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If we accept unavoidable sufferings with patience, from love for Christ, and offer them as a penance for sinners' conversions, in union with Christ, like Christ, it's as if we help Him to carry His Cross. We give evidence that His Passion was not wasted on us, but that we have accepted His graces and long for salvation for ourselves and others.
If we include a model of an unborn infant, when we show a selection of living creatures - or models of them - to a person who promotes abortion, and we ask him or her to name them, the answers can only be: "an elephant, a bird, a cow, a BABY", for example; at that point we can clearly ask: "Do you really believe it is all right to kill a baby because its presence is inconvenient?"
God's faithful people are walking steadily towards Heaven, bravely remaining true to Him, and to His laws, and united in love for Him and one another. Dissident Catholics are like people who stand at one side, saying to them, "You're going the wrong way!" - and inviting them to ignore the teachings of the Church and to resent her discipline.
The life we lead on earth must inevitably lead to either Heaven and Hell (even if to Heaven via Purgatory). Those who love Christ, and persevere in charity and purity in earthly life, will enjoy Eternal life in even greater charity and peace, with Christ. People who seethe with hatred, ambition or resentment, in this life, and persist in their selfish ambitions, will find themselves in Hell with others who are self-centered and lack love for Christ.
There are deep caverns in Hell, crammed with sinful souls who have refused to repent of their sins, but have freely chosen to walk on the path to Hell, despite all sorts of warnings. There, they are tormented by the demons whose advice they have followed in life, instead of listening to God.
In Hell, nothing can be more horrible than the sadism practiced on unrepentant sinners by the demons. People go on ghost trains on earth, or watch horror films, knowing that the horrible shocks and surprises will end. In Hell, unhappy souls have no hope of rescue. By their own fault, they have surrendered to evil, and are trapped with evil forever.
Some people decide to ride on a ghost-train at a fun-fair, and to find excitement in being shocked and terrified for a short time. Their shrieking is short-lived. The Lord wants everyone to know what people risk by deliberate grave sin: it is to be terrified, in the power of the demons, in Hell, not for a short time but forever. Christ was willing to come to earth, and die a horrible death, to speak the truth about sin and forgiveness, and to save us from the plight of the damned.
Many people choose to watch horror-movies or to look at sadistic images of other sorts, for a short-lived thrill of mixed terror and delight; yet the sadism practiced by the demons in Hell upon the people who put themselves in their power, through refusing to repent of their sins, is worse than anything on earth, and is unending.
There is no end to the caverns and canyons of Hell, where unrepentant sinners go, to find themselves being tormented by the demons whose advice they have followed in earthly life instead of following God's laws.
God the Father looks from Heaven upon our lives. He sees that men who injure women, or women who abort their babies, are, in effect, crucifying Christ, because whoever engages in evils such as sadism or killing, is placing himself or herself on the side of Satan, who does not want us to act with love and compassion, and tried to overcome Christ.
It is horrible, in God's sight, that when He had sent His Son to earth, to work miracles of healing before conquering sin and death, to found a Church to bring forgiveness to sinners, and to make possible the miracle of the Mass - and when it is God Who gives to each of us in the gift of life - it is horrible that, on a Sunday, a Catholic might say, "I can't be bothered by the Mass. I want to go, for example, to something more interesting, like a garden centre". What astounding contempt for our Divine Creator.
Since it is extremely sinful to ignore our Creator by choosing for selfish reasons to miss Mass, or to encourage other people to sin, it is plainly even more dreadful to tear, limb from limb, another human being - albeit a very small person in the womb, given life by God the Father. To suggest, undergo, or assist in a direct abortion is to place oneself on the side of the demons, in the war between good and evil.
Someone who is willing to poison, or to tear limb-from-limb, a tiny infant in the womb who had been given life by God is not on the side of God but of the demons, who love to see His work destroyed or damaged.
There are Catholics who complain about the Church and the world; but each of us needs a reminder that Catholics who cannot be bothered to get out of bed in the morning, to pray with reverence to their infinitely lovable and holy Saviour, are not going to become great friends of His, and cannot expect to be given great work to do, unless they change.
Very few Catholics accept the truth: that it is Christ Who teaches us through His Church; and that she teaches the truth about faith and morals. It is with pride that many speak, when they say, in effect: "On the subject of contraception, I know better, what is right and wrong, than all these Patriarchs, Prophets, teachers, Popes, Bishops and Saints."
When some Catholic children receive more teaching on self-esteem than humility, this endangers their souls. There is so much outward show, in acts of charity, and little self-effacement. The sin of pride was Satan's great fault. To become proud is to place oneself under his banner, in the war between good and evil.
Christ spoke about sudden death, caused by the collapse of the tower at Siloam. He warned people to repent. In our day, catechesis and teachers are not wrong to say what He said, in appropriate ways. We might face sudden death. The question for each of us to ponder is: 'Am I ready to appear in God's presence, without a moment's notice?'
Christ spoke of Hell to some people only because of His love for them, when He saw that they were in great spiritual danger, and might die unrepentant. It was just as when a loving father today gives a stern warning about unruly behaviour, and says: "You could find yourself in great danger". The truth about Hell should be preached today, as well as the truth about Heaven.
A priest should lead his people upwards towards Heaven, on a sure path. If he teaches them to ignore the Pope's teaching, and says that we should dispute Church teachings, and that there is plenty of time and no need to repent, it is as if he leads them into a comfortable house in a cul-de-sac. It was built by Satan, as a trap, so that they might sit there discussing moral issues and never make up their minds to obey God and to do His Will, made known through the Church.
We are right to be confident when we ask the Saints of Heaven to pray for us or for people in need. Their prayers rise up like incense to the throne of God, and bring down upon us graces from Heaven. This is especially true when we pray at the shrine of a Saint: a shrine blessed by the Church.