Images » All Images

A person who is on his way to Hell has taken that downward path only by a series of deliberate, freely-chosen acts or thoughts by which he defies God or disobeys His laws. Yet if he pauses, and regrets his choices, and simply calls out "O God, Help me" - he will be helped to move upwards towards the light: helped by God who loves Him.

There are professional people who agree amongst themselves that acts always known by Christians to be sinful are not sinful, but, rather, are admirable, and to be recommended. These people spread their views, contradicting the Lord, even as sorrowing individuals try to set themselves free from their sins. And for their disobedience to God, and their leading others astray, those confident people will suffer. "They too will be judged".

The Lord asked me to look at the time when Rome and Constantinople were united in loving and serving God in Three Persons, under the guidance of the successors of St. Peter and the Apostles - until an exchange of insults damaged this. That earlier happier state can be re-gained. But re-union is not possible with other Christians who do not accept the Pope's prominent role and who imagine that woman can be priests.

A priest deserves honour in the Church. It is the Will of Christ that we treat with special devotion and respect those 'other Christs' in our midst, who remain worthy of honour even if sick, disabled or old. Christ has chosen them for their elevated state, which is recognised even by the Angels.

It is the Will of God to draw us up, to share His Divine life, so that each of us, after death, might live eternally within the interpenetration and communion of the Three Divine Persons in the ecstatic Unity within the Godhead. Yet this is not possible for those who oppose His Will or refuse to believe in the Son Who died to save us.

We are right to pray for people in need, and to pray that they will achieve union with God. Yet there are souls who have not yet found the 'Way' which leads to God's heart. Whether through ignorance or sin they cannot yet enter the 'bright cloud'.

The visible Catholic Church is like a castle and Cathedral which towers over the landscape where sinful people hide beneath a blanket of sin, like smoke from a volcano. From the top of the Church there is a little bridge to Heaven. Church and bridge were built by Christ, Who Himself now waits to greet those who have followed His Way to Heaven.

Over the course of ten or fifteen minutes, the Lord led my soul on a journey, showing me the people who search but have not yet found the Way to Heaven, the volcano of sin which corrupts the people nearby, the far villages where people have no knowledge of Christ, the castle which represents the Catholic Church - and the little bridge to Heaven, which each of us must find and cross in order to be welcomed into the company of the Saints, forever.

It is as if there is a volcano on earth, from the mouth of which erupts - as if from the mouth of Hell - a thick blanket of smoke, of sin and corruption. It covers most of the town, obscuring the view, keeping people trapped in sin. Further away, there are quiet villages of good people who nevertheless are ignorant of how to reach God.

A person who wishes to enjoy perfect union with God in Heaven must achieve - by God's Grace - towering heights of holiness. No penance done, nor great works accomplished, nor lengthy prayers prayed, can prepare any Catholic for Heaven who has refused to give up his serious sins. Indeed, no-one in serious sin can enter.

A disobedient man will one day learn the truth. Thousands of souls who persist in mortal sin fall into Hell, at death; yet even people guilty of lesser sins must suffer after death, if they are not fully purified and ready for Heaven. For example: Bishops, priests and theologians who have failed to teach the Faith in its fullness or who have led others astray by their support of heretical ideas.

Do you live in an 'ordinary street', in an ordinary town? Whether we come from poor and humble backgrounds, or rich families, from terraced houses or mud huts or palaces, we are all called to be Saints. We can achieve this by loving Jesus Christ and doing His Will. The Church tells us what is His Will; and she gives us all we need to be obedient and faithful.

We ought always to be alert, to warn friends against danger. To see friends remaining in serious sin, or about to commit serious sin, is like being a person high up on a river-bank who sees some friends joyfully floating by on a raft, and watches another friend prepare to plunge in for a swim, yet who sees that they might all drown, when they reach the water-fall downstream. In appropriate ways, they deserve a warning.

We are right to want to avoid judging the motives and attitudes of other people; but we are not wrong to judge some of their acts, and to try to steer them away from physical or moral danger - or to rescue them. If we see a man about to leap of a cliff, we do not say, "I must not judge him". We act, to save his life. So we should at times warn people.

Catholics deserve to hear the whole gospel, about Heaven and Hell, sin and sanctity. Those who hear no warnings are likely to persist in their sins; whereas only the foolish would commit adultery, for example, if they knew that were they to die suddenly before they have repented they would fall straight into Hell.

Far fewer persons would commit adultery - or any mortal sin - if they really believed the truths proclaimed by Christ through His Church, that He lavishes rewards in Heaven upon the Saints in Heaven, but that people who commit mortal sin and die unrepentant fall into Hell, and experience the loss of God, with all the damned.

There are people apparently respectable who look lustfully at other people and so sin against God and break their marriage vows. All who commit adultery, and who persevere in it, without repenting before they die, will be in danger of hell-fire - as Christ told us.

Christ looks on with sadness as many sinners ignore all His warnings and reminders about the fate of those who refuse to repent and to abandon their sins. Everyone alive on Earth right now is making his or her way towards Heaven, or towards Hell, by free and determined choices.

Just as a child needs to know about dangerous traffic, though not the details of possible injuries, so all Catholics need to know about the danger of turning away from God - though not read lists about the agonies of Hell. Hell awaits the damned, however: it awaits those who have refused to take notice of gentle warnings and vigorous reminders.

No mother tells a toddler all the details about car-accidents; but she warns him to take care. But when teenage boys and other people become preoccupied with pornography, lustful conversations and immoral activities, it is time to warn them quite frankly about the danger of falling into Hell.