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A person who says, with sincerity, 'Lord, have mercy', allows the Father to lavish upon her the sweetness of His forgiveness and love, whereas the person who refuses to repent shuts his heart to the Father and therefore to the gifts which He would lavish upon him for his consolation and salvation.
Christ told me that He had spoken the truth when He once declared that few people find the Way to Heaven. Not many are saved, He said, because the human heart is so hard and wilful. Very many people persist in sinning, even when they know they do wrong; and in this way these people freely choose their destination.
Christ told me that in His earthly life He spoke frankly about Hell as well as Heaven; yet few of those who teach the Faith, today, tell the truth about Hell. Yet, He said, through their freely-made choices, thousands fall into Hell each day; this is why it is important the people see my 'Last Judgement' picture, and reflect on it.
Christ confirmed to me that people who say that Catholics need not share their Faith, or that people of other religions will be saved by their beliefs and religious practices, are in effect declaring that Christ's plan of salvation was needless. If other religions had been sufficient to save us, why should He have come to Earth to suffer and die in agony? He came to conquer sin and death; and He alone has made a Way to Heaven.
Although many Catholics pay no attention to the subject of Angels, they really exist. They serve God unceasingly, and they love to help us. They are pleased to be pictured - Christ told me - in my 'Last Judgement' painting.
It's as if it almost breaks Christ's heart when someone refuses to listen to Him, refuses to accept the truths taught by His Church about good and evil, and deliberately walks away from the life of grace, joy and union with God to enter the fire of Hell, where live Satan and the demons and all rebellious and unrepentant souls.
By some particular sins, many people put in place a dark blanket of cloud above them, which shuts out the light and grace of God from their lives; and those sins are an obsession with pornography and violence. There is an occasional gap in the clouds, made wherever good people make entertaining films and programmes that neither harm nor corrupt viewers.
A person who is content to serve God in faith and darkness, and to be obedient to His wishes in everyday life, persevering in prayer and acts of charity, is swiftly drawn by Him into contemplation - even experiencing, when God Wills, the type of prayer and union in which she leaves behind earthly things, to soar upwards into His heart.
If a man knows that God came to Earth to conquer sin and death, by dying on the Cross to save sinners, and remains unmoved by that knowledge, he needs a very special grace, to be able to open his heart to God, and to see clearly what lengths God has gone to, to rescue him from his sins.
They are close to God, and safe; yet like the Chinese statues hidden from sight, the Holy Souls wait in a dimly-lit place, enduring their purification, as they think about their past lives, and suffer heartache because they were lukewarm in the Faith, or lacked faith in some of the Church's teachings - or prayed only occasionally, or made little effort to resist temptations, or to become really holy.
A person with a tender heart must weep, when considering the sufferings of Jesus; yet a true follower knows that the Cross is the centre-piece of His message. He showed us that even in the extremes of suffering He still trusted in the Father's love and goodness, and believed that good can come out of evil. The same can be true for us, if we believe in Jesus, and do as He asks, by repenting and being Baptised. Through Him, we can overcome sin, and even have Eternal Life.
If we meet someone who is blind to her own faults, and makes life miserable for those she waylays, we should treat her as we would treat someone with a horrible disease: with pity in our hearts, and compassion and kindness in our thoughts, greetings and actions.
A priest or seminarian, in his interactions each day, is as if swimming in a stream of truth in which there are cloudy deposits, which are worldly attitudes, modernist opinions and foolish ideas. Some of these will stick to him, unless by regular prayer he allows God to purify his heart, soul and mind. Then he will be worthy to preach the Gospel handed down since the Apostles.
Before Jesus came to earth, people everywhere were being carried away on torrents of sin. Only because He has conquered death and sin by His Cross and Resurrection can we now receive the grace to change and find forgiveness and the hope of Heaven. No-one can make himself holy, or enter Heaven, by relying on his own efforts.
Jesus told His friends a parable to encourage them to pray and not lose heart. But then He asked, about the future: "When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Today, He is asking us: Can He find faith in our homes? Are Catholic families following the teachings of the Church Christ founded, and teaching them to their children?
Some Catholic parents encourage their children towards sinful behaviour and estrangement from God by allowing them to use contraceptives and even to bring their sexual partners to sleep in their home with their children. Parents must once day answer to God for what they have done in leading their children away from Heaven.
By Sincere repentance, expressed in Confession to a priest, we take such a powerful step towards the Lord that it's as if the soul soars like a rocket, into the heart of the Godhead, to be met with cries of joy amidst the glory. If everyone knew the great benefits of sorrow-for-sin they would repent more frequently and do so with gladness!
There are streets full of houses where people who look within them see little art and hear little music: two of the great gifts received by human beings from God. God forbade imagery long ago, only to deter ancient people from idolatry. Since He gave us Christ - His own 'living image', Christians have rightly used art as a means of inspiring and educating fellow human beings.
In ancient times, when God gave the Commandments to Moses, God forbade the making of images. He was helping a primitive people to turn away from idolatry. But ever since the living, invisible God has revealed to the world His Son Jesus Christ, the 'living image' of the Father, Christians have rightly used imagery to inspire and educate fellow human beings.
When God created the world He prepared for us an amazing variety of created beauty, but no entirely blank areas. The icy poles of the earth shimmer with reflected light. The deserts are made beautiful by shadows and sunsets; and the plants and creatures astonish us in their great variety and infinity of extraordinary details. And human beings are glorious, in their variety.
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