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The Church has approved the use of imagery, to help us grow in understanding of the Catholic Faith - and to help us in our prayer. Yet if we wish to know God, we must move in prayer beyond the image, aiming our hearts and wills, in fervent desire, towards the transcendent, invisible Father Who has revealed Himself in His Son.

People wonder why certain persons have been chosen to do certain wonderful works for Christ; yet He cannot call anyone to undertake special missions in life if he or she has already said "no" to Christ about obeying His instructions about everyday matters of faith and morals.

A person who has repented of mortal sin, and has been forgiven, after years of neglect of the spiritual life, is like a seaside shack after a furious storm. Even if it is still standing, and the rain is kept out for the occupant, it will need many repairs before it is a comfortable home. Much penance and prayer is necessary, to purify a sinner, and repair what had been damaged in him by prolonged self-love.

Christ is the way, the truth and the life: the only Saviour. Christ asks every Christian teacher, author, parent, religious, Clergyman and missionary to do what St. Paul did, who urged people to be reconciled with God, through Christ, in Baptism or Confession. It is as if Christ says, in this age of hesitation or even doubt: 'Would you send people to a false god or to false prophets?' He is the Way.

People who take other people hostage and keep them captive do the opposite of what Jesus did - Who came to set people free from sin and slavery. There is a need for prisons, in ordinary life, for people justly tried and found guilty. But those who keep innocent people captive do, in physical terms, what the evil one does in spiritual ways. Indeed, they have aligned themselves with the evil one who always opposes God and goodness.

It is good practice, to send greetings cards, with sincere good wishes. Christ sends down grace like an arrow, to the hearts and minds of those to whom we send loving Christmas greetings and for whom we pray, in our concern for their wellbeing now and their Eternal welfare.

Christ wants everyone to know and serve Him, in His Church. Everyone who claims to know Christ's Will, and professes a desire to lead people to Christ, must examine his conscience. He must answer to God for what he sees in his own heart. Each of us knows if we are really urging people to turn to Christ, or are encouraging indifferentism, saying it doesn't really matter about commitment or Baptism.

Whether we are lay-persons, or Clergy - even Cardinals - every committed Christian should examine his or her conscience, to see whether, in a time of indifferentism, each is leading people to surrender to Christ: not to a Christ of the imagination, but to the only Christ, the One guiding His Church, sharing His life in her sacraments and wanting us all to obey and love Him.

The closer is our union with Christ, in prayer and in everyday life, the greater is our understanding of Sacred Scripture. It can seem as if, by reading the Gospels, we are given a glimpse into Christ's life, Christ's mind, and Christ's purposes; and we seem to be brought even closer to Him by our act of reading with devotion.

Christ wants everyone to see what He sees: that many people are ignoring what is good and embracing evil; but of those who have stepped onto His path to Life, a large number are making little progress. They argue so much about the teachings of His Church, disagreeing with His chosen teachers - the Pope and other Catholic Bishops; and Christ cannot ask them to do great work.

People who develop a fascination with what is evil, or with representations of what is evil, can endanger their souls. When they avidly seek out portrayals of monsters, or of sadism, or love to watch horror movies, or delve into Satanism or magic in any of their forms, or associated activities like fortune-telling, it can be as if they are facing a great pit in which there is neither light nor beauty - like a black hole in space: in reality, Hell.

The Lord sees how tirelessly people search the streets for a suitable place in which to live; yet He wishes we would all expend as much time and energy on searching for the meaning of life - which He has revealed to us as being union with God in this life and in Eternity, through having our sins forgiven, through faith in Jesus Christ.

It is a terrible thing, to be unprepared for death and Heaven. A man can decide to become a great actor, a successful business man, or a brilliant guitarist - or might have some other ambition. But if all his energies are poured into the success of his ambition he will risk his soul. He will arrive at middle-age or old age having made no spiritual progress, and if indeed he has not lost all hope of salvation he will have a mountain to climb in Purgatory.

We should not expect people to reward us for our charity. God will. Christ asks us to show love to everyone, like Him: unconditional love. This does not mean that we cannot make prudent divisions about who has first place in our lives, who is trustworthy, who needs correction or even reproof; but we must be kind, and look for the best in them; however, we cannot expect that our love will always be reciprocated. Some people will ignore or reject us, no matter how kind we try to be.

God created a beautiful world, and beautiful lands. But greed, false beliefs, and a lust for power are commonplace. All over the world, sinful people - including sinful Government leaders - make other people's lives a misery. Yet only in exceptional circumstances should one nation invade another to put right dreadful wrongs.

It is right that communities, groups, and family members try to help one another to overcome problems and lead good lives; but only in the most exceptional circumstances should people in authority interfere in family life to the extent of depriving parents of their children: occasionally necessary, but otherwise a great evil.

A sovereign nation deserves respect, as does a family. When there is mis-government and misery, other countries should offer help and advice; but only in the gravest and most exceptional circumstances should one country, or a group of them, forcefully enter another, to subdue and change it - as was done, for people in desperate need in Europe, when Hitler was killing millions, with his evil regime.

Prayer for evil rulers is more important than political activism. The mind and will of a person enslaved by evil is like a temple of doom, where Satan is at work. Principles and persons are sacrificed on the altar of personal ambition, lust or greed; and that person is incapable of doing good because of his enslavement, unless he repents. By the grace of God, he could change.

When a tyrant rules, and terrorises his own people, there is great need not just for brave, wise political activists, and for men willing to be political martyrs; there is a great need for intercessory prayer, in Christ's name, so that the leader helplessly enslaved by the evil one can repent, and change.

The evil one is always trying to lead astray people who love Christ. If he cannot tempt them to sin, he tries to imitate Christ, to tempt them to believe in false teachings in prayer, or false visions, or to persuade them to develop a longing for special spiritual experiences. By trust in Christ and His Spirit, we can learn to discern what is evil and what is good.