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God is all holiness, purity, goodness and radiance. When we die, shall we be sufficiently like Him to be able to reach out to Him with joy, or to do so after some preparation? If our immediate reaction will be complete rejection of God there will be no place to go except down, away from Him into the Abyss.

The problem at the heart of many modern tragedies is that a person refuses to love his neighbour. This is true, whether soldiers burn the crops of terrified people, or healthy people treat the sick as a nuisance, or someone sets out with deliberate plans to make a person miserable. People who do such things ignore God's wishes. We need to examine our true intentions.

Priests should set an example of holiness and purity, neither giving up nor watering down the Faith, nor developing a worldly spirit in order to be popular. They will do little good if they are disloyal to the Saviour, Who asks them to imitate Him, and keep people safe from Hell.

A worldly priest hopes to fit in, more easily, with society; yet he will do no good amongst those with little interest in religion or the moral laws if he seems to be disloyal to Christ, and disloyal to the ideals of charity, simplicity, chastity and humility that he should uphold.

We act like wise 'children of God', if we go to Mary, our Blessed Mother, seeking her help in approaching the Father through Christ, in prayer. She can help us to purify our intention, to clarify our thoughts, and to prepare a Gift for the Lord, the gift being the thoughts, words, offerings we offer each day, perhaps with a special degree of hope, patience, or long-suffering.

Christ's own people found it difficult to recognise, in a Person suffering pain and humiliation, the King or warrior they awaited as a Saviour. But in His Resurrection Christ performed a marvel greater than any achieved in a throne-room or a battlefield. Truly, He and God the Father are One, as Christ said.

People walk toward Christ and Our Lady when they approach the Grotto at Lourdes; and whenever people approach Christ and His Mother - through the Blessed Sacrament, or at Mass, or at a shrine, or in private prayer - they are 'walking in the right direction'.

We are used to making kindly judgements, as Christ has requested; but it can happen that a priest grows lukewarm. He acts in a pleasant, affectionate manner, whilst neglecting his prayers, and failing to show people, in private, the respect he shows in public.

When a fellow pilgrim is shrieking as if possessed, it is not surprising if we are distracted from our prayer, wondering who this is. If we heard a train crash when we were driving nearby it would not be unnatural to look, and wonder, and then pray.

As if looking through a colonnade at busy people, a person in the Church who has begun to doubt his vocation feels as if he is isolated, in a dimly-lit place: an outsider, looking inwards, and afraid of greater commitment. Prayer is essential, by him, and for him, if he is to look on his state through the eyes of Christ.

When we are praying the Gloria at Mass, or when the priest prays the Eucharistic prayer; it's as if the skies split open, to reveal the great company of Saints who also praise the Father. We are united with the whole Church, through Christ our Head.

It pleases Christ when we examine our conscience, daily, recognise our faults, confess them and to try to change, by His grace. Whoever confesses sins should do so with confidence in Christ's love, and in His power to help and save.

Christ is deeply touched whenever we show devotion to Him in the Blessed Sacrament - and especially when we search out the tabernacle whenever we enter a Catholic church away from home, and cannot see our way to it. Christ would like to show us more delight and gratitude, but would completely overwhelm us.

Christ does not see many images of Angels or even Saints in many modern churches, though He would be pleased to see them; but He assures us that real Angels really surround Him at the altar, both at the Mass and during Benediction, or by the tabernacle. They are servants of Him, the King.

Christ is pleased to see that some churches are adorned with images or statues of Angels, interiorly or exteriorly. These are worthwhile reminders of the beautiful spirits who are our Heavenly companions, and who have served God in every age of history - helping God's friends in Old Testament times, and still doing so today.

We are right to put prayer first - to put Christ first - no matter how busy our day. Whether we are religious sisters or mothers looking after sick children, we will do our work better and more cheerfully if it is underpinned with prayer. Blessed Mother Teresa insisted that her busy sisters had an hour's adoration each day.

It is always worthwhile to pray for people who are apparently being swept away on a tide of sinful practices. By our intercessions, in Christ, we make it more likely that they will recognise the truth, that they are in danger of spiritual ruin.

She is only human; however, Our Lady can bring down Divine grace upon us. When the Blessed Virgin Mary reaches up in prayer to her son, to ask Him to help us, He hears her; and when her son turns to His Heavenly Father, in Heaven, the Father hears Him; so we can be confident that it is worthwhile, in every situation, to seek the help of our dear mother, the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God.

By deliberate misdeeds, whether acts of malice or immorality, it's as if a man places himself at a distance from Christ. He cannot hear Christ's good advice about repentance and salvation; indeed, he does not want to listen - yet there is no way into Heaven except through Christ. We must pray for all sinners.

As Jesus was close to Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus died, so, He is close to all who mourn and weep today, sharing their sorrow.