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It is God's wish that our Catholic churches be recognisably houses of prayer. We enter, on the threshold of Heaven; and it is right that we should see reminders of our fellow-worshippers, the Saints and Angels - and of the Saviour Who welcomes us from the tabernacle - and not see merely a bare plaster wall.

If we want to approach Christ at Adoration, to show out the love that was shown to Him by His Mother Mary on earth, we need only show Him our delight in His Real Presence, our gratitude for His gifts; with joy at being so near Him, and awe at being so close to our God: just as Mary did.

God Who can work an amazing change in a chameleon, which can change his colour, can work the amazing change - in the Holy Eucharist - of bread and wine becoming Christ's Sacred Body and Blood. The natural world and the supernatural both lie within His control.

God never ceases to pour out His love and forgiveness towards us all; yet a person who hides behind His sins, by refusing to let go of them, stops that divine love and forgiveness reaching Him. His darkness and sadness are self-chosen; yet by repentance, he exchanges his filthy rags for a clean white garment, and his sins are banished.

If we persevere in fervent love of God and of our neighbour we can arrive at the top of the mountain of holiness, and enter Heaven as soon as we die. Those friends of Christ who grow luke-warm or careless are collected, at death, and taken to Purgatory, to be made fully-alive and joyful, ready for Heaven. People who have walked down the mountain, of their own free will, are heading towards the Abyss, and doom.

Whenever we know we are dealing with a powerful substance, we wisely change our behaviour. We wear rubber-soled shoes if we work with electricity, lead aprons near X-ray machines, protective clothing for nuclear power. And we should act with care, with deepest reverence, respect and awe, when close to the Source of Divine power in our midst: Jesus our God, in the Blessed Sacrament.

Wherever someone calls out to a Saint in Heaven, to ask for his or her prayers, grace pours down upon the needy as surely as sunlight pours through gaps in a huge cloud.

Although God pours down grace upon us, like sunlight through a great cloud, whenever we ask for the prayers of one of the Saints of Heaven, even greater graces are given to us when we go to the shrine of one of the Saints, and there ask for his or her intercession, at a shrine authorised and blessed by the Church.

The Saints love to intercede with God for us, to draw down grace upon us like sunlight upon dark lives. The greatest help pours down - like a blazing gift of light, covering a huge area - when Christ's Mother intercedes for us, in response to our cries for help.

We are right to ask for the prayers of Our Blessed Lady, and to honour her as the Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven; but we are wise to remember how much she loves us with a tender, motherly love, longing for us to become holy. She is a mother who, at the edge of Heaven, is looking out, waiting for her children to come home.

Christ showed me a stretch of land before me, like a forest-floor covered in snow. This represented, He explained, the new day which stretched ahead. I can make careful footprints on it, by what I choose to do. I should use my time well, and 'walk' carefully.

A charitable person teaches children how to behave in God's house and how to pray; and she therefore helps them to find inner peace in the Presence of their Saviour. It is not charitable to let a child run riot and disturb other people, in a place specially consecrated for Christian prayer.

It was as a 'cloud' over the earth had been rent apart, when Jesus toured Galilee, speaking the truth about the purpose of life, the glory of the Father, the need for repentance, and for Baptism. He showed out God's nature and God's Will. He revealed the extent of Divine Love by accepting death on a Cross, rather than give up His Mission. He proved His Divinity by His miracles, above all by His Resurrection.

If we 'offer up' our sufferings in union with Christ, interceding for sinners, we can help people who have not yet heard Christ's message, and have not yet repented. By the grace of Christ, we can help save those people who would otherwise fall into Hell, far below the glory of Heaven.

In the spiritual life, it can seem as though we travel on a narrow path, between high walls, with little hope of finding joy. But just where the path seems most unpromising, it can open out - if we persevere - into an orchard, full of trees laden with fruit and lush foliage. Helped by the prayers of the Saints, our state of life is becoming fruitful.

As the Son of God looked down from Heaven towards the filth and darkness which He would enter, far below, when He came into our sinful world, He saw the Blessed Virgin Mary, who had been prepared, at her consent, as a safe place for Him who is all purity and goodness. She was like an 'ark', to hold and protect Him for a while.

We can be helped to bear painful memories if we notice the spiritual growth that was the result of accepting and offering up those trials in union with Christ - even those caused by our own foolishness. All seems disastrous when a flower bud splits open; but only by that 'injury' can a beautiful flower emerge.

Some people want intimate friendship with Christ, but refuse to keep His Commandments. In refusing, it is as though they insist on walking a different road from His Way to Heaven. They end up on dangerous side-roads or cul-de-sacs.

By ourselves, we cannot penetrate the bright cloud which is the Godhead. But God reaches out to some of us with a firm invitation to enter - in a sudden conversion - or reaches out at the very instant that someone calls out for His help. Unless we enter His life we shall, in the end, fall into the void.

Our guardian Angels always pray with immense reverence and devotion. They love to see us pray in the same manner; and though we do not usually see them we can delight in the knowledge that they are beside us as we pray: our faithful guardians and companions.