Search Page
Showing 301 - 320 of 635
A government leader should be like a father, acting towards his people as a good father of a family acts, encouraging mutual understanding, and protecting them, always acting justly, in a spirit of service not pride.
A good leader should always ask himself what effect his words are having upon the ordinary man who listens to him. Is the leader holding out hope of peace and justice; does he encourage the man towards co-operation in goodness, and set him a good example, or is he leading him astray?
Christ is pleased to see the traditional form of the Mass encouraged, yet Christ is Really Present in His Risen glory, after the Consecration, in every valid Mass offered by a Catholic priest, whether the words used are the traditional Canon in Latin by a priest facing, with the people, towards God the Father, or by a priest using the more recent form of words, as the priest stands behind the altar.
Everyone will see plainly, at the Last Judgement, who, in life, has pushed people aside to save his own life, and who has sacrificed his life to help others. The true state of each soul will be revealed; and the just will be rewarded, and the damned will return to Hell.
Some of the people who meet sudden death plunge deep into the depths of Purgatory, because they love God but are not fit for Heaven without purification. They go down as surely as a stricken ship goes down; yet they are safe. Everyone who dies is immediately judged, and either goes towards Heaven - even if via Purgatory - or plunges into Hell.
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.
For as long as life on earth endures there will always be demons gibbering in the darkness, trying to drag souls into sin. Whoever calls out to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, Mary, and asks for her prayers, will receive grace from God and be drawn towards the light of Heaven.
People who meet Christ after death vary in their reactions. A person on fire with Divine Love is overjoyed to greet Him. Someone aware of her still-cold heart will accept the painful 'thawing' which is her purification. Someone frozen in spirit and unwilling to be changed will freely choose to hurl himself away, into Hell.
Jesus Christ was aware of His own Origin and Divine nature throughout His whole life on earth. Though He took a human nature to Himself and lived as a little boy in our world, He did not have to be told His purpose in life. About all these things, He had Divine knowledge and implicit human knowledge, as a boy, though He had to learn how to put it into words.
If we are attacked once again for our Catholic Faith, by persons who can speak only about the Crusades and the Inquisition, we are not wrong to ask them if they have even read a book on what we really believe, and whether they are aware of all the good which Christ has introduced into the world, through His Church.
It is the Lord's wish that the Last Judgement picture be used on a sanctuary wall, as a reminder of the truths we ought to know: that each of us, by our freely-made choices, is walking towards either Heaven - by the grace of Christ - or towards Hell, which is the loss of God.
We are right to pray for people who are torn between love of God, and selfish behaviour - and for everyone. There is a battle for souls going on, as Satan tries to influence us all, and our Guardian Angels act to protect us.
Many Confessionals are empty of penitents because many of the Clergy have failed to teach the truth about sinful behaviour, and the rewards of Heaven, and the pains of Hell. Many Catholics do as they please, without respect for God. All who say 'I have no sin' make God to be a liar, and cannot be saved.
Christ is God-made-man, Who endured 'hell on earth', and sacrificed His life, in order to teach people about sin and goodness, and to conquer sin and death. He showed by his coming to earth, that the Father is not a tyrant, glad to send people to Hell, but a loving Father, Who, with His Son, has done everything possible to rescue, warn and convert sinners, to spare them their inevitable disaster.
Christ showed me that in the depths of Hell there are priests who have never repented of their wrong-doing: not just those who abused and corrupted young men and boys, but also those modernists who led people astray by their watered-down teaching and who even confirmed them in their sins, and so led them towards Hell.
Christ asks us all to believe that just as some of us, as mothers, have loved to comfort, console, warn and encourage the little infants in our arms, so Our Blessed Lady, Mary, Christ's own beloved Mother, loves to hold and console us.
There are times in life when a person who had been mired for a long time in habitual sin sees clearly the consequences of those sins, if he fails to conquer them. It's as if a war-zone lies in front of Him with destruction in every direction. Yet he has only to call out to God in humility, to find that God swoops to rescue him, and bring him to safety.
By prayer and penance, which includes the offering-up of daily troubles, we can help to rescue people in danger of Hell, people who are unworried about mortal sin. It's as though such people are playing cards deep underground, unaware of the danger they are in; and the one who prays and does penance is crawling through a tunnel, to pull them out, to reach God's light and love.
When a monk or nun or devout lay-person offers prayers and penances in order to draw a soul away away from mortal sin, into a state of grace, it's as though that sinner has been pushed along in a dangerous coal-mine, helped to reach the main shaft leading upwards so that he can reach God's light, and freedom.
A person who is content to serve God in faith and darkness, and to be obedient to His wishes in everyday life, persevering in prayer and acts of charity, is swiftly drawn by Him into contemplation - even experiencing, when God Wills, the type of prayer and union in which she leaves behind earthly things, to soar upwards into His heart.
Showing 301 - 320 of 635