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Every detail of our lives is of interest to God, Who loves us as a good father loves his children. Whatever good things we do, God is willing and able to help us with them, whether we build, make music, nurse the sick, or paint for His glory and to delight or help other people. He cannot help us to do evil - though He can bring good out of the evil we do.

People who suffer persecution or martyrdom because of their faith in Christ can feel as though they are leaving a garden of earthly delights to enter an endless tunnel of suffering. They can be assured that that tunnel opens out onto an area: not an area like the Colisseum, but a place where Christ, His Mother and all the Saints wait to greet them, and lead them into a life of Eternal bliss.

The Scared Liturgy is prayer offered by Christ, in the power and light of the Holy Spirit to the Father Who reigns in Heaven. No other praise can surpass the praise which Christ offers from the heart of our Church - especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To pray at Mass is to pray in Spirit and in truth. We pray in the power of Spirit, through Christ Who is the truth of God. God invites the whole world to prefer this sacrificial, sublime prayer to all of their own ideas, methods or idols.

There is no room in a heart both for malice and charity. A person who acts with deliberate malice might be trying to be worldly or sophisticated, in imitation of some modern hero, but more often he is prompted by the evil one who delights in causing us to belittle, hurt, humiliate or terrify one another.

Even sick, disabled and paralyzed people, like every conscious person above the age of reason, can exercise his or her free will, in order to choose to live with a loving and grateful heart and outlook, or to live in self-pity and even despair. Plainly, God lovingly makes allowances for the troubles people suffer, but each person can develop a soul radiant with Divine Light, or, refusing grace, have a soul which is shrivelled and lifeless.

Each human being is a body-with-a-soul. It's as if, by having free-will, we can choose to open the door of our heart or soul to let in God's light, or we can keep the door shut, ignore our consciences, and live in spiritual darkness.

Some people are so determined to enjoy independence from God - not realising the danger - that by deliberate sin it's as if they nail shut the 'door' of their souls, and so prevent the light or wisdom of God from entering. This self-imposed darkness will be theirs forever, unless they repent before they die.

There are times in a person's life when he might not want to be separated from God, and so have opened the door of his soul by good thoughts, or prayer, but looking upwards, realises he has not yet gained the courage to make real changes in his behaviour. He can be powerfully helped by the prayers of people aware of his plight - by the grace of Christ.

Christ really cares about us; and He cares about our attitude to Him. If we picture Christ in Heaven, as He looks down upon the earth, we can understand how much it delights Him, and warms His heart, when He sees someone who really loves Him, loves the Mass, loves the Clergy, loves the Church, and also endures sufferings with patience, by the grace of Christ, and out of love for Christ.

A Catholic in a state of grace who wants to be helped to understand her union with the Blessed Trinity is not wrong to use imagery, of various kinds; yet rather than picturing herself as being in front of Three Divine Persons Who are, somehow, one God, she will be helped by seeing herself as if within a transparent globe, which is Their life of light and love.

People who develop a fascination with what is evil, or with representations of what is evil, can endanger their souls. When they avidly seek out portrayals of monsters, or of sadism, or love to watch horror movies, or delve into Satanism or magic in any of their forms, or associated activities like fortune-telling, it can be as if they are facing a great pit in which there is neither light nor beauty - like a black hole in space: in reality, Hell.

It is nice to be in a warm room, at Christmas, yet if we go out into the garden at night, we might wonder what someone might think of our world, if he had come down from a far-away star. For Christ, coming from Heaven was like coming from a star of light and grace to a world of sinful people, many of whom persecuted and killed Him - but could not prevent His Resurrection. All who believe that He came from Heaven to save us from sin can be transformed by His power, and have a sure hope of reaching Heaven.

There is a town which, to tourists, has a surface of appearance of prosperity, at its well-lit, well-paved centre. But the streets soon peter out, and the lighting ends, and the pavements disappears, as the ground slopes down to a dark, rubbish-strewn area where only the thieves and other lawbreakers feel safe. This is like the soul of someone who is well-mannered and pleasant but who, whilst having a duty to teach the Faith, disbelieves much of it and leads others astray by public declarations of disbelief.

For progress in prayer, and union with God, we ought to trust God, and be willing to be converted, again. People who don't want God don't pray much, or well, even if they believe in God. They don't want God's light to shine into their souls, encouraging them to give up their bad habits, unloving attitudes, selfish plans or uncharitable schemes. It's as though they keep the 'door' of their souls almost shut; alas, they themselves shut out God's graces in this way.

Though the journey to Heaven might be arduous and lengthy, we will be overwhelmed with joy Eternally, if we arrive there. The heights of Heaven continue through delight after delight, in infinite aspects. The joys of Heaven cannot be surpassed, nor can they ever come to an end.

A home where God's Will is believed and acted upon is like a lit cottage in a frozen landscape - so pleasing to God, but rare, in that there are few households even amongst Catholics where is found neither contraception nor abortion or pornography or adultery and where charitable speech and behaviour is the norm, by the grace of Christ. These bright households also care for their sick members if they can, including the elderly.

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.

As we pray for the Holy Souls we help them to move forward, closer to Heaven's light. It is as if they are in a queue, waiting their turn to meet Christ and His Mother Mary. We cannot see the Holy Souls, but if we could peep into Purgatory as if into a cellar beneath our world, we would see that they are safe, content to be in God's care, grateful for the prospect of Heaven.

There are Holy Souls in Purgatory who never receive any relief from their sufferings through prayers that could have been offered by friends or relations. This is the case when their loved ones don't believe in any prayer, or else live as Christians of other groups but don't believe in prayer for the dead. In anguish, these Holy Souls await help from any of us who will recognise their plight, and will turn to the Father, in Christ's name, to pray

In Mediaeval times, people were taught the truth about the Mass, the central act of our religion, and the greatest means of praising God - through His Son, and His Son's Holy Sacrifice, re-presented in the presence of the Saints, the Holy Souls and the Angels. What is important are prayer, adoration, and the knowledge that we join in the worship of Heaven. (It is because most children are taught only that the Mass is a community meal, that there are so many images given, through Radiant Light, of every aspect of the Holy Sacrifice. The Lord wants every effort made to teach the truth about these Holy Mysteries.)