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Many very sinful people, seen here laughing and drinking, lead lives which can lead to disaster. By a small step, they can fall into Hell, so dangerous is the state of mortal sin in which they live. If they ascend to God by repentance, they take the stairway to the safe place, a state of grace, where Christ Himself has bridged the gap.
Some conversions take a long time. Before a lasting conversion, a person needs to go on a 'journey' to the very centre of his soul and mind. By Divine grace, he can discover his own true will. Is his will fixed on achieving pleasure, above all, or power, or physical fitness, or truth or fame? He can discover his own motives, and change them, after providential times of rest and reflection.
Children today marvel at stories of wizards, and secret formulas; but a greater marvel is the transformation of a weak person into a Saint, by the grace of Christ. Our 'formula' is the morning offering. Our heroism is to give glory to God not to ourselves, and the Mystery we speak of is not for a select few. Everyone is invited to enter the Mystery which is God.
The human race is doomed, without Christ. It would sink into utter hopelessness and vice. Christ alone has the power to free us and make us worthy of Heaven: holy and happy.
People who persist in sin, and 'drown', are doomed souls 'lost' in the ocean, and utterly lacking the grace of God which is life. Yet they will rise up at the end of time, for the Last Judgement, when the justice of God will be revealed, as well as His marvellous work of salvation.
Just as the Titanic was lost, with many hundreds of lives, because of the decisions and actions of a small number of people, so the human race was 'lost' - deprived of supernatural life - because of the decisions and actions of a small number, who were our first parents. Yet Christ came to save us. The Father could not allow mankind to sink in hopelessness and sin.
For as long as life on earth endures there will always be demons gibbering in the darkness, trying to drag souls into sin. Whoever calls out to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, Mary, and asks for her prayers, will receive grace from God and be drawn towards the light of Heaven.
If we are tempted to be proud or self-satisfied, seeing the good work we achieve for God, we need only remember Christ's Passion, by which He won for us all the graces we enjoy, and the blessings of the spiritual life, and we shall be able to serve Him as He deserves, in humility and gratitude.
Bishops and priests who fail to teach the Faith in its fullness, rarely or never speaking against contraception or abortion, send a wrong message not just to Catholics but also to other Christians who notice what they say, and conclude that these are matters of little importance. Such things, objectively, (such as contraception, abortion, so-called 're-marriage' and other practices) are serious sins.
At the Consecration of the bread, it is changed into the Scared Body of Christ, Who is Present with us, in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity: whole and entire. His radiance shines upon all who are present there, with an outpouring of graces for those willing to receive them.
It is often true that of people who ask aggressive questions of a Catholic speaker, and who mention the Inquisition and the Crusades, few have actually read a book about Catholic beliefs, or listed the benefits brought to the human race by the Church.
It is the Lord's wish that the Last Judgement picture be used on a sanctuary wall, as a reminder of the truths we ought to know: that each of us, by our freely-made choices, is walking towards either Heaven - by the grace of Christ - or towards Hell, which is the loss of God.
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.
Christ died, to conquer sin and death; yet He would have done so, to save a single person from going to Hell. Millions, however, are in danger of condemning themselves to Hell because they lead hard-hearted and sinful lives. Each of us needs to repent, by the grace of Christ, before we die.
It is possible in the world to follow the inspiration of God; yet those who are transformed by Baptism are full of Divine Life of the Blessed Trinity. Only God can see who loves and serves Him and is on the Way to Heaven; but, outside the Church, it is difficult to live as a Saint among sinners if a person is ignorant of what God's Will really is, and does not have the ordinary channels of grace given unfailingly through the Church. All the more reason why we should spread the good news about Christ: the Way, the truth and the life, Who promises Heaven to forgiven sinners.
Christ said that in looking at my Last Judgement people will see in an instant what is important about life. Through seeing the three main areas - Heaven, earthly life, and Hell, they will straight away receive His message, which is that only the virtuous go to Heaven - through the grace of Christ - when they die, whereas unrepentant sinners go to Hell.
We sometimes receive special consolations in prayer as if bathed in a river of love, flowing over and around us like the torrent of graces I once painted in the 'Sanctus' picture on the Mass Poster.
It is the same attitude of total self-will that makes possible such evils as the torture and imprisonment of people because of their race, and the slaughter of little unborn babies because they are deemed inconvenient.
The Lord showed me the results of the Plenary Indulgence which I had gained, by His grace, through Mass and Holy Communion, special prayers, and a sincere Confession. All my sins had been forgiven, with no punishment due. It was as though I was clothed in an unspotted white Baptismal robe, and was like a carefree child in God's presence, like the people in white in the Last Judgement painting.
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.
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