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People in various places around the world are treated with routine cruelty, because of their ideology or type of religion. This is because the strong have power over the weak, for whom they have no respect. Life in those places is no better than life in the stone age, when the strong ruled the weak in a similar manner.

To pray in the name of Christ, with faith, is to act in a powerful way to help others and to benefit oneself and grow in holiness. Faith opens a door, so to speak; or, it's as if a person with faith in Christ, praying for others, parts the clouds that separate Heaven from earth. The Father always answers such prayers, for Christ's sake, though sometimes in unexpected ways.

No-one forces anyone to water-ski; yet a special vocation requires special dedication. Just as a water-skier can grow careless, or decide to show off, or lose courage at great speed, and find himself humiliated, and reluctant to begin again, so a priest, or any disciple of Christ, can make foolish mistakes, in a freely-chosen vocation, if he is too proud to seek advice, or begins to doubt his gifts, or is afraid to begin again.

When healthy people feel trapped in doubt, gloom or lack of hope, they might hide away in darkness, doing only the minimum of ordinary duties, and generally inactive and unsociable. The life of a Christian inevitably stagnates or decays if it is not regularly employed in the praise of God, and acts of love towards others.

Does not a great tree spring from a seed, in the dust of the earth? Why should God not have brought a man out of the depth of the earth, by His almighty power? He is capable of doing what is described in Sacred Scripture.

Who can claim that when some creatures, similar to humans but not human, were living at one side of a fast-flowing river, God could not have created, at the other side, human beings, who would begin life in simplicity and peace?

If we do wrong, we must not imagine that Christ begins to hate or despise us. He is always gazing upon us with love and compassion; but each of us can say: "When I sin, I distance myself from Him. I have failed to act like a child of God; but by repentance, I can become close to Him again.

At every Mass, we can remember our spiritual Communion, through Christ, with those Catholics who languish in jails, in countries in which the faithful are despised and persecuted. What a marvel is our union with others, in the 'Communion of Saints', stemming from our Baptism, and how powerfully we can help one another, through Christ, by our prayers.

We are wise if we adopt a habit of prayer, shutting the door so that we can pray in our 'secret place', as Christ suggested. It is a good preparation for fruitful prayer at Mass. It can also mean that we worship God with our bodies, too, as we feel able to bow, or prostrate ourselves in private before our all-holy God and Saviour.

Just as a jug can only be swiftly filled with water if the lid is wide-open, so the gifts of God can only pour into a soul in full measure when the person opens her heart wide, to God, in deeply reverent prayer, with all sins confessed, all distractions banished, and an attitude of patience and trust.

A wise person is aware of real intentions. We are not wrong to pray to God when we are comfortable, enjoying mood music and a hot drink. But the pleasant feelings developed are sense-pleasures, not indications of the presence of God. He is most reverently approached, for prayer, by those who kneel or stand, or otherwise indicate humility before Him, and who, during prayer, shun pleasure, in order to make room, so to speak, for whatever gifts and graces God might choose to give them.

These are difficult times for Catholics; yet in our day, in Europe, we have not yet had to remain hidden away, fleeing to underground passages, like the first Christians in the catacombs. But we can learn from their example. What devotion to Christ - and to Mary, when, at the end of persecutions, they built a great basilica to celebrate the Faith, for the glory of God!

If we trust in Christ and endure all trials, for love of Him, we shall be like the Prince in the sleeping beauty story, who eventually came to a beautiful castle. Christ will greet us on the steps of Heaven, and invite us to enter, to enjoy a great banquet.

Those who love Christ, who serve Him in humility, and who persevere to the end, will be greeted by Christ, and led into Heaven, to be robed in bright garments, and led into the Banquet with other members of Christ's Royal Family.

The truth about salvation is that no unrepentant sinner can reach Heaven. Those who have freely chosen to refuse God's friendship and to continue in their sins are lost. Entry into Heaven is an amazing privilege: a gift given to the pure, not a right. Those who insist on enjoying forbidden pleasures, and never repent, shall fall into the pit, when they die.

If we could see into Heaven, and if the Lord said to us: 'Is there anything bad, sour, impure, unloving, cruel or in any way sinful, here?' we would have to say 'No'. Then we would need to reflect: 'How can anyone enter Heaven if he has not yet been willing to change his life?' It is not complicated, to reach towards God. We can all start, in private prayer.

It gives joy to the heart of God, to see people helping one another, and especially to see people with special needs being helped by kind friends, relations or parishioners. These needy people are those whom others would have thrown away, at birth, since so little respect is shown for the gift of life, and for individuals.

The Church is like a city with St. Peter's basilica at the centre. There are demons outside the city, attacking people, as they cry out for mercy. Yet there are angels guarding the city and its inhabitants. The Church is guaranteed God's help and protection, through the power of the sacraments, the wise guidance of the Angels, the frequent blessing by the Clergy, and the prayers of the Baptised.

All who travel by the Royal Road of the Cross, faithful in love and sacrifice, can reach Heaven, both in their prayers, and when they die. They will meet the Saviour Who placed His Cross as a bridge across the Abyss between earth and Heaven, and whose saving work is celebrated in our feast: 'The Triumph of the Cross".

Just as God arranged that all who were bitten by serpents could gaze upon the bronze serpent and by spared, so God arranged that His own Son, Jesus Christ, would be lifted up on a cross; to look on Christ, and believe, brings healing from sin, a healing that, if continuing, leads to life with Christ in Eternity.