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All sad and wounded persons can find help through prayer. Every victim of abuse by a priest can find help and strength if he will turn to Our Blessed Lady, who will lead him towards her son. Healing rays of Divine Grace can work marvels in the hearts, minds and souls of those wounded in childhood, and still preoccupied, today, with horrible memories. God can even help them to live out their faith by forgiving their abusers.

It is no small matter, to feel ourselves dragged down by an evil force. When we are doing good work for Christ and the Church, whether it is quiet or public, the evil one tries to drag us down, to tempt us to despondency or despair, to wreck our plans, to deceive us in prayer, and to draw us away from our Saviour. We need to be fervent in fighting all dispiriting thoughts and temptations, and must rely on the grace of Christ, in prayer.

It is important to find time for silence and prayer, even in a busy life. If life is so hectic that it seems impossible, we should make a solitary place of our very own hearts. My heart can be, for me, a little 'poustinia', as Russians have called a prayer-hut; and I can meet Christ there, at peace with Him, no matter how many busy people rush around.

Right from the early times, the Church has honoured the holy Mother of God: Mary. The Church does not teach that Mary won salvation for sinners. Jesus Christ is the only Saviour. By His Passion and Death He won forgiveness for all who repent and put their trust in Him; but Mary suffered, willingly, as she stood beneath the Cross, uniting her prayers and sufferings to His. She had benefited, in advance, at her Conception, from His Redeeming Work; but when she, the Immaculate, stood by the Cross, she had no sin in her. She was one with her Son in praying for sinners. She deserves to be formally proclaimed: 'Co-Redemptrix'.

No-one in the Church should deny the importance of Missionary work. Those who revere Truth and love their fellow humans love to share the Truth about God's Love, made plain in Jesus Christ, our Saviour. There is a place for Dialogue with people of other religions; but if people called to evangelise are content to talk each time, without sharing the Faith, they have forgotten God's plan for their lives. They are foolish if they remain deaf to the Holy Spirit.

Christ delights in our friendship! And Christ welcomes our sincere prayers: the ones we offer 'outside' the Mass as well as during the Mass. Every brief prayer honours Him as we go about our work, or pause for a moment before meals, or in our leisure. Yet He is especially delighted by our willingness to make a spiritual Communion. It's as if we open wide our heart, to say, Lord, shall I speak to You or shall I listen? What is your Will?

Christ has shown us the Way to Heaven; but many people rush around from one job to another, anxious and tired, forgetting to pause and ask God's help, and some yearning for marvellous spiritual experiences or assurances about the future. The best sort of yearning is directed towards loving and pleasing God. Life becomes simple, if we pray, trust, work, and persevere in all trials.

Through the Sacraments we receive Divine Life; and so the Lord wants everyone - especially every Catholic - to remember that a Catholic church is God's House: a place of holiness. It should therefore also be a place of reverence and dignity, worthy worship of God, and beauty, as well as having artworks that tell out the truth about the Gospel message or symbols, and God's plan of salvation. It is not a place for frivolity and silliness.

If we decide, by God's grace, to leave our hiding-places, where we were nearly paralysed by fear at the thought of doing God's risky work, that requires sacrifices, we must perhaps emerge backwards from our hiding-places, in a posture of humility. Then, free from remorse, fear, and all that bound us, we can stand upright, breathe deeply, and find joy in living in the light as confident children of God.

Jesus Christ is Divine. He is God-made-man, whereas His mother is only human - though very pure and holy. Christ did not simply use the Virgin Mary as a conduit for His arrival on earth. Her life is inextricably entwined with His, and will be so forever, as she intercedes for the Church, at His side in Heaven. It was by Divine grace that she was conceived Immaculate, worthy to be the mother of the Infant Jesus. She taught Him in His boyhood, then saw Him teach others, in His adult life. She suffered with Him, as He endured the Cross; and after His Resurrection and Ascension she guided the disciples. She was with them at Pentecost. But when her work on earth was done she was assumed, body and soul, to Heaven, to be with her beloved son forever, interceding for us who need their prayers.

Life is sometimes like a building-site, or derelict area: one where the ground has been cleared from sin by confession and penance. Any priest who has been out of active ministry and is about to return has some preparation to do just as any priest who has had severe spiritual problems has work of another sort to do: perhaps a work of reparation: hence the stony ground pictured here, and the willingness of this priest to set to work.