Search Page

People who try to persevere in doing good, in ordinary life, even in obscurity, or with unexpected hardships, or further problems which seem impossible to survive, are walking steadily upwards towards Heaven, like the woman on a narrow street, sloping upwards, in a Mediterranean town.

Christ looks on with joy, with His Saints, His heart grateful that some of His flock revere the Traditional Mass - now called the Extraordinary form of the Rite - and that some priests offer it, and some of the laity assist because of their love for Christ, first of all;but also because of their desire to support and encourage priests who revere ancient ways.

To pray in the name of Christ, with faith, is to act in a powerful way to help others and to benefit oneself and grow in holiness. Faith opens a door, so to speak; or, it's as if a person with faith in Christ, praying for others, parts the clouds that separate Heaven from earth. The Father always answers such prayers, for Christ's sake, though sometimes in unexpected ways.

Does not a great tree spring from a seed, in the dust of the earth? Why should God not have brought a man out of the depth of the earth, by His almighty power? He is capable of doing what is described in Sacred Scripture.

Just as a jug can only be swiftly filled with water if the lid is wide-open, so the gifts of God can only pour into a soul in full measure when the person opens her heart wide, to God, in deeply reverent prayer, with all sins confessed, all distractions banished, and an attitude of patience and trust.

A wise person is aware of real intentions. We are not wrong to pray to God when we are comfortable, enjoying mood music and a hot drink. But the pleasant feelings developed are sense-pleasures, not indications of the presence of God. He is most reverently approached, for prayer, by those who kneel or stand, or otherwise indicate humility before Him, and who, during prayer, shun pleasure, in order to make room, so to speak, for whatever gifts and graces God might choose to give them.

If we could see into Heaven, and if the Lord said to us: 'Is there anything bad, sour, impure, unloving, cruel or in any way sinful, here?' we would have to say 'No'. Then we would need to reflect: 'How can anyone enter Heaven if he has not yet been willing to change his life?' It is not complicated, to reach towards God. We can all start, in private prayer.

It gives joy to the heart of God, to see people helping one another, and especially to see people with special needs being helped by kind friends, relations or parishioners. These needy people are those whom others would have thrown away, at birth, since so little respect is shown for the gift of life, and for individuals.

All who travel by the Royal Road of the Cross, faithful in love and sacrifice, can reach Heaven, both in their prayers, and when they die. They will meet the Saviour Who placed His Cross as a bridge across the Abyss between earth and Heaven, and whose saving work is celebrated in our feast: 'The Triumph of the Cross".

Good Christians shine out a light into a troubled world; but there are many places where little or no light can be seen, in Christ's sight: places where many evils, cruelties, tortures, enslavements and acts against helpless women are perpetrated by people who want to remain in power.

The Mass is at the heart of the life of a priest. A good priest is pleased to show the place where he offers the Holy Sacrifice daily on the altar; and he can be sure that all part hurts, memories, and failings can be offered up and 'burned up' in the great fire of love which is Christ's sacrificial prayer to the Father.

When Christ was in torment, hanging on the Cross, He suffered mental and spiritual torment too, from the knowledge of all the people who would ignore His message, and would refuse to repent: especially those who would request or carry out abortions. The sight of hundreds of dead babies grieved His tender heart.

A holy statue is a means blessed by the Church, to help us to focus on a particular holy person in prayer, and a means of propelling our thoughts towards a person who is now in glory, or to a particular topic, such as the Passion of Christ, or another Scriptural event.

Christian women who live and work in the world need not fear they are sinful if they take care of their appearance, and try to look attractive for their husbands. Sensible decisions about clothing and hair care are necessary; it is only vanity and extravagance that are unworthy of people bound for Heaven.

Only God can judge the hearts of human beings; but we must be wise, not naïve to the point of foolishness. The most dreadful cruelties are sometimes perpetrated behind the most beautiful facades, as if tortures go on, within a doll's house. Yet cruel people who refuse to repent, and who die, will fall into the Abyss, through their own fault.

The Church is a Divine Institution composed of sinful human beings on earth as well as Saints in Heaven and Holy Souls in Purgatory. To refuse to believe in the Church or the Papacy because some Popes were very sinful is as strange as to refuse to believe that public transport should be abolished because some conductors are immoral or that all schools should be shut because a few head-teachers prove unfit to be in charge of children.

The state of soul of a faithful person is peaceful at its heart - like that of a man who drifts along a calm river until he is lifted up by Christ at the moment of death. But one who had chosen to avoid Christ and His Will follows a stormy route, interiorly - as if on a raging river; and unless he repents, he is hurled, when he dies, into the Abyss.

Christ came to earth, true God and true man, to dispel the clouds of ignorance of misunderstanding that clouded human minds on the subject of the Godhead. He came here, as a tiny child in the womb of the Virgin Mary, in order to Sacrifice His Life, out of love for us, to save sinners from Hell.

An altar is not a mere table. A priest is not just a leader. A priest who lives in dark times - whether interior darkness or external difficulties - should keep in mind the Heavenly realities. The priest who, on earth, has faithfully lived and offered Sacrifice as 'another Christ' will be served by Christ at the Banquet in Heaven; and his past earthly hardships will seem insignificant.

St. Therese can be seen, raptuously praising God in Heaven because her relics have been used to inspire devotion to God. People feel close to her, are reminded of her holy life, and have greater confidence in her intercessions for us who still struggle on earth.