Search Page

We give great joy to Christ when we obey his wishes, whether His inspirations in prayer or the teachings of the Church; He even praises the Father for the good He sees in us. Christ knows that by our good thoughts, words and deeds we become more like Christ, and give glory to the Father.

There are streets full of houses where people who look within them see little art and hear little music: two of the great gifts received by human beings from God. God forbade imagery long ago, only to deter ancient people from idolatry. Since He gave us Christ - His own 'living image', Christians have rightly used art as a means of inspiring and educating fellow human beings.

Some Catholics who receive Christ in Holy Communion don't want to open their hearts and minds to Him, or His light might shine upon their sins and bad habits. It's as though they are heaping sacks of coal onto a trap door, to prevent Him from entering their lives; but in shutting Him out, they shut out His joy and peace too.

God looks with horror upon abortion and related sins; it is as though a large fence separates the lives of those who do God's Will and obey His laws from those who deliberately choose to go against Him. Beyond the 'fence' lies darkness of soul and intellect and little hope of eternal joy.

The Lord has a plan for every life: an invitation which, when heard and accepted, enables each one to love and serve Him and to find true happiness, both in this world, even amidst differences, and in life after death.

Priestly celibacy enables a man to move towards Heaven on an uncluttered highway, without distractions. He can be single-minded in Christ's service until his old age, when he can enter Heaven, and be rewarded for all Eternity for his self-giving, and enjoy the bliss of God's love, with all the Saints.

God gives us the gift of life, and wants us to appreciate the gift, not to bewail it and complain. It is not to be spent in self-indulgence, or in self-pity or inertia, but in doing good and giving joy, and so becoming joyful, and, by God's grace, ready for Heaven.

As people grow old, there is something more important to think about than pensions, grandchildren or hobbies. What state shall we be in, when we die, and go to God? Shall we be able to meet Him with joy and gratitude, or shall we be ashamed of our hidden sins, hidden no longer?

When I prayed, on the coach to London, Christ said: "Picture me on the coach with you". This would be a representation of the truth, since He is everywhere as our God, and He is with me, in my soul, since my Baptism; and He wanted this knowledge to make me joyful, now and always.

There is little thought given by many young women to the grief they cause, by their abortions, to their own mothers. It has not occurred to some young women that in disposing of their own unborn babies they are in fact destroying their parents' grandchildren: destroying the next generation, which could have brought joy and fulfilment to themselves and to other family members.

It is tragic that in places where there used to be a great number of infants and older children there are now so few, because so many women have had an abortion - or more than one. Some children have no-one to play with. The playgrounds and cafes are not as joyful as in earlier years.

When large numbers of people die in natural disasters, it must not be forgotten that each one is going to be judged. Each individual has died in a particular state of spiritual health or spiritual alienation. It matters very much, how we live our lives. Are we really to meet God with joy, if He calls us, today?

It is tragic that so many people are trapped underground in natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes; yet the worst disaster is to become trapped in the deep caverns of Hell, for Eternity, as are all who do not reach out to help the young and needy but rather prey on them: by child abuse, abortion, sex trafficking, pornographers, people who enjoy sadistic pornography, and others - if these sinners do not repent before they die.

We must not allow shame and embarrassment to keep us from experiencing the joy of being forgiven, after Confession. It can be embarrassing to realise how engrossed we once were in our sins, just as children are engrossed in their ecstasy at the funfair, unable to pay attention to ordinary concerns. The time has come to make a careful assessment of how we spend our time, no longer engrossed in selfish pleasures.

When a family lives in a state of alienation from God, it's as if the main aim of each member is personal, prolonged pleasure, with no thought for God's wishes or the needs of others. So there is quarrelling, noise, immorality, hard-heartedness, physical danger and no interior joy.

They do not see our sins; yet the saints in Heaven are in Communion with us. They see our joys, and comfort us by their prayers when we are in pain or dispirited. There is no death, for those who live in Christ: only 'life in Christ'

Christ is One God with the Father and the Holy Spirit: always joyful. What can possibly give Him joy? He is joyful when we believe what He has said; and He said, of the Holy Eucharist: "This is My Body", and "This is My Blood". He wants everyone to believe in His Real Presence, and to celebrate Corpus Christi.

God invites us to love Him, to follow the hard road of obedience until we die, and share His love, with the Saints, eternally. People who refuse to love God and who deliberately take the broad road, refusing to repent of their sins, find that at death, by their own choice, they remain on the same path, on which there is no light from Heaven, nor any Heavenly peace, joy, beauty or companionship. To be without God is to exist in Hell.

A person who has successfully struggled against sin or temptation might expect to feel joyful, not tearful and half-dead. Yet he is like a man who is just leaving a battlefield, who only then sees his ragged uniform, and his wounds. It takes time to recover, and to regain equilibrium.

A man who complains about a boring spiritual life and who prays only reluctantly and with little love is like a boy who is made to wash, by his mother, and grumbles about it, and who has not yet learned of the joys of being clean, fresh-smelling, and in a clean shirt after a good shower.