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As God looks upon the world, He sees how few of us believe in His goodness, how few of us expect answers to prayer, how few of us have prayed with faith in the merits of His Son Jesus, Who died for us. Our faith has not developed because we have not really given our whole lives to God, in regular prayer and works of charity.

St. Catherine of Sienna, who lived in a street I once saw, believed in the Father's goodness. She obeyed Him. She prayed with faith, and was answered like the Apostles in earlier times; she put her trust in God even when He led her through suffering in the course of her particular vocation; yet her reward was Heaven.

Although the Saints are all different in personal aptitudes, circumstances, physical appearance and skills, they have all been totally committed to Christ's Way of love and sanctity, in a spirit of humility and trust, as each - perhaps after a bad start - has led a chaste life, spoken the truth, and been gentle and forgiving towards enemies.

Whoever trusts in God and in the merits of Jesus His Son, and prays with faith that he will be helped, is indeed helped, even in the deepest pit of sinfulness, despair and self-disgust. He can even be led into an intimate friendship with his Creator, when he has been drawn up from darkness.

Judas lacked trust in God and in God's power and willingness to forgive; and so, instead of repenting and seeking mercy, Judas regretted his sin but allowed himself to run away, in shame, remorse, and despair - by which he cut himself off from Divine graces.

If we follow Christ, and trust in His guidance, we shall have a safe journey. There is no better guide than our Saviour, who loves each of us dearly, and knows all our weaknesses and fears.

Christ our Saviour is touched to heart - deeply touched - by all the suffering He sees. Every person who suffers, even those whose sufferings were caused by their own fault, can be certain of Christ's sympathy and compassion. Even when people are not healed, they should believe that Christ can bring good out of evil.

When a new convert acts pleasantly, when he has formerly acted against the Church, it can be difficult for other Catholics not to be suspicious about his sincerity. St. Paul, too, was not immediately accepted. Each Catholic, nevertheless, must treat fellow-Catholics - 'new' or old - as brothers and sisters in the family of God.

Children today like to hear a dramatic story; yet we should help them to see that there is no more dramatic story than that of God becoming a little baby. When He grew up, people who knew Him could witness to His goodness and truthfulness. Then when He was killed by His enemies, and came to life again, He provided the evidence that He was trustworthy. He had really come down from Heaven to save us.

Christ wants each of us to trust Him with the degree of trust which He Himself showed out when He lay, as a little child, in His Mother's arms.

Christ sees all people trapped in original sin, except those who have repented and put their trust in Him. Christ said that each person who believes and is baptised can be saved, but the one who refuses to believe, is lost. This refusal includes the culpable refusal to be baptised, when baptism is the way we put our trust in Christ's saving power and receive His Spirit.

A person who wishes to show respect and honour towards the King, who is God the Father, as she approaches Him whilst she is accompanied by Christ the Prince, is willing to be suitably robed for the occasion, when she makes her requests. She clothes herself in garments offered to her: garments of penance, reverence, contrition, trust and love.

It was by her total surrender to the Father's Will that the Blessed Virgin Mary accepted the message of the Angel, and was able to reply that she was the handmaid of the Lord; and so Christ was conceived in her womb.

No-one can enter Heaven by beating on the great doors, and demanding to be let in. Those who love God are willing to trust, to adore, and to wait in humility and repentance; then He lifts the patient soul over the gates, in prayer, to see the beauty of God's glory, and to prepare him for permanent union.

A person with a tender heart must weep, when considering the sufferings of Jesus; yet a true follower knows that the Cross is the centre-piece of His message. He showed us that even in the extremes of suffering He still trusted in the Father's love and goodness, and believed that good can come out of evil. The same can be true for us, if we believe in Jesus, and do as He asks, by repenting and being Baptised. Through Him, we can overcome sin, and even have Eternal Life.

Christ asked me to paint a picture of what it is like to be welcomed and hugged by Him, in a spiritual Communion, when I am aware of my weakness but put my trust in Him. There is no-one more compassionate to sick people, no-one more grateful that we honour Him by our love and devotion.

To be beset by spiritual assaults in prayer or 'outside' it is like being in a war-zone, amidst sniper-fire, in a street littered with broken glass. We can retreat to a side-street for a few moments; but if we want to win the war we must be courageous, and trust God, and continue with our prayer and our work.

During our life on earth, if we lift up our hands to God, He will draw us upwards towards holiness, through the grace of Christ and our trust. He will even draw us up as far as Heaven, when we die. If we refuse to trust in Him, however, or refuse to believe in Him, we shall slide into the pit, at death, by our own choice, with no-one to blame but ourselves.

When Christ was on earth as the God-man, suffering amongst sinners, and praying for us to be forgiven, it was as though His love for God the Father and for human beings was so great that His prayers could not fail to reach Heaven - thus ending the alienation of mankind. His prayers were heard and granted; and so it's as though He threw out a landline, so that not just He but all who trust in Him can follow His Way into glory.

The Church teaches the truth, in every age of our history, yet each of the mystics experiences it - for example, St Paul, St Teresa of Avila, St Thomas Aquinas. It is the Christian mystic who prays with trust, reverence and humility, who knows God better than anyone, through union with Christ in prayer. The mystics have produced the most lyrical and intellectually-coherent accounts of what they have learned of God - which knowledge echoes and confirms the truths taught by the Church, and illumines them.