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If we live in a state of grace, having received Divine Life, in union with Christ, through Baptism, we pray in the Name of Christ, in the light of the Holy Spirit; we can pray in confidence that the Father hears every prayer. It's as though Christ is leaning from Heaven, lowering a pail, as if down a well, so that He can draw up our prayers, to read each one to the Father, telling the Father of our needs and desires.

Throughout history, people have called out to a god or 'gods' in the hope of being heard, but uncertain of it. If we belong to Christ by Baptism, and live in a state of grace, we can be certain that every prayer we offer is heard, and is answered in a way that is best for us. It's as if, when we pray, Jesus lowers a pail from Heaven, to draw up our prayers and petitions, as if up a well-lit shaft. Then He reads each prayer, in person, to God the Father. This is only one of the joys and privileges of being brothers and sisters of Christ, and adopted 'children of God'.

In Christ's sight, a person shows lack of love and respect for Christ when he is unwilling to prepare for an intimate encounter with his Saviour and God in Holy Communion. That preparation, for all who have gravely sinned, should consist of seeking forgiveness in Confession, called the Sacrament of Penance. In a state of grace, a person approaches Christ as if clothed in a pure garment of holiness, not the filthy rags of unrepented sin.

The gift we are given at Baptism is the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who can lift our souls up to Heaven, across the gulf, when we die. A person who has become careless or disobedient and who has driven away the Spirit of Love, and no longer lives in a state of grace, will be lost, at death, in the Abyss, unable to rely on the Holy Spirit, having refused Him.

None of our unavoidable sufferings or humiliations need be wasted. By our intercessory prayers, and the patient 'offering-up' of our sufferings, in union with Christ, we cause an outpouring of His grace to fall upon someone in danger of falling into mortal sin, or falling into Hell. Christ gives us the privilege of joining in His saving work, even though we are imperfect, as long as we live in a state of grace.

The love of God is like a great flame that encloses all who trust in Christ. By our Baptism, we are made members of the Church and children of God. We already share in the life of God, and can be confident that our prayers are heard, and confident that, if we do not leave that state of grace, we will be carried across the Abyss when we die, to be brought towards Heaven: carried in the love of God, with no fear of being lost.

Terrible loss is risked by Catholics too proud to confess mortal sins. If it seems strange that forgiveness from Christ through His Church, in Confession, is like a 'door' to a state of grace, and the promise of Eternal Life if we remain faithful, we need only consider the fortunate few who enter a small gate in the great fence surrounding a great Palace. They have access to great riches, beautiful galleries and artefacts, and a close relationship with the Royal family, having consented to do as they were asked.

We are indeed blessed if we are able to reveal our souls and lives to Christ, now, in prayer, to receive guidance, consolation and forgiveness. If we die, without having lost our state of grace, but without having really surrendered to Christ, we shall have to reveal our hearts and lives to Him in Purgatory, with nothing to distract us from our shame and remorse. Far better to trust in Him now, and strive for sanctity.

A Christian in a state of grace is intimately united with the Triune God. By Baptism, all sin is washed away from the soul, the person is made a member of the Church; Baptism brings the life of God to shine within the soul through the presence there of the Blessed Trinity: called the Divine Indwelling. No longer need people go to a special Temple in order to pray - though we have churches for our public worship as the Body of Christ: consecrated places where Christ is Really Present, in the tabernacle, in the Blessed Sacrament.

The person who is Baptised is able to receive Confirmation too, and the Holy Eucharist; and so, being fully initiated into the Church, and remaining in a state of grace - it is to be hoped - that person is on a sure road to Heaven as he or she fulfils everyday duties and tries to discern God's plan for his or her life.

What counts above all, in our lives, is love: love for God, and for our neighbour for God's sake. As God the Father looks down from Heaven, it's as if He sees a light shining wherever a person lives to do the Will of God, which means to believe in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to follow His Way. Whatever such a person does is pleasing to God, if it is not sinful; so, although that person is called to do one task not another, he should not be anxious as he tries to discern precisely what to do next. He gives joy to God by living in a state of grace.

We are foolish if we endanger our state of grace, and our eternal destiny. To have been given the gift of life in Christ is a great privilege. It is to share the very life of God through the indwelling Trinity, and so to fulfill the Father's plan that each of us begins to resemble Christ and to be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit. It's as if we are held in His embrace, being prepared for life in Heaven.

Through our union with Christ, we have access to the Father. When we receive Christ in Holy Communion, and are in a state of grace, it is as though we can enter, from within our own soul, a great glorious chamber which represents the Godhead, or rather, the inner life of God. What a privilege! And how often taken for granted!

Some souls lead lives of such resolute self-will that, instead of being full of Divine warmth and glory they are like snowy waste-lands, where the snow is frozen on the trees, or even like those places in Siberia where the permafrost never melts. These souls will need a lengthy purification in Purgatory - if they die in a state of grace; not mortal sin. Their love for God has grown very cold.

The soul of a fervent person in a state of grace is not like the cold, half-dead soul of someone whose love for God has grown cold. It is like a Cathedral, in that it is a beautiful soul, a worthy place in which to welcome Christ in every Communion: a place in which the Holy Spirit can move freely, inspiring that person to offer sincere prayers, and to do good works.

A joyful soul, in a state of grace, is like a brightly-lit, warm cottage in the middle of a frozen landscape. It is attractive to those who long for joy and warmth in their own lives, but not to cynics with little or no faith, who are suspicious about the source of such joy, and call such souls 'naive' or 'foolish'.

As we try to love God more and more, in a state of grace, we should be alert, and attentive, eager to please Him and serve Him well; yet we must not be made despondent by our tiny faults. In His sight, they are like tiny specks of dust on a polished table: insignificant, almost inevitable, and quite unable to diminish His love for us, in our loving union with Him.

When a person convinces herself that she is justified in a course of action, freely deciding to disobey God's laws - especially His laws about married love, it's as if she slides away downhill, in a snowy landscape, so slippery as to be like a ski-slope. It is very hard for her to return to the heights of a state of grace after such a lapse in faith and morals. Indeed, it is impossible, without God's grace, and without a willingness to change.

We are not trapped in darkness, far from Heaven. When we pray in a state of grace, in the name of Christ, it's as though, by the power of Christ, we hold up before the Father in Heaven the needy people in our hearts. Each is lifted closer to holiness and Heaven through our prayer - by the grace of Christ - unless he or she deliberately refuses the graces brought in this way, and acts as if to sever the cord that unites that person with our loving intention and with God.

We are not trapped in darkness, far from Heaven. When we pray in a state of grace, in the name of Christ, it's as though, by the power of Christ, we hold up before the Father in Heaven the needy people in our hearts. Each is lifted closer to holiness and Heaven through our prayer - by the grace of Christ - unless he or she deliberately refuses the graces brought in this way, and acts as if to sever the cord that unites that person with our loving intention and with God.