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God draws into His bliss after death those who can bear the brightness of glory, while those who are still consumed by shame wait below.

Jesus suffered in body and soul, and we need not feel guilty if we do not 'feel' fervent and joyful in our difficulties, as long as we are actively trying to do God's Will, and to remain faithful.

How embarrassed we would be if the sins we commit were to appear as stains on our 'outside', like dirty stains on our clothes. Christ wants us to realise that He sees, at every moment, all the sins we have committed and have not yet confessed. He wants us to be made clean, and joyful, through repentance and confession.

Although we cannot see our sins, Jesus can see them. Imagine how embarrassed we would be if our wrong-doing were made plain by large stains on us, exteriorly. If we are wise, we will repent, and ask for the grace to change, to banish the 'stains' of sin that are visible to Our Lord.

A person who has not seen a warning, and who skates on the thin ice, might be blameless, but still risks danger. So with those who commit from ignorance what are objectively sinful acts. They might not be culpable, but they are in danger of making a habit of sin, or being led to worse.

Illness gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves, as we think about the end of life: "Shall I meet God with a peaceful or a guilty heart?"

Those who cannot be bothered to go to Mass are guilty of more than just laziness, in God's sight. They are like those friends of Jesus who deserted Him during His Passion. And so it is, when His friends cannot be bothered to attend and pray at the Holy Sacrifice.

Each of us can ask: "If Christ were standing, visible, before me, what would I be most ashamed of?" What, in our souls and lives, do we need to put right?

It is possible for someone to oppose God's wishes, through ignorance and muddled thinking, and not to be blameworthy. But it is a sad thing when an adult Catholic looks at two thousand years of constant teaching on a serious moral matter, and says to God - by her choices - "I believe I am right, and you and your Popes, Bishops, Saints and theologians are wrong, and I am going to use contraceptives".

It is possible for someone to oppose God's wishes, through ignorance and muddled thinking, and not to be blameworthy. But it is a sad thing when an adult Catholic looks at two thousand years of constant teaching on a serious moral matter, and says to God - by her choices - "I believe I am right, and you and your Popes, Bishops, Saints and theologians are wrong, and I am going to use contraceptives".

Many Catholics lead lives unworthy of God's children, and are not sorry for going against His laws - hence the empty confessionals in this era. Most Catholics who disobey the moral law on contraception, for example, brush away their feelings of guilt. Few can plead total ignorance of the teaching of the Church.

Many Catholics lead lives unworthy of God's children, and are not sorry for going against His laws - hence the empty confessionals in this era. Most Catholics who disobey the moral law on contraception, for example, brush away their feelings of guilt. Few can plead total ignorance of the teaching of the Church.

It is a serious matter to miss Mass carelessly or deliberately, and so to miss being present at the re-presentation of Christ's Sacrifice of Calvary. We could not be there, at Calvary; but we show how little love we have for Christ, and how little concern about our sin and weaknesses, if we cannot be bothered to attend Mass, as Christ prays there for us to be forgiven our wrong-doing.

There are some acts which are intrinsically wrong. Even if people act from ignorance, and are less blameworthy in God's sight, He does not want anyone (especially priests) to encourage people in such acts, but to invite them to abandon such behaviour, to pursue holiness. It is never right to use contraceptives, to attempt a re-marriage which is adulterous, or to have a forbidden sexual relationship such as incest.

Judas lacked trust in God and in God's power and willingness to forgive; and so, instead of repenting and seeking mercy, Judas regretted his sin but allowed himself to run away, in shame, remorse, and despair - by which he cut himself off from Divine graces.

A disobedient man will one day learn the truth. Thousands of souls who persist in mortal sin fall into Hell, at death; yet even people guilty of lesser sins must suffer after death, if they are not fully purified and ready for Heaven. For example: Bishops, priests and theologians who have failed to teach the Faith in its fullness or who have led others astray by their support of heretical ideas.

Jesus is willing to say, today, to each person who goes to Him, repenting of sin, what He once said to the adulterous, sorrowful woman: "Neither do I condemn you. Go away and don't sin anymore". This is true, even for people guilty of those sins which are particularly repulsive to virtuous people.

A ruby wedding celebration today might have numerous gaps in the family photograph, even if most people don't realise it. Those who have had abortions have been too ashamed to say that they have sacrificed the lives of tiny babies to make their own lives easier or to avoid expense or dashed ambitions.

In permitting an evil such as the killing of unborn babies, society contributes to the depressed state of many women. If encouraged to love their babies, they could have flourished, even in difficult circumstances, but having done wrong, and knowing it, many women carry a burden of guilt, made worse at every reminder, or anniversary.

Christ sends down new life from Heaven: the living souls of babies, which are sometimes then rejected by their own mothers, and killed in the womb by Doctors who agree with this practice. Satan boasts, as he points towards parliament, that many of it's members are as guilty as those who do abortions, since legislators voted for it to be made legal.