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Jesus delights in seeing us approach Him with confidence and humility. His generosity is limitless. He rewards all who call upon His name. It's as if He is looking upon each of us, at the edge of Heaven, as He says: "What more can I do for you, My child? Place all your needs before Me."

There are unnecessary and dreadful tragedies to be seen today. God sees a terrible change taking place in our hospitals, as some doctors and nurses develop a pro-death outlook, and share their views as they persuade people that old people are useless and should be helped to die, and that 'selective terminations' are the answer to multiple pregnancies, that a diagnosis of a tiny infant in the womb with Down's Syndrome should be followed by killing of the unborn child, and that food and water can be denied to someone old or frail.

The Church is like a walled garden, in which both the clergy and the laity have opportunities to resist temptations in the clamour of the world, and to become peaceful, holy people - able to become free of greed, selfish ambitions and other dangers. All of us need to stay close to Christ in prayer.

The Saints and Angels stand around Our Blessed Lady now, in Heaven, in awe of her privileges -- her Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption into Heaven - and in awe of her amazing holiness; yet she is as simple as a child, and kind, like her son, Jesus. We must not be afraid to approach her, to celebrate her feasts and to ask for her prayers.

We should be able to defend the Faith. It is not superstition. We believe in things Divinely revealed, but our faith is not unreasonable. God's beauty, power and laws are discernable in nature - including our nature and conscience. There is historical evidence for Christ's life; and His friends were transformed and made brave by His Resurrection. We have two thousand years of evidence - despite sins and mistakes - that Catholicism elevates society, marriage, government, education, treatment of the sick, and children, and brings peace, and hope of Heaven.

Christ is touched to the heart by our desire to celebrate His Birthday, at Christmas, and by our desire to share our joy in His love and goodness with other people, through cards and letters. It also strengthens bonds on the family, and society.

When we live in union with Christ, it's as if we find, through the union of our humanity with His humanity, that we achieve union with His Divinity, which is One with the Father; and so, through Christ, we have access to Heaven. Even though we cannot see it, we know that our prayers reach Heaven, through Christ, in the light of the Holy Spirit; and we are at peace.

We are sometimes impatient, expecting instant intimacy with Christ, and sweet spiritual experiences; but Christ purifies those who love Him. Those experiences of repentance and remorse can seem like a journey through a minefield; yet the bliss of known union with Christ is given as a gift to those who persevere through the 'dark nights' of the soul.

We must persevere in our belief that God is good, whatever happens. God asks us to trust in Him, whatever we experience in life. Just as mountain-climbers keep on believing in the existence of the peaks, even when sudden mists obscure the view, so, faithful followers of Christ must trust that He will lead them Home to the Father and Heaven even when the Way ahead seems to be uncertain, or the Goal impossible to reach.

It was as if from the 'womb' of the Godhead, from the heart of the Mystery of the Godhead, was born love, embodied, when Jesus Christ took flesh from the Blessed Virgin Mary. He came to earth to be our Saviour: to invite His beloved creatures to accept His free gift of salvation and joy.

Whoever wants to be at peace with Christ need only take a few simple steps to emerge from misery and isolation. We need only make a gentle confession, regretting our sins, but determined to stop sinning, and wanting to be freed by the graces of the sacrament. Then we can go to Mass and Holy Communion, knowing we have been made worthy to take part!

By humility we can advance in holiness. No matter what way of life we believe the Lord calls us to, we sometimes act like the man in Christ's Gospel story. We might assure Christ that we will obey Him, yet then walk away, or we might refuse to serve - then regret our decision, and come back, contrite, like the man who returned, as Christ said, to do his father's will. Whoever returns like this gives joy to Christ, and follows the right path.

Through our union with Christ, we have access to the Father. When we receive Christ in Holy Communion, and are in a state of grace, it is as though we can enter, from within our own soul, a great glorious chamber which represents the Godhead, or rather, the inner life of God. What a privilege! And how often taken for granted!

If we find it hard to believe that Jesus is Present in the tabernacle of our church - sacramentally Present - we can picture Heaven as being so vast that it stretches as far as our church, over the place where the tabernacle has been placed. Christ Who is Really Present in Heaven is also Really Present, we can deduce, in the tabernacle.

A joyful soul, in a state of grace, is like a brightly-lit, warm cottage in the middle of a frozen landscape. It is attractive to those who long for joy and warmth in their own lives, but not to cynics with little or no faith, who are suspicious about the source of such joy, and call such souls 'naive' or 'foolish'.

In all sorts of buildings where people gather to worship with those of the same beliefs, there can be found aspects of truth; yet the Truth that God the Father wants everyone to know is that His Son has been sent into our world, as man, to save sinners and to bring us to Eternal Life. Only in one place - the Catholic Church - is the Truth shown out in its fullness, and the full means of Salvation given.

Everything that happens on earth has been planned, permitted or chosen by God. Yet God's gift to everyone in His plan of salvation, and to everyone on earth, is freedom. Whoever serves Him does so having freely chosen to do so. God coerces no-one, not even the Mother of His own Son, Jesus Christ. If we look past the figures of Christ and Our Lady, to whom we pray so often, and approach the Invisible Father, we can remember: a wise person is one who chooses Life.

The Church is like a bus which takes grateful people through a desert. People on the bus have practical help, a little community, communal prayer, and hope of a safe arrival, whereas people who refuse to climb on, or who decide to leap off, will be making a perilous journey on foot, with no guide. What counts is being on board, even if we are uncomfortable or uncertain of our destination. The alternative is death. The 'bus' takes us towards Heaven.

Except in special circumstances, we can find that, if we open our hearts to God, even in difficulties which seem insufferable, we allow God to act in our lives and our souls, whether by unexpected changes, or simply by pouring upon us His comforting graces. As Jesus said: 'Come to Me if you are burdened, ...and I will give you rest'.

As we try to love God more and more, in a state of grace, we should be alert, and attentive, eager to please Him and serve Him well; yet we must not be made despondent by our tiny faults. In His sight, they are like tiny specks of dust on a polished table: insignificant, almost inevitable, and quite unable to diminish His love for us, in our loving union with Him.