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I turned to Him, saying: 'I put my trust in you - not dwelling on the past'.

When it is difficult and costly to change our lives, for Christ's sake, and to remain sober and chaste, unlike our contemporaries, it is as though a fire burns within our hearts; yet this agony is a sacrifice which we can offer to God as a penance for past sins.

What a chasm lies before us at Mass, as we are made a part of the One Sacrifice for sin, united with that past age when Christ on the Cross to save us.

What a chasm lies before us at Mass, as we are made a part of the One Sacrifice for sin, united with that past age when Christ on the Cross to save us.

Christ helps us to look at our neighbour, not too much at ourselves. We are unwise if we dwell unnecessarily on past failures, spending too much time in our 'laundry bin'.

We can only find God in the present moment, and not by losing ourselves in the past or future

Christ gave me a pageant of joy, like a gift to a child, to balance the memory of a past pageant of torment and sorrow.

We fail in our duty if we never warn others of the consequences of serious sin and irreverence. It's as if we were to walk past people who are trapped in a swamp because they did not take the right path. They are in danger, even if they imagine all is well.

We are all on a journey, past great swamps and quicksands. It is not loving to say nothing when we see people set out on a dangerous path instead of the safe one: hence the importance of honest ecumenism, of good catechesis, and evangelisation.

After Christ's death, He rushed past many holy people in the underworld, to greet Abraham, who obeyed God's call to leave his country.

It would cause an upsurge of devotion were the many dusty, neglected altars to be renovated, so that Masses might be celebrated upon them again, as during the past many hundreds of years.

Someone whose faith is lukewarm, and whose practice of the Faith is careless and sporadic, is like the woman in the novel who grew old whilst dressed for her wedding, as the cobwebs and dust slowly covered her table and her life, trapping her in past dreams. Worst of all is a priest whose heart is dead and ministry fruitless.

If we are ever overwhelmed by shame about our past lives, tempted to be despondent even though we are loved and forgiven, we can be sure that Christ wants us to remember His Apostles. Even Peter and others sinned - yet were chosen by God for His work.

Some deficient catechesis puts great emphasis on God's work for human beings in past ages, and God's glorious plans for the faithful in Heaven, but with little teaching about how we can meet and touch God here, in the present moment.

The Catholic Church teaches the glorious truth that, in the past, God reached out to human beings in various ways; in the future, He will reward all who have remained faithful; and in the present moment He remains with His Church, guides us through the Pope and other Catholic Bishops, and is Present with us through Jesus's sacramental Presence.

Vocations have a 'seed-bed': wherever families believe and practice the Faith, love Christ and His Church, obey their pastors, and train their children, as they ought, to treasure their spiritual heritage.

Where families are faithful to the teachings of the Church, out of love for Christ and His pastors, they act as a seed-bed for vocations to the Priesthood and religious life. How can the Faith be handed on fervently by Catholics who don't believe or practice it?

Where families are faithful to the teachings of the Church, out of love for Christ and His pastors, they act as a seed-bed for vocations to the Priesthood and religious life. How can the Faith be handed on fervently by Catholics who don't believe or practice it?

Christ is pleased when we step forward when people are grieving, to offer comfort, or to make kind enquiries - even if those people are strangers. It is better than hurrying past, worrying about them but not acting.

Christ spoke to me about the devout remembrance of His Passion which has been made by so many of His followers during the past two thousand years. He said, about the 'Stations of the Cross' which I had just prayed, "You comfort my heart by your devotion". From the Cross, He could see and hear His friends of future ages comforting Him, including ourselves today.