and lives, by the grace of God.

At the Mass, we are present as Christ prays for us to be forgiven. When He is made Really Present at the Consecration, it is as though we have a pathway, in Him, through time and space, to be present to all He has done for us in His earthly life, supremely to the once-for-all Sacrifice of the Cross, on which He suffered to win forgiveness for sinners, including ourselves. By His Precious Blood, He sealed a new Covenant between Heaven and earth. By His Resurrection He conquered sin and death.