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It is a tragedy, in Christ's sight, that many Catholics are told that the Mass is simply a meal - with no mention of the Sacrifice He offered on Calvary, which is made present in our sanctuary. At Mass, we can be with Christ as He prays for us to be forgiven, just as He prayed on Calvary. It is shameful for Catholics not to bother to attend Sunday Mass.
There are some acts which are intrinsically wrong. Even if people act from ignorance, and are less blameworthy in God's sight, He does not want anyone (especially priests) to encourage people in such acts, but to invite them to abandon such behaviour, to pursue holiness. It is never right to use contraceptives, to attempt a re-marriage which is adulterous, or to have a forbidden sexual relationship such as incest.
It is God's wish that our Catholic churches be recognisably houses of prayer. We enter, on the threshold of Heaven; and it is right that we should see reminders of our fellow-worshippers, the Saints and Angels - and of the Saviour Who welcomes us from the tabernacle - and not see merely a bare plaster wall.
If we want to approach Christ at Adoration, to show out the love that was shown to Him by His Mother Mary on earth, we need only show Him our delight in His Real Presence, our gratitude for His gifts; with joy at being so near Him, and awe at being so close to our God: just as Mary did.
God Who can work an amazing change in a chameleon, which can change his colour, can work the amazing change - in the Holy Eucharist - of bread and wine becoming Christ's Sacred Body and Blood. The natural world and the supernatural both lie within His control.
In deliberate steps (Christ explained), He had led me slowly towards a recognition of the reverence and beauty associated with the Traditional way of offering the Holy Sacrifice, and the customary way, for women, of veiling their hair in His Presence, during the Sacred Liturgy.
God never ceases to pour out His love and forgiveness towards us all; yet a person who hides behind His sins, by refusing to let go of them, stops that divine love and forgiveness reaching Him. His darkness and sadness are self-chosen; yet by repentance, he exchanges his filthy rags for a clean white garment, and his sins are banished.
When the bread and wine are consecrated by a Catholic priest, they are changed into the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ; and Christ transforms the Communicant, by His Divine life. It is no small matter, that many people, perhaps through no fault of their own, or through not knowing the truth, receive only bread and wine, in Christian bodies which do not have valid Orders.
It is no small matter, that through a break in Apostolic Succession at the Reformation, many Christian leaders have invalid orders. Not being priests, they cannot consecrate bread and wine. They and their followers receive only bread and wine at their Communion Service. It may not be their fault, but they do not receive the transforming food, Christ Himself.
A priest who fails to teach about sin, and separation from God, is as irresponsible as a parent who allows a toddler to play by a busy road, or to open tin cans alone, or to replace the blade in his father's razor.
From the 'whirlwind' of love which is the life of the Three Divine Persons in the Godhead, Christ descended to earth at His Incarnation, in the womb of the Virgin Mary; and it was always part of the Father's plan of salvation that Christ would continue to be found amongst us, by His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist.
If we persevere in fervent love of God and of our neighbour we can arrive at the top of the mountain of holiness, and enter Heaven as soon as we die. Those friends of Christ who grow luke-warm or careless are collected, at death, and taken to Purgatory, to be made fully-alive and joyful, ready for Heaven. People who have walked down the mountain, of their own free will, are heading towards the Abyss, and doom.
Whenever we know we are dealing with a powerful substance, we wisely change our behaviour. We wear rubber-soled shoes if we work with electricity, lead aprons near X-ray machines, protective clothing for nuclear power. And we should act with care, with deepest reverence, respect and awe, when close to the Source of Divine power in our midst: Jesus our God, in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Christian Way is like a ladder into Heaven. The only way into Heaven is the Way made by Christ, Who Himself came down from Heaven, and knows the Way and is The Way; unlike the leaders of other religions - despite their good intentions and what is good amongst some of the practices they recommend.
Christ said that a person who professes to love Christ whilst refusing to keep the Commandments or do the Will of Christ in other matters is like a man holding up a door, to prevent someone approaching, whilst still smiling and expressing devotion.
Wherever someone calls out to a Saint in Heaven, to ask for his or her prayers, grace pours down upon the needy as surely as sunlight pours through gaps in a huge cloud.
Although God pours down grace upon us, like sunlight through a great cloud, whenever we ask for the prayers of one of the Saints of Heaven, even greater graces are given to us when we go to the shrine of one of the Saints, and there ask for his or her intercession, at a shrine authorised and blessed by the Church.
The Saints love to intercede with God for us, to draw down grace upon us like sunlight upon dark lives. The greatest help pours down - like a blazing gift of light, covering a huge area - when Christ's Mother intercedes for us, in response to our cries for help.
Christ is truly Present on the in the Blessed Sacrament, and should be adored in the tabernacle and in Exposition
We can gain great graces from Heaven through the prayers of the Saints; yet the greatest graces are given by Christ Himself, directly, in the Mass, in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, and in Exposition and Adoration.