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When the Angels bow low, in awe, at the arrival of Jesus Christ, at the Consecration, they demonstrate, by their action, their interior disposition. We can do the same. We can express our adoration and love by reverent gestures, prayers, genuflections, and also by our silence in church, and our modest clothing, and dignified bearing.

If we have abandoned our sins, by God's grace, and if we love God, and arrange our day so that we offer frequent, sincere prayers, we can be sure that God looks upon our soul with delight. It's as if He sees a well-tended, well-watered garden, with weeds under control. We are free to choose one type of prayer or another, just as a gardener can choose to grow more vegetables than flowers. The Holy Spirit guides us.

By the intercessary prayers we offer 'in Christ', with faith, we can help to draw up souls closer to holiness and Heaven - even those who do not yet know or love Christ. This is true, so long as the person prayed for does not deliberately refuse the graces God sends her - as if cutting herself 'free' from God; and one who accepts grace finds its brilliance painful, perhaps, as it illuminates dark areas of his conscience and his daily life. It's as if he must shield his eyes.

There are some people earnestly in need of the intercessions of the faithful. Those needing help are not just the people who do not yet know Christ, but also those Christians who ignore their spiritual obligations. In Christ's sight, it's as though these choose to live in the gutter, since they rarely, if ever, confess their sins, or offer sincere prayers.

It is a great grace for a lapsed Catholic to receive the Sacraments of the Church before death. This can change that person's eternal destiny, from being hopeless - if he or she was in a state of mortal sin - to being glorious. It's as if Christ carries that soul upwards, even if the soul must spend a while in Purgatory before reaching Heaven.

It is a charitable act - a work of mercy - to attend a Requiem Mass where the sole connection with the deceased and the relations is the communion that is shared in and through Christ. The mourners are comforted by additional prayers, the dead have the Mass offered for the repose of their souls, and the clergy benefit, and God is given glory by our kindness.

There were ancient temples where pagans offered sacrifices, and kept their victims in a dark underground chamber. There are many people today who freely 'sacrifice' their own souls by their un holy practices; and by these sins they freely move away from the light of God towards the dark, eternal state of being-without-God, rightly called Hell.

Each of us should ask, if we think about death, "Will my soul rise up to Heaven, helped by the outstretched arm of Christ?" If we do not turn to Christ, and allow Him to forgive our sins, and to bring us to Heaven by His Divine power, we cannot save ourselves. We shall have no-where to go except downwards, into the eternal loss-of-God that is called Hell.

Christ has told the Church, through His Pope, our Pope Benedict, that priests are free to offer the Mass in the Extraordinary (Traditional) form; yet many Bishops have shown reluctance to welcome this instruction; or they still make it difficult for lay-persons to find such a type of Mass with its beauty and reverence.

We need not be surprised if enemies of the Church shout out their opposition to her on seeing the Pope, for example, as he pays a visit to another country. Even the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, experienced opposition, mockery, and worse. But we must keep the Pope and all the Clergy - and the whole Church - in our prayers.

To be alienated from God by sin, or to be in a confused state, with little faith, can seem like being trapped in an underground cave, in the gloom, with no visible exit. Yet God is all-powerful and good. No-one need feel hopeless, if he turns to Him in trust and repentance.

While a man lives, he can hope to be saved. As long as a man lives, he can hope to be able to repent of his sins and to be saved. Even a priest, guilty of scandalous, sinful behaviour, has the hope of being forgiven, changed and made worthy of Heaven, if he is willing to repent, in sincere contrition, and sincere trust in Christ. Repentance is like a rope that God gives him, to draw him from the danger of eternal loss.

Amongst faithful priests there are others who act with timidity or cowardice. People complain when priests are guilty of sexual immorality; yet Christ sees something scarcely less sinful in His sight as He watches priests who have their heads down, as they avoid giving clear teaching on sexual morality; in this way they fail to give the guidance they have been called to give, and fail to lead sinners away from their sins.

We should recognise what God can do in our lives, at our consent. When a grateful person believes in Christ, surrenders to His wishes, and with prayer, penance and acts of charity allows Christ to transform her, whatever the cost, Christ works an amazing transformation. To change a person with sinful ways into someone who lives for the glory of the Blessed Trinity is like changing a go-kart into a Rolls Royce.

God is so good that He sent His own Son to suffer, to save us. Christ has warned us that we follow a 'hard road' to Heaven, and that few find it. People who have fallen into Hell have died unrepentant, having ignored God's laws, taken no notice of the Gospel, and having refused the help of wise friends who warned them of the danger of continuing in grave sin. And now they cry out in horror at their predicament, in the sea of fire in the depths of the Abyss.

We are all horrified to think of victims of an avalanche, many still trapped beneath tons of rocks and snow, in their vehicles. Those who died have had a dreadful end; yet no suffering is as great as that experienced by people who die alienated from God, and unrepentant. In life, they were being damaged by sin as their intellects and consciences were darkened. Without repentance, sinners risk the loss of God after death, forever: a state called Hell.

Catholics who work in mission and evangelisation can often be seen as calling out into the dark, in the heights of a great cavern, as they look down to the depths where many people are hiding away from God. Someone in this sort of Apostolate should have a burning desire to share the good news about God's love for us, about the forgiveness of sins, and about the graces made available through Christ and His Church, to bring us back to God and to prepare us for Eternity.

Many priests should preach more than at present about Confession. Just as an ordinary housewife can tell if her neighbours are alive and active, if she sees their washing pegged out on the line each day, so a priest knows that many of his parishioners are fervent about Christ and Salvation if they provide evidence by going to regular Confession, as well as doing good for others. What should a priest think if almost no-one goes to the Sacrament of Penance, but everyone goes to Holy Communion?

We are right to pray for prisoners, as we think of one needy group of people, then another, as we make our intercessions; yet the worst sort of 'captivity' is brought about by grave sin, when a person imprisons himself through freely deciding to do what is gravely sinful, or to neglect an important good. The good news is that, helped by Divine Grace, he can repent, and open the door of his 'prison', and set out on the path to Heaven.

Earthly idols have sometimes been so glorious as to make men tremble with awe - yet the glory of Almighty God is a million times greater. How important it is, that we sinful creatures show reverence and love towards God. Christ, the Son of God, looks with kindness upon all who approach Him or His Father in sincere prayer; yet it is reverent souls who are invited to enjoy intimacy with God.