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We receive the free gift of Divine Life in Baptism. That is the start of our journey with and through Christ towards Heaven; but we choose at each moment whether to persevere. Some people do so, but some seem to throw the gifts away, and they will be lost, unless they repent.

If we are moving towards Christ, Heaven, and holiness, cheered on by the Holy Angels, we shan't make much progress if we are still picking quarrels with other children of God, or refusing to forgive.

Helped by our prayers, offered in the name of Christ, the Holy Souls make their way towards Heaven. All those who are about to be welcomed into Heaven are by now carefree, purified, and no longer remorseful or saddened by their sins. They see Heaven as an undeserved free gift, so their hearts and minds are full of thanks and praise - just like the Saints whose company they are about to enjoy.

People in mortal sin are being swept towards damnation as if in the waters of a great river that tumbles towards a large hole in the ground. The plight of many of them is due to abortion or pornography; but whoever calls out to God, 'I am sorry, Lord', can be rescued from her sinful state and restored to a life of grace and obedience.

People who live in mortal sin can be seen as immersed in a great river of sin which is sweeping them along, towards a great pit, where the waters fall underground. These people will be lost forever, unless they repent before they die. The Lord is especially aware of the horror, in our age, of the grave sins of abortion and pornography.

Christ wants us to know that He speaks to us about sin and Hell because of His great love for us. Just as a householder acts with kindness if he warns a new neighbour that there is an old well in that person's garden, where anyone could be lost, so Christ acts with kindness when He explains in various ways that certain types of behaviour can destroy the life of grace within our souls, extinguishing the light of the Holy Spirit within us - unless we repent and change.

If someone were to walk for thousands of miles, searching for peace, and found himself emerging into a place where there is, routinely, injustice in family life, corruption in Government, and war-like behaviour in everyday life, he will not find the peace he was looking for. Peace has to start in the human heart, and then spread outward. It cannot be imposed from outside upon persons whose hearts remain angry, cruel or hopeless.

Priests who find joy in the knowledge of God's love for them are like men who raise their faces to the sunshine to enjoy its warmth. Someone unhappy is as if holding an umbrella over his head, and shutting out the sun's rays. The umbrella represents any sin not yet confessed, or any injustice not yet put right, of which he was the cause. He needs to be at peace with God.

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.

Jesus Christ our God asks us to gaze above the rooftops, and across the whole of our land. He asks us to be aware that in this supposedly Christian country, in a supposedly civilised world, some politicians want to issue edicts that forbid us to teach right and wrong - especially about marriage, and purity.

A priest has been ordained in order to preach the Gospel and to offer sacrifice, in order to rescue souls from their sins and lead them towards Heaven. So a priest who leads a soul towards Hell by suggesting his mortal sins are not serious, and that, in fact, someone can continue in his sins without any pangs of conscience, is a monster, in God's sight, because he is doing Satan's work.

Especially in matters connected with other religions, every member of the clergy should be aware of the impact on others of his gestures as well as his words. If he acts in ways that confuse the faithful, or give wrong impressions to people who do not share the Catholic Faith, he is not fulfilling God's plan for his life and for his special vocation.

Jesus delights in seeing us approach Him with confidence and humility. His generosity is limitless. He rewards all who call upon His name. It's as if He is looking upon each of us, at the edge of Heaven, as He says: "What more can I do for you, My child? Place all your needs before Me."

Jesus delights in seeing us approach Him with confidence and humility. His generosity is limitless. He rewards all who call upon His name. It's as if He is looking upon each of us, at the edge of Heaven, as He says: "What more can I do for you, My child? Place all your needs before Me."

There are people who lead outwardly respectable lives but who are half-way to Hell, God sees, because of their disbelief, and their deliberate refusal to lead good lives in obedience to His laws of morality. Unless they repent before they die, they will fall into the bottomless pit, which represents eternal alienation from God chosen by the wicked.

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.

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'.

The Church is like a bus which takes grateful people through a desert. People on the bus have practical help, a little community, communal prayer, and hope of a safe arrival, whereas people who refuse to climb on, or who decide to leap off, will be making a perilous journey on foot, with no guide. What counts is being on board, even if we are uncomfortable or uncertain of our destination. The alternative is death. The 'bus' takes us towards Heaven.

Each of us will appear one day, before the throne of God. The aim of family members should be to love God and one another, and to help one another to do good and to reach Heaven. If they have any other goals, they should be subordinate to the desire for holiness. Nothing should impede their progress towards Heaven.

If we ask, God will rescue us wherther we are priests or laity. To live in alienation from God is like living, spiritually, in an Arctic world, cold and barren, swept away by icy winds, and not supportive of life. To choose to leave that world, by turning to God in trust and penitence is to find the road, that leads to Heaven: a road which is icy at first, but which leads to a warmer 'climate', and towards perfect union with God.