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We are wasting time if we spend time grumbling instead of offering thanks. If we grumble, we feed our discontent, perhaps about our everyday duties, about the decisions of the priest, or about the dryness of our prayer. How can we pray without ceasing, with thankful hearts, if we cannot accept the Will of God in our lives (though this does not mean that we should be silent in the face of evil)?

Just as sailors at sea know how to 'batten down the hatches' and survive in a storm, because of some basic duties and basic wisdom, so must we hold fast to some Catholic 'basics' that will help us to remain faithful in all the storms of life. We need to know and love Christ, to turn to Him in prayer and in the Sacraments, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and Confession. If we study the Scriptures, and ask for the prayers of the Saints and Angels, and show love to our families and to the poor, we do well.

In the spiritual life, we are never stationary. We are either moving closer to God or further away from Him. We either increase our union with Him, or diminish it, by every one of our thoughts, acts, words and choices.

Christ makes the souls of sinners beautiful by His grace; and we sinful people can make our souls very beautiful by our trust in Him. When we really believe in His love for us, and act as though we believe that - confident in the power of prayer, and of the action of Divine Grace - our soul is like a beautiful temple, in His sight.

It is important that we persevere in our intercessions for the needy. There are many people who have not yet accepted the truth about God's love for them, His desire to free them from their sins, and the need for repentance and prayer, so that they can share God's life, through Christ, and follow the sure Way to holiness and Heaven. Without the life of grace, within them, people are trapped in sin and ignorance, as if in semi-darkness, in an area of chaos and hopelessness, beneath a shining highway.

Satan is tireless in his efforts to corrupt and endanger God's friends. There is a holy Way on which we can walk: a way of light and peace, on which we can walk in the knowledge and love of God, confident that by His grace and mercy we are making our way towards Heaven. Yet we must be vigilant until the moment of death, determined not to allow Satan's tricks, or our own weaknesses and sinful instincts, to draw us off that road.

"Radiant Light" Images: These provide a sort of 'Catechism in pictures'. The purpose of 'Radiant Light' images is to cast light upon the teachings of the Catholic Church, to enable people of all places and backgrounds to see with clarity the most important truths of the Catholic Faith, to help them to enter or persevere on the one Way to Heaven, following our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Children deserve to have peaceful childhoods, with mixed work and fun. Can anyone who really cares about little children want them to learn about sex and reproduction? They are too young. It is their parents' task, for later on - and not something for early years, discussed and illustrated in mixed classes, with little or no moral content. What would our reaction be, if children came across pictures of body parts and sex techniques and contraceptive devices?

We can picture Heaven as being like another country. Wise people who want to enter a new country have some humility, and are willing to allow their documents to be examined, to see if they are in order. We are foolish if we expect to drift into Heaven if we have made no preparations for our new way of life, have no humility, and rely only on God's kindness towards us, while forgetting His blazing holiness, that only the holy can understand!

In St. Joseph's shrine, in Missouri, for example, people of earlier centuries were immersed in Catholic imagery and culture. Absorbing it, they were helped to withstand the alien culture outside the places of worship. Today, we need to be so immersed; and since so many of our Catholic churches have been stripped bare of imagery, that is both inspiring and educational, God has provided both truth and beauty in the Radiant Light collection of pictures, in which anyone on-line can be immersed.

We should rejoice, if we have the relics of a Saint amongst us. We should ask for the prayers of the Saints, and receive their wonderful help, which is God's help poured through them. No matter how little-known some are, each Saint is now glorious in Heaven, and is a powerful intercessor for members of the Church: for those of us on earth, and for those in Purgatory.

When we turn to our friends, the Saints, to request their prayers for ourselves and our intentions, it's as if the Saints lead by the hand the one who prays, to bring her closer to God. It has been the delight of Christians, since the earliest days of the Church, to know that those who have gone before them, to Heaven, are alive in Christ, and praying for them.

Some truths can scarcely by borne. It is tragic that a child in our world, who begins by trusting others, sometimes has that trust shattered - by family problems - or by war, when even children have ended a train journey in concentration camps. Despite these horrors, Christ asks us, who believe in Him, to trust Him, who is trustworthy. He asks us to be like little children, confident that He Who is good and loving, can help us to endure all trials, and eventually reach Heaven.

The Church is a home like no other: a true home for sinners. Christ wants us to hold up our heads bravely despite all the criticism currently made of the entire Church because of the wicked acts of a very small number of priests. He sees the Church as a giant, amongst institutions and organisations as She sustains and promotes life through her medical work, educational projects and care of the poor - as well as her main task: the care and salvation of souls, for the glory of God and our eternal joy.

Saint Michael is a powerful warrior, glad to protect God's children from the evil one: from temptation and spiritual assaults. We should turn to him in prayer, and to other holy Angels, and to the Saints, when we are in need of help, as well as to our Saviour and His Virgin Mother.

Christ asks all the members of His Church to love one another with a holy love. If we cannot do that, He asks, how can we possibly act with authentic, holy love towards people outside the Church, many of whom oppose our teachings, our plans, and our participation in the life of our community or country?

God has asked us to become perfect, like Him; yet the journey to perfection can seem like a steep stairway, almost impossible for weak people to climb. Christ asks us to believe that, as long as we keep on climbing, with His help given through prayer and the sacraments, we shall find that He draws us up, towards that doorway which leads to Heaven, as soon as we are ready, and our work is done.

God gives us all sorts of help, in earthly life. When we turn to a favourite saint, to ask for his or her prayers, it's as though we have turned towards an elder brother or other relation about building a home, for example, if he were an architect. Christians are wise if they turn to the great experts in the Faith: the heroes and heroines who remained faithful and reached Heaven.

Satan is at work to draw us towards foolishness and sin. Wherever there is a crisis, stirred up by the influence and power of the evil one, innocent bystanders are caused to suffer - just as our Blessed Lady suffered as she stood beneath the Cross, though she was innocent, and watched her son die in agony. We must pray for all who become embroiled in tragic events, that they will remain united to Christ, and not lose heart.

We should try to do everything calmly, trusting in God. If we rush and fuss, as we go about our ordinary activities, we are likely to trip up and make mistakes; and so it is in the spiritual life. If we try to rush ahead, unwilling to do God's Will carefully, and with patience, we are liable to make mistakes, to trip up and make silly decisions.