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The family which has a roof over its head and a table to eat at is well prepared for everyday life and education. Sound doctrine is like the roof and the table of our Christian life. Those who rely only on feelings and want to picnic all the time have no shelter for themselves or for others, when gales blow, and animals trample the food into the ground.

In church, we are on the threshold of Heaven, in the Presence of Christ our God. Although it is sometimes necessary to offer a quiet greeting or enquiry, it is not right to engage in idle chatter, e.g. about football results or holidays. It is the House of God, and we should want to pray there and allow others to pray.

In contemplation, we sometimes need to make an occasional 'movement' of the heart, to stay on course, just as a yachtsman carried by a good wind needs to lean now and then on the tiller.

The Process of Dying: Dying is a sort of labour. Christ is waiting to welcome each of His faithful children who will enter Heaven after a time in the 'womb' of earthly life.

Some souls are horrified, at death, to realise how many times they have ignored the Lord's approaches, kindness, opportunities and warnings.

Someone who seeks for the 'historical Jesus' can meet Him through prayer and love. It's as if the Heart of Jesus Who is now alive and risen, is like a time-tunnel through which we can touch Him in His earthly life too.

Someone who searches avidly for new devotions is like a fish which searches for food, day after day, on the Barrier Reef. We need spiritual 'food', but also to make time for our everyday duties, and for care of our neighbour.

The Father is reaching out all the time, through Jesus, to 'gather in' and give salvation to people all over the world. Yet not many listen to Jesus and to the teaching of His Church.

Sometimes we are too close to things to see their meaning. As the Lord 'expands' our view, we come to see things of real importance, such as the importance of persevering on the Way to Heaven. Someone whose view is first limited to the wallpaper in front of him, for example, can marvellously broaden his vision, to gaze almost as 'far' as Heaven.

As a beanstalk grows high, towards the sky, so should our spiritual life 'grow' towards Heaven. Though at times it seems as if we am growing 'downwards', the truth is that we can be moving in a great spiral, closer and closer to our Heavenly Home, even now, while we are doing little of outward importance.

Christ is with us in Holy Communion, bringing comfort and consolation. Sometimes He must correct us, but He also actively encourages us, and rewards us, for following His way.

Some people condemn extreme cruelty but are blind to their own sinfulness. Apparently good people can move towards great evil one centimetre at a time.

Christ has a path for each of us to follow. Whether we are Clergy or laity, married or single, busy in prominent tasks or 'hidden away' in obscure jobs or illness, we glorify Him if we follow the way He reveals to us. One step at a time, we can walk in obedience and trust.

Time and space seem to vanish at the Mass, after the consecration. We are present to the once-for-all Sacrifice offered on our altar in a sacramental manner. We pray with and through Christ to our Heavenly Father, as if at the foot of the cross, with Mary, our Mother.

The Lord does not want us to do penance all the time, and become miserable, or proud of our self-sacrifice. There's a time for penance and rigour, and a time for a good rest, with a cup of hot chocolate, and a biscuit - in the Lord's company, at peace.

Christ holds out His hand, all the time, to rescue people from sinful ways. Yet He does not save us without our consent. A man 'stuck' fast in sinful habits need to put out his hand to Christ - to say 'Yes' to Christ - if he wants to be delivered from his terrible state.

God is so great, and the earth so small, that nothing can happen that He has not allowed - even the worst things that people suffer. To have trust in God is a magnificent way of showing love for God, believing that He is good, and that good can come out of evil; trust of the sort shown by Jesus our Lord in His earthly life-time.

God is so great, and the earth so small, that nothing can happen that He has not allowed - even the worst things that people suffer. To have trust in God is a magnificent way of showing love for God, believing that He is good, and that good can come out of evil; trust of the sort shown by Jesus our Lord in His earthly life-time.

The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the chief Bishop, and the focus of unity in the Church. From Rome, the Holy Father guides and teaches the Church, as his predecessors have done since the time of the apostles.

If the Bishops would examine their diaries, they would see what proportion of their time is spent in teaching the Faith, or directly encouraging people to put it into practice. They will be accountable to God, when they die, for the state of the souls in their care.