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The seed of our baptism is meant to grow into a mighty plant and take us to the heights of the spiritual life, so that at the end of life it is only a short step to Heaven.

In the course of our spiritual life, the 'climate' changes, when someone moves from a 'snowy' area of loneliness and pain to a joyful area of sunshine and harvest - with much joy and fulfilment - before 'rising up' to Heaven.

When someone is suddenly enlightened by God, it is as if an undersea earthquake takes place. The 'shock' of a new illumination in someone's soul brings great changes in the 'landscape' of his life.

The Lord sees much of our world as being a bleak landscape, cold and almost lifeless, where even the gift of a living human being is seen as a nuisance and impediment to joy.

In God's sight, our land is often like a desolate landscape with only few places where children are truly treasured.

The Church is like a bright home, full of life, in an almost deserted, snowy landscape. Where people really love life, and love and welcome children, they also care for the old and the sick - unlike many around them who work to extinguish life.

Where people listen to the Church, and thank God for their children, and put the needs of family before their own ambitions, a home is like an oasis of light; old people and the sick are valued and cared for, as if in an oasis of light amidst the gloom of an uncaring society.

If the Angel of Death were to appear over a country today, as over Egypt many centuries ago, there would be little need for that Angel to act, as so many parents, with the help of others, have already destroyed their unborn children.

If the Angel of Death were to appear over a country today, as over Egypt many centuries ago, there would be little need for that Angel to act, as so many parents, with the help of others, have already destroyed their unborn children.

The Lord sees modern life as resembling a bleak landscape, when even the gift of a living human being, who is very small and in need of nourishing, is met not with gratitude but with poison or the knife.

Some parents arrange to have their children killed before birth, which is against the Will of God Who creates us all and Who alone gives life.

When we are ill, and Christ comes to us in Holy Communion, it's as if He insists in helping us to lie down on a couch; and when He is sure that we are resting comfortably, He sits on the floor beside us, so that we can talk at leisure - or simply be quiet.

A person who has not seen a warning, and who skates on the thin ice, might be blameless, but still risks danger. So with those who commit from ignorance what are objectively sinful acts. They might not be culpable, but they are in danger of making a habit of sin, or being led to worse.

Someone who sees a warning about thin ice, and deliberately disobeys, even stomping on the ice in a display of 'bravery', will certainly fall into the freezing depths. So it is with grave sin, committed by persons who refused to listen to warnings. Through such sins, people risk disaster: the worst of all being the loss of God.

Just as a person who deliberately skates on thin ice is bound to fall through it, so people who willfully ignore God's laws risk falling and being lost.

Just as a person who deliberately skates on thin ice is bound to fall through it, so people who willfully ignore God's laws risk falling and being lost.

Those who turn to the Lord in their sufferings receive graces and blessings, and even new hope, unlike those who neither ask for His help nor thank Him for what is good - some of whom fall into despair.

As a beanstalk grows high, towards the sky, so should our spiritual life 'grow' towards Heaven. Though at times it seems as if we am growing 'downwards', the truth is that we can be moving in a great spiral, closer and closer to our Heavenly Home, even now, while we are doing little of outward importance.

In a seaside town, we can gaze at the busy streets and harbour, or turn to admire the sky and the calm sea. So, in our souls, we can gaze at our problems, in gloom and confusion, or we can choose to 'turn' to look towards God, to rest in Him, and to gain wisdom and peace.

Christ is with us in Holy Communion, bringing comfort and consolation. Sometimes He must correct us, but He also actively encourages us, and rewards us, for following His way.