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People who spread the Faith, working to draw others from sinful acts and ways of life are acting, in the moral sphere, are as if drawing people away from a street that moves so swiftly downwards that people inevitably fall or crash. Of course, indirect evangelisation too is valuable, through good example, faithful work, and prayers and penances.
It is a marvellous thing, to teach, preach or evangelise. Just as there are dark streets and alleys where no-one feels safe, and sensible people are glad to be shown the way to the well-lit reads nearby, so, in the moral sphere, wise people respond to any invitation to leave the dark paths on which they walk at present, to enter the Way of Christ, which is the sure way to Heaven, lit by Divine Light.
People who churn out pornography for others to read are following the wishes of the same evil spirits who urge people to use their power to remain in power: resulting in the innocent suffering torture, or solitary confinement, or medical experimentation or other grossly sinful practices.
What Christ told us is true, that there is only one Way to Heaven: His Way, which is like a road we travel safely when we have received his life in Baptism and have been freed from sin. If people are not willing to revere Christian Tradition they are not acting as true children of God, for example, Christians who are searching for another Way.
Christian women who live and work in the world need not fear they are sinful if they take care of their appearance, and try to look attractive for their husbands. Sensible decisions about clothing and hair care are necessary; it is only vanity and extravagance that are unworthy of people bound for Heaven.
Whether we are Christian or non-Christian, we cannot be saved if we are guilty of grave sin and refuse to repent. God gives constant helps to human beings, including those who do not know His Son Jesus, to help them to do good. Though minds have been darkened by original sin, all people can realise, through reflection, and use of their conscience, if they are willing, that certain things are wrong: stealing, murder, rape, slander, betrayal, and much more.
When a politician, by his votes to promote or increase abortion provision, walks further and further away from life in God - as if along a long corridor - and avoids every alternative route, he will eventually find himself in a place from which every new route leads to the Abyss. He will have entered a place from which only damnation awaits him, unless he repents before he dies.
No matter how elevated his position, a politician who uses his office to promote abortion or to increase abortion provision does something abominable in God's sight. Those who are chosen to govern should promote what is just and right, not the killing of defenseless human beings whose presence is deemed inconvenient.
The Church is a Divine Institution composed of sinful human beings on earth as well as Saints in Heaven and Holy Souls in Purgatory. To refuse to believe in the Church or the Papacy because some Popes were very sinful is as strange as to refuse to believe that public transport should be abolished because some conductors are immoral or that all schools should be shut because a few head-teachers prove unfit to be in charge of children.
By every sincere, humble act of contrition, it's as if we make it possible to enjoy a higher degree of glory in Heaven, when the Lord eventually brings us home. What a thought! What a help for us, in our search for sanctity.
Many Catholics practice what must be called false ecumenism. A Catholic priest or Bishop acts against the truth if he stands with a Protestant leader and gives what is called a joint blessing. This gives the impression that they each have the same power and authority. And when a Protestant minister is invited to offer a sermon during a Mass, this is against the wish of Christ and His Church. It is forbidden.
Christ came to earth, true God and true man, to dispel the clouds of ignorance of misunderstanding that clouded human minds on the subject of the Godhead. He came here, as a tiny child in the womb of the Virgin Mary, in order to Sacrifice His Life, out of love for us, to save sinners from Hell.
St. Therese can be seen, raptuously praising God in Heaven because her relics have been used to inspire devotion to God. People feel close to her, are reminded of her holy life, and have greater confidence in her intercessions for us who still struggle on earth.
We have a strong channel to Heaven, as if one made of brick! When we trust in the Father's love, and in the merits of Christ, and we call out with confidence, in prayer, saying 'Forgive my sins', or, 'Help me', or, 'Protect me from Satan', for example, our prayers are answered. To offer sincere prayer in the name of Christ is both to receive help, and to receive peace, from knowing we have certainly been helped.
Some Catholics speak rightly about God's love for us, but suggest that He is not strict about sin, and overlooks disobedience. Real love is both tender and strict, whether in our loving God, or in a loving parent who, for example, is strict in order to keep a child safe from a dangerous well or a live electric rail beneath a station platform.
The men who serve Christ in the Church as priests, seem similar, exteriorly; but here and there amongst them are priests in grave sin. Unless they repent, they will suffer the fate of those whom Christ condemned when he said 'Woe to you, Chorazin'. Priests have had wonders worked in their lives. To ignore God's gifts and commit grave sin is to deserve Hell.
If we are moving towards Christ, Heaven, and holiness, cheered on by the Holy Angels, we shan't make much progress if we are still picking quarrels with other children of God, or refusing to forgive.
There is no need for concern about the Pope's decision to assist Anglicans who want to become Catholic whilst retaining some of their 'heritage'. He knows that Anglicans do not have valid orders, and that special measures are necessary rather than leave many Christians without all the Sacraments. The Holy Spirit, pictured in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome as a dove, in a Scriptural image, is guiding the Church today, just as in past ages, through all the Popes of the ages - and despite the personal sins of individual Popes.
It might seem as if a viper has leaped out from his lair, to wound us. If we work for Christ, spreading the Gospel, we are going to be opposed, by people on earth and by Satan. We are wise if we recognise the truth, that harsh words or actions which cause us to suffer are caused by people acting from their sinful nature, as we sometimes do; so we forgive them, and turn to God for the courage to go on.
When Christians talk together, discussing the meaning of 'Church' and 'Communion', Christ is on the edge of Heaven, gazing upon the earth, interceding for those people, praying for those who are out of Full Communion, so that they will come home, into Full Communion with the successor of St. Peter, the Pope, and with the other Catholic Bishops.
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