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It is always worthwhile to pray for people who are apparently being swept away on a tide of sinful practices. By our intercessions, in Christ, we make it more likely that they will recognise the truth, that they are in danger of spiritual ruin.

When we talk about the Magisterium we mean that it is Christ Who has given us the Pope and the other Catholic Bishops, to teach us the truth handed on in Sacred Scripture and in the Sacred Tradition. They teach us right from wrong. To spend a life-time arguing about their sure teaching is to waste valuable time, which we could have spent striving for holiness in the service of God and neighbour.

God can work wonders through our perseverance. When a priest, or any sincere follower of Christ, finds it hard to believe in the saving power of the Cross, and sees life as a grim progress with little hope, he should reflect on this truth: whoever imitates Christ and accepts the Cross, in patience, finds that, little by little, it becomes a living thing, fruitful, putting out new branches and leaves, precisely because that person is reproducing Christ's life, and being fruitful in saving souls.

There are people who repeat the truth about mortal sin, insisting that it is only mortal if it was committed with full knowledge and content. But this is not to say that people are blameless for their ignorance about certain sins, for example. In unclear cases, it's as if people have been saved from spiritual death but are still in need of help if they are to lead holy lives, close to Christ. It's as if they hold onto tree-roots, above the Abyss.

The Gospel brings joy, to those who repent and change. There are Catholics who believe that niceness is enough, and that mortal sins are unimportant. Jesus spoke the truth about sin and salvation when He said: "It is a narrow gate, and a hard road, that lead to life; and few there are that find it." It is important that we shun all temptations, and all 'occasions of sin'.

The people in the picture are on the way to Heaven because they have recognised the truth about Christ and have followed Him. He is unique, among the Founders of all religions, in that He was conceived of a virgin, claimed to be one with the Father, and proved His Origin and Divine Sonship by rising from the dead after enduring a cruel death.

A person who takes a vehicle on the road needs to follow the route carefully, and obey the signs, or he will certainly not arrive at his destination. A person who wants to arrive in Heaven needs to follow the correct route, and obey the signs that have been placed by the One Who planned and built the road. We are foolish if we ignore or disobey Christ and His Church.

The truth about salvation is that no unrepentant sinner can reach Heaven. Those who have freely chosen to refuse God's friendship and to continue in their sins are lost. Entry into Heaven is an amazing privilege: a gift given to the pure, not a right. Those who insist on enjoying forbidden pleasures, and never repent, shall fall into the pit, when they die.

A person who refuses Baptism refuses to be made a member of the Body, for whose members Christ prays: Christ who is the Son of God, God-made-man, and Head of the Church, as He prays for all members, and perpetually intercedes for them. It is a dreadful thing, to refuse to allow Christ to pray for one's Salvation! This is a much-neglected truth.

The truth about suicide is that there are grave consequences wherever a person decides to kill himself, and succeeds. Whatever the reason for the act, or the degree of culpability of that person, there is no way back. Suicide is like stepping onto an underground train to travel into darkness, then finding the doors are locked, and there is no way out.

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.

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.

How important it is that we reflect on the purpose of our lives, before we die. How terrible, to go to the grave, and then meet God, and find out the truth - that in one way or another some of us have deliberately ignored the truth about the Church, or have wasted our time and energy on selfish ambitions, instead of loving God.

Truthful Catholics know that there is no possibility of corporate union with a Christian group that claims to ordain people to the Priesthood and at present chooses women to receive such 'ordination' - and even proposes to make some of them to be 'Bishops'. This impossibility is obvious; although it is human nature to want to hope, when things are hopeless.

We all tend to be self-centered; so, when a mother or grandmother cares for a child she should lead the child towards God the Father, doing so by an example of love, truthfulness and care for others, and helping the child to act with charity and truthfulness. To offer instruction is not enough. Deeds and good example are essential.

We should focus on the tabernacle, and, through it, to Heaven, if strange or distorted things are heard in church from the pulpit. We can be certain that the Father has given Christ to us, Who has spoken all His Father wants us to know; and we can rely on the Church's teaching, given through the Pope and the Catholic Bishops, easily found in our Catechism. We must be confident that the truth has been handed on, and can be known.

St. Paul spoke, by the altar of the 'Unknown God'. Like St. Paul, we should admire the efforts of people of other religions to search for God; yet like him, we should seize opportunities of telling people who have never heard the good news, about what God has done for us, in love for us, through Jesus Christ, who came through Mary.

Whenever Christ sees writing which conveys the truth about human nature; its flaws, its potential - and about the temptations people suffer, He sees Truth going up to Heaven like a fragrance, in a world where there is so much lying and deceit.

The Eucharist, for Catholics, is a sign of unity, not a step to it. A faithful Catholic cannot take part in ill-defined, ambiguously-worded ecumenical events that confuse people about truth, and yet which are meant to increase communion between Christians. The Most Holy Eucharist, treasured by Catholics, is not to be confused with a sharing of merely bread and wine, as merely a social event.

In all sorts of buildings where people gather to worship with those of the same beliefs, there can be found aspects of truth; yet the Truth that God the Father wants everyone to know is that His Son has been sent into our world, as man, to save sinners and to bring us to Eternal Life. Only in one place - the Catholic Church - is the Truth shown out in its fullness, and the full means of Salvation given.