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If we visit the sick, we please Christ. In the Gospel story, the King at the Last Judgement praised those who had visited the sick, visited people in prison, or had carried out other works of mercy.

It is part of Christ's plan that this 'Last Judgement' picture serve as an image in a sanctuary, and as a restatement of truth, an illustration of the Catechism, a teaching aid, and a proof of my own understanding of the Gospel: that each of us is making our way to Heaven or Hell, through our freely made choices as we accept or reject the graces Christ won for us on the Cross.

All who are sent as missionaries, to share the Faith with other people, should listen to the Church, that is, to the Holy Father and the other Bishops who hand on the truth - that Christ is the only Saviour, and that Baptism is the gateway to Divine Life. No other Gospel should be preached.

Whenever we speak to others about our faith in Jesus Christ: God-made-man Who came to earth to save us, we are spreading the Gospel just as the Apostles did - and Lydia, and countless Christians through the ages. Even when we seem to see no results, God is bringing good out of our efforts and encounters.

Some preachers live alongside their flock, keeping silent. We can picture a man who finds a field of corn, growing naturally, but refuses to let it be cut to feed the hungry because it looks beautiful. That is what happens when Missionaries refuse to endanger 'natural' religions by refusing to offer the Gospel. They deny the people, amongst whom they live, the bread of truth, and the Bread of Life, which is Jesus Christ, with His Church, Sacraments, and Eternal Life.

A priest or seminarian, in his interactions each day, is as if swimming in a stream of truth in which there are cloudy deposits, which are worldly attitudes, modernist opinions and foolish ideas. Some of these will stick to him, unless by regular prayer he allows God to purify his heart, soul and mind. Then he will be worthy to preach the Gospel handed down since the Apostles.

Our Blessed Lady and Saint John were with Christ in His Passion not only to comfort Him by their presence. It was part of the Father's plan that they should be witnesses to Christ's last hours in order to share with all who love Him the last words He uttered, and the complete 'picture' of His dying and death.

When the Catholic Faith is taught in its fullness, and is practiced, there are plenty of vocations; and a great fire of praise soars up to Heaven. Where only half a gospel is preached, and where there is lukewarm faith, with much dissent, there are few vocations. Such an area is like a patch of gangrene on healthy tissue, and emits a bad smell before Heaven.

By fervent prayer, we can withstand evil spiritual assaults. When we share the truths of the Gospel with new fervour, or in new ways, we can find that we have stirred up the anger of the evil one, who tries to distract or disturb us in prayer, by horrible sights of the fires of Hell, or by problems in ordinary life; but we must remember that Jesus is stronger; Jesus is Lord, and we are right to trust in Him and to feel safe in His love.

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.

It's as if God is like Three loving parents. Some people mock the simple requests of the faithful, and say that God is not a 'Sugar Daddy' or a Fairy Godmother. Christ wants us to know, however, that what He said in the Gospel is true. The nature of God is generosity and love. So when we ask God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - for something in prayer, believing that it will be ours, we shall receive it, if of course we have prayed properly, with trust and reverence, in the name of Jesus.

Without trust in God, people turn away from Him, by a free choice. Millions of people have died with little faith or hope, and have left nothing good on earth. But the work of the Saints endures. Those self-centred people have had nowhere to go except on a single journey, chosen by them, away from God, to the depths of Hell. But the good that the Saints do lives after them, renews the Church, helps the needy, and changes attitudes across the world. The Gospel needs to be preached to the ends of the earth, to bring hope, and joy.

Christ asks us to be bolder and braver, in direct proclamation of the Gospel message, that God loves us so much that He came from Heaven to live here as man, to save us from sin, and the fear of death. If we repent and trust in Him, we can be transformed, by the graces received in prayer, and through the Church. At present there is too much 'pre-evangelisation', which is not converting people, but causing some to think conversion is not important.

Christ wants everyone to know the truth about Hell as well as Heaven. He spoke a lot about Hell, in the Gospel stories, but this is rarely mentioned today. He wants us to realise that someone who deliberately commits grave sin, despite Christ's warnings, is foolish as well as disobedient. That person is freely choosing to walk into those flames, unless he repents in time.

If any religion suggests that riches or worldly success are a sign of God's approval of certain persons, and that poverty is shameful, and if people develop habits of ignoring or despising the poor, it is plainly not founded by the God of love, Who sent His Son to earth, Who founded a Church which hands on His Gospel of love: His teaching about God's love for all people, rich and poor. Christ has revealed to us the true nature of God.

The Lord asked me to use, in a talk, the phrase I'd heard long ago, on television, at the end of a Gospel Rock-Concert. The star called out, "God exists! Jesus is alive!" - to a roar of delight and approval from his audience, who admired his faith and courage.

It can happen that a person becomes so despondent about the demands of the Gospel that he begins to blame God, or the Church for what he sees as unfairness; in his rage he might fall, and endanger his spiritual life and his immortal soul. It is important to persevere in prayer for people in difficulty.

We should work and pray for the Gospel to be spread. It is plain to see, if we look across the world, that a Catholic who has his sins forgiven, and approaches death in the grace of God, with the hope of Heaven, can be at peace, whereas someone not knowing about our loving Creator or His wonderful Son, and expecting to be returned to earth in some other body, to endure further trials on earth, is unlikely to be joyful, and perhaps is terrified.

There are still many people who have not yet heard the Gospel preached. It is true, as the Church teaches, that it is possible for a person not baptised to be saved. However, this is far less likely than many people suppose, for the simple reason that many non-Christians have committed grave sins - as Christians have - but have never repented. Many have refused to join the Church, or mocked her, or mocked her priests; and of the rest, how many have followed the promptings of their conscience, for a life-time, until death, to do good and to avoid what everyone should know is evil? Only God knows.

There is a tremendous need for intercessary prayer. It is possible for the non-baptised to be saved, if they have never heard the Gospel but have persevered until death in doing good and avoiding evil; but many non-Christians have refused to believe in Christ. Others have committed grave sin and refused to repent. Others have mocked the Church or mocked her priests. Others have ignored the call of conscience, and followed selfish ways, knowing these were wrong. Thousands fall into Hell, everyday, alongside unrepentant Christians.