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It is a cause of sadness - but for even more fervent evangelisation - that many people ignore the glorious God Who gave them the gift of life. In freely choosing to reject His love, and His invitations to repent and change, they approach death and Eternity carelessly. Without a last-minute repentance, they will condemn themselves to everlasting torment and darkness, as if beneath His throne, by their own fault deprived of His comforting Presence.

It is a cause of sadness - but for even more fervent evangelisation - that many people ignore the glorious God Who gave them the gift of life. In freely choosing to reject His love, and His invitations to repent and change, they approach death and Eternity carelessly. Without a last-minute repentance, they will condemn themselves to everlasting torment and darkness, as if beneath His throne, by their own fault deprived of His comforting Presence.

Without trust in God, people turn away from Him, by a free choice. Millions of people have died with little faith or hope, and have left nothing good on earth. But the work of the Saints endures. Those self-centred people have had nowhere to go except on a single journey, chosen by them, away from God, to the depths of Hell. But the good that the Saints do lives after them, renews the Church, helps the needy, and changes attitudes across the world. The Gospel needs to be preached to the ends of the earth, to bring hope, and joy.

Christ asks us to be bolder and braver, in direct proclamation of the Gospel message, that God loves us so much that He came from Heaven to live here as man, to save us from sin, and the fear of death. If we repent and trust in Him, we can be transformed, by the graces received in prayer, and through the Church. At present there is too much 'pre-evangelisation', which is not converting people, but causing some to think conversion is not important.

If a child could look back five centuries, then another five, then another - to when Christ lived on earth, she would see: the very same Catholic Faith is taught today, as in the first century after Christ. God the Father looks upon the earth, glad to see people who believe in the whole Deposit of Faith, handed down from the time of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Yet very few believe the Faith in its entirety; so, in our age, as in the first century, and the fifth, tenth and fifteenth, there is a great need for witness, evangelisation, and intercession.

Saturation Coverage: The Lord wants everyone to know that the Mass is Christ's Holy Sacrifice. The Lord said that just as commercial people ensure saturation coverage of their products, placing images as widely as possible, He is doing the same, through Radiant Light, though not for monetary profit but spiritual benefits for all - spreading and using those paintings of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That is why He has given me so many hundreds of images of the Mass.

Christ is pleased to see Catholics arranging programmes in which lapsed Catholics are encouraged to come 'home' into the Church - but He delights in only those campaigns which offer reminders of the Catholic Faith in its fullness, with no omissions or distortions, and which genuinely help people to be reconciled to God.

A President of a great country has political power. But the most ordinary, apparently insignificant Christian has power: the power of the Truth, which, boldly spoken, can change hearts and lives, by the grace of God.

This is the ideal, for a priest: to be totally conformed to Christ - and for lay-persons too, who want to do the Will of God. Whoever conforms his will to the Will of Christ, and believes and practices the teachings of the Church, for love of Christ, and has a pure heart, avoids all sin, and shares the Faith where he can, and loves his neighbour, is a channel for God's powerful graces to others, even if he or she has weaknesses and imperfections from character defects, or poor upbringing.

Many Catholics believe it is enough to be kind to other people. The greatest love is shown when people are not only offered kindness but also when they are offered the truth which sets us free: the truth about God's love for us, about sin and virtue, repentance and forgiveness, about the Real Presence of Jesus in His Church, helping us to prepare for Heaven.

Just as, in a cold, snowy street, the people are encouraged to be cheerful because of the unseen work of electrical engineers, gas suppliers and other who provide background services, so in the 'winter' of the Church in recent times, people who love Christ and the Church have helped to keep others cheerful, and hopeful, through fervent and sustained evangelisation and declarations of faith.

There is no easy way of being a Christian. The Lord asks each of us to sacrifice whatever impedes our particular vocation. Traditionally, He has asked priests to sacrifice hopes of marriage and parenthood. Religious make sacrifices to live the evangelical counsels: poverty, chastity and obedience. Married people too must be chaste, and faithful to each other, open to life, and making sacrifices to care for their families.

The Church was badly damaged by changes, events, opinions and foolish decisions that followed the Second Vatican Council, and by misinterpretations of Council documents on catechesis, evangelisation, the Sacred Liturgy and Ecumenism. The Lord has acted, for example through some of the New Movements, to mend the damage, and to restore faith in the constant teachings of the Church.

Christ asked us to reflect upon which of several priests is the one most like Him. It is the one who teaches the truth about God and man, sin and salvation, Heaven and Hell, though also teaching about love for God and neighbour. A kind attitude in a priest is not enough. Boy Scouts can be kind. A priest must hand on the Truth as Christ did, to make Him known.

We are not all chosen to be official 'Evangelisers'; yet those who experience the peace-of-soul, spiritual growth and intellectual delight of the true Faith, and who are grateful for life in Christ, are not acting kindly if they don't share the Faith at suitable opportunities, or if they even advise other people to keep on with their mistaken beliefs or superstitious practices. It's as if people on their way to a warm climate can choose whether to take pity on a family they see, huddled in a snowfield, or can ignore them whilst rejoicing in their own good fortune.

A man who expects to hear the truth about sin and salvation, Church and evangelisation, holiness and Heaven, will often be disappointed at ecumenical gatherings where people are afraid of appearing divisive. They stick to safe subjects such as consumerism, pollution, nuclear war, and global warming, while people long to be helped to understand the meaning of 'Church', or helped in their personal spiritual journeys.

We should work and pray for the Gospel to be spread. It is plain to see, if we look across the world, that a Catholic who has his sins forgiven, and approaches death in the grace of God, with the hope of Heaven, can be at peace, whereas someone not knowing about our loving Creator or His wonderful Son, and expecting to be returned to earth in some other body, to endure further trials on earth, is unlikely to be joyful, and perhaps is terrified.

There are still many people who have not yet heard the Gospel preached. It is true, as the Church teaches, that it is possible for a person not baptised to be saved. However, this is far less likely than many people suppose, for the simple reason that many non-Christians have committed grave sins - as Christians have - but have never repented. Many have refused to join the Church, or mocked her, or mocked her priests; and of the rest, how many have followed the promptings of their conscience, for a life-time, until death, to do good and to avoid what everyone should know is evil? Only God knows.

It is not the Bishop's primary task to encourage people to 'save the planet' or merely to leave the world a better place - though we are trying to build God's Kingdom. The Bishop is a man who stands in front of the Abyss, his arms upraised, preaching, as he strives to lead his flock to repent of their sins while they can, to confess them, and to lead holy lives in preparation for Heaven.

We, in the Church, have a duty to share the truth about God's love for us all, shown out in Jesus; but if we are afraid, we cannot expect people to take an interest in what we say. We must choose whether to remain 'hidden', as if behind a huge hedge, urging others in a general way: "I know the truth", or "Jesus is God-made-man" - or we can step out to meet people face to face and speak joyfully about having learned about the Way to Heaven.