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He sat in the depth of despair, in Hell, wondering how he could have been so foolish to have thought that his ways of acting were better than the ways of charity, peace, kindness and healing.
The sick have great work to do for God! Christ asked me to speak the truth to the other sick and handicapped people I meet: I should say that we are all called to be Saints. We can accept our unavoidable sufferings and offer them up in union with Christ on the Cross, and pray with Him for sinners to repent and find forgiveness and peace.
The purpose of Holy Communion is to restore to human beings the joy of intimate union with their Divine Creator: a joy known by the first man and woman but lost through Original Sin. It brings bliss, consolation and peace to those who come to Christ with purified hearts.
It is important to maintain a state of grace. Christ reminds us that the soul is a holy place, because of the Divine indwelling. We can withdraw into that place whenever the clamour 'outside' is too loud, as we work for Christ's Kingdom; and we shall find peace, comfort and refreshment, even when we are in the public eye.
If I turn to the Father, through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I can be confident that I am sharing the life of the Blessed Trinity: a life of joy, radiance, peace and security which are gifts from God.
A good leader should always ask himself what effect his words are having upon the ordinary man who listens to him. Is the leader holding out hope of peace and justice; does he encourage the man towards co-operation in goodness, and set him a good example, or is he leading him astray?
A great battle goes on when a person is torn between love of God and love of self. Satan attacks that heart and mind, while the Guardian Angel acts to restore that soul's peace. Someone like this desperately needs to pray in the name of Jesus.
There are many people who seek out counselling or therapy whose problems could be solved by the repentance that leads to Confession, and a state of grace, and the peace and freedom which came from being forgiven. Many people, Christ observes, make excuses for themselves when they became downcast through grievous sin, and a failure to repent.
Some priests mistakenly see themselves as counsellors rather than priests. In their misguided view of pastoral care they forget that they have been called to be 'other Christs' who teach the truth about sin and holiness, who invite people to repent and to receive forgiveness, freedom and peace.
The Lord wants us to turn to His mother Mary as we would turn to our own mothers, for comfort, consolation and peace. Truly, she can help us as much by her loving presence close to us, and her peaceful nature, as by her powerful prayers.
Lapsed Catholics do not grow in the knowledge and love of God; and when they die, those who see God and are ashamed of their earlier indifference go to Purgatory, whilst those who hate God and are resolute in their rejection of Him hurl themselves away from Him and therefore into Hell, which is life without His light and peace.
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.
As Sacred Scripture tells us, we are certain to be attacked, as followers of the Crucified Christ. Whether we suffer verbal, physical or spiritual assaults, however, Christ sees what we undergo for love for Him; and He sometimes intervenes with Divine power, to banish the attackers and to bring refreshment and peace.
Christ asks us to picture a peaceful home, and what it is like to enter where there are no loud disagreements or resentments or disobedience. The soul of a person who really loves Christ, welcomes Him with reverence, believes in His Church's teachings, and puts them into practice, is like a 'peaceful home' for Him, when He enters in Holy Communion.
It would please Christ very much if priests were to say: "We all do wrong. The Church can tell us what is right and wrong, but we can be forgiven. I shall be in the Confessional at certain times, this week, and every week". Christ wants them to invite people to repent, to change their lives, and to find freedom and peace-of-soul at last.
The truth about society is presented in all sorts of strange ways, according to the policies of celebrities, or people in Government or in medicine. It can happen that good people who want to stop the killings which inevitably occur in a war, are labelled 'peace-lovers', and applauded. Others, who want to stop abortion killings, are labelled 'single issue fanatics'.
Millions of babies have been killed in the womb, and have been denied not only life on earth but also Baptism. They do not become saints in glory, but they are in God's care - as if tiny clouds which float peacefully in front of heaven.
When a person lives in a state of serious sin, it's as if his soul is like a great Cathedral, of which the doors and windows are firmly shut. As the Holy Spirit moves around the walls, outside, He can find no way in; and so by the soul's free choice, the soul is quite without light and peace.
We do not always feel wonderful after a good Confession, because we are like a man who has climbed out of a deep mine shaft - mortal sin - and who now sits exhausted on the ground. But within the soul the peace of Christ increases, as Christ present within the soul gives grace and spiritual nourishment.
It is important to treat the dead with respect. Yet, no matter what type of death people die, no matter in what way they will be mourned, what counts, when they die, is whether they did so in friendship with God - which means they are on their way to God - or alienated from Him, forever to be without His love and beauty and peace. We all ought to prepare to leave this life.
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