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We can picture a Bishop in Purgatory, thinking of how he would re-appear to his fellow-Bishops, if he could, to say how much he now regrets his past silence on the subject of invalid Orders, and on sexual immorality - including contraceptive use. In failing to teach his flock, and failing to speak the truth to others, he has only avoided Hell because he was badly taught, when he was being catechised, and then trained to be a priest. All that the Church teaches is true.

It is sad to see some Bishops squabbling about comparatively unimportant matters, while, close by, people are falling into the pit - into Hell - because of their own freely-chosen actions. Those sinful people who died unrepentant are responsible for their fate; but they were not helped by Bishops who might have taught them the Faith in its fullness, with fervour, and so steered them away from danger.

Everyone receives a just judgement, at death. The Blessed Trinity, our God, is infinitely compassionate and merciful, but does not over-ride our freedom, by which we choose to follow the path to life, opened by Christ, or choose to walk away, to sin, and to end in the Abyss, in a disaster of our own making.

The gift we are given at Baptism is the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who can lift our souls up to Heaven, across the gulf, when we die. A person who has become careless or disobedient and who has driven away the Spirit of Love, and no longer lives in a state of grace, will be lost, at death, in the Abyss, unable to rely on the Holy Spirit, having refused Him.

Christ wants us to avoid the ultimate disaster. Christ leads us by love, encouraging us to follow the Way to Heaven, helped by His guidelines and graces; but those who persist in disobedience and foolishness, ignoring His Commandments and decrees, or neglecting prayer, or corrupting others, or being irreverent towards His Sacred Ministers, or persisting, without repentance, in any grave sin, are allowed to follow their own paths. Alas, these lead to the great sewer which carries souls to Hell.

In giving us hundreds of beautiful, joyful, spiritual images, Christ wants us to know that He leads us by love, not by threats of punishment; yet for a full catechesis (as shown in the recent few dozen paintings of the Radiant Light series) there must also be serious mention of death, Hell and Satan, to show the Eternal consequences of unrepented grave sin and the loss of God, in ways people can understand.

One of the main duties of a Bishop is to teach the Faith. In doing so, and teaching the Faith in its fullness, it's as if he is leading people away from spiritual and moral danger, away from the cliff-edge which represents spiritual and moral disaster and - for those who are unrepentant when they die - the way down to Hell.

Some people ignore all God's warnings about sin. It is a terrible tragedy, that some people determinedly refuse to listen to God, and refuse to accept His gifts, refusing to obey His laws and His Church, as well as their own conscience, in order to fulfil selfish desires. There can be no change of direction, after death; and some find themselves trapped forever in Hell, without God, through their own fault.

None of our unavoidable sufferings or humiliations need be wasted. By our intercessory prayers, and the patient 'offering-up' of our sufferings, in union with Christ, we cause an outpouring of His grace to fall upon someone in danger of falling into mortal sin, or falling into Hell. Christ gives us the privilege of joining in His saving work, even though we are imperfect, as long as we live in a state of grace.

People who are in grave sin, engrossed in their evil ways, are spiritually dead - though only God can judge souls and know who these are. Yet for as long as people persist in such sins they resemble dead people, walking, making their way, bit by bit, underground, on the road that ends in Hell.

Some people distance themselves from God: those who see children as a nuisance, pregnancy as a disaster, and who are actively involved in supporting or providing direct abortions, as well as people who enjoy pornographic images of abused, defenceless children, and those who maliciously corrupt or abuse children for sexual pleasure. Unless they repent before they die, they will find themselves completely separated from God, by their own fault, forever.

People who viciously or sadistically harm children, and treat them as objects to be used as they wish, or regard them as a nuisance, and people who arrange or carry out the abortion of babies, condemn themselves to an Eternity without love - unless they repent before they die.

People who freely choose to request or assist with a direct abortion, are responsible for the death of an innocent human being who has received life from God. Such choices mean that those people, in disobeying God, separate themselves from Him. Unless they repent before they die, they will find themselves in danger of Hell, by their own fault, having ignored all requests to do good, and all warnings.

By requesting or assisting in an abortion, people ignore God, and His laws. Many people know that as well as destroying babies, abortion harms the mothers involved, whether by the grief and guilt many feel, or psychological problems, or even a greater likelihood of suffering physical ailments; but everyone deserves to know the truth which is rarely mentioned: that all who request or take part in an abortion risk their Eternal salvation, unless they repent before they die.

Jesus wants everyone to know that by killing innocent human beings, people are setting themselves, by their own fault, on the path towards Hell rather than Heaven. To assist at or request an abortion is to kill the innocent; and Christ warned us, long ago, that it would be better for a man to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round his neck than to injure or corrupt one of his 'little ones'.

There is a tremendous need for intercessary prayer. It is possible for the non-baptised to be saved, if they have never heard the Gospel but have persevered until death in doing good and avoiding evil; but many non-Christians have refused to believe in Christ. Others have committed grave sin and refused to repent. Others have mocked the Church or mocked her priests. Others have ignored the call of conscience, and followed selfish ways, knowing these were wrong. Thousands fall into Hell, everyday, alongside unrepentant Christians.

Wise people reflect, and actively prepare for Heaven. As we occupy ourselves with ordinary concerns, it's as if we are on a walkway which moves slowly towards the moment of our death. Then, the quality of our relationship with God will be revealed - or even the lack of one. Some people will see God and leap into His embrace. Others gladly surrender to purification, ashamed at not being ready for Heaven. Others continue to do what they did on earth, ignoring or despising God, and freely walking away on the steep road to Hell.

The soul of a person who freely chooses to sin can be pictured as a beautiful chamber, with a pair of inward-opening doors; but this place is filled by filthy water, which leaks into that room whenever that person sins. If he does not repent, he is in danger of drowning. Even worse, if he dies, unrepentant, the doors will be unable to open, inwards, because of the weight of the filthy water. He will be sealed with his sins forever, unable to enter Heaven.

A person who deliberately sets out to harm another, in a spirit of malice, even if he knows this is foolish, is like a man on a motorboat who, full of bravado, aims his craft towards the rapids on a dangerous river. He is doomed, but does not care. People full of such malice are sure to be damned, unless they repent before they die.

Christ's invitation to us all is like the promise of a King, Who rides in a huge procession, that whoever follows Him to the palace can share His life there, as His friends, but only if they follow now, before the gates shut. It is a tragedy when some people say: "It's not convenient now", or, "It's too good to be true". The gates represent the death of each of us. People who are reluctant to follow the King might leave it too late, and find themselves excluded, which is to be in Hell.