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It is true that groups of Christians outside the visible unity of the Catholic Church join in Christ's saving work by baptising their members. But it is tragic that those young Christians are often taught mistaken things about faith and morals, and so encouraged to sin - even if their instructors thought they were right, in approving of contraception, divorce and remarriage, even abortion and other evils.
Long ago, people did evil. It was as though there was a thick cloud of sin covering the world - even before there was a huge river of dead babies, killed by abortion. But Christ pierced the cloud by His Incarnation. He made a way up to Heaven. He asks each of us to work beneath the cloud, in our societies, to change things for the better, until we rise up to Heaven.
Those who say nothing about the evil of abortion are allowing it to go on. How many more millions of babies will be killed in the next forty years?
When people desert Christ and the Church it's as if they leave a wide open space around their city that must be filled. Therefore, dark forces move in, like a big shadow creeping forward.
Nursing used to be seen as a caring profession. Now, those nurses who are deeply upset by the killings which are called 'termination of pregnancy', are shunned as over-emotional, or trouble-makers, or as unsympathetic to women 'in trouble', whereas they deserve support: and the right to avoid involvement in such evil procedures.
In permitting an evil such as the killing of unborn babies, society contributes to the depressed state of many women. If encouraged to love their babies, they could have flourished, even in difficult circumstances, but having done wrong, and knowing it, many women carry a burden of guilt, made worse at every reminder, or anniversary.
Satan can appear in any form, in the imagination, in order to terrify, weaken, assault or discourage a follower of Christ. The fulfilment of Christ's plans is something he cannot bear to see, and he has all sorts of deceit and trickery which he uses to draw people away from the hard road to Heaven.
It is too easy, in making decisions about everyday life, to weigh up the personal benefits and to forget the spiritual realities. Pregnant women deserve to be reminded that it is never God, or good angels, at work, urging women to destroy their own babies in the womb. Mothers must ignore selfish desires, or evil influences.
Jesus Christ drove out evil spirits by a word of command. Such demons do exist, do infest and dominate people even today, and should not be regarded as figures in which only the superstitious can believe. We can find protection through the power of Jesus: His name, His crucifix, and holy water from His Church.
It is important to pray for those enslaved by sin. Our traditional teaching is true: that by the prayers of the Saints and holy Angels - including St. Michael the Archangel - evil can be overcome, by the grace of Christ, souls helped and even earthly problems ameliorated.
God is so great and good that He sometimes gives extraordinary gifts to people, in earthly life, so that they can do His Work in times of special difficulty, or undertake more swiftly a tremendous task. Just as an artist sees colours that others do not see, a person gifted by God can discern graces in souls, or evil forces, that others do not see.
People in Government, in any country, who promote legislation which encourages abortion or sexual immorality, or other serious evils, will find themselves moving along the 'broad road' to Hell, unless they repent before they die. In Hell, there is no love, peace, purity or joy but only fire, terror, noise, anger and pain.
The evil one, like a great serpent, has been thrashing about in fury. Though he tries to drag Christ's people into Hell, Christ has won the entire battle. By the prayers of Christ's Virgin Mother Mary, His followers can arm themselves against Satan's tricks, assaults and temptations.
Long ago, when the evil one dragged down two-thirds of the stars from the sky, he hoped to seize the victory; but Saint Michael defeated the evil one and threw him into the depths.
Those who refuse to obey God and refuse to repent of their sins, and persist in rebellion until death, fall into Hell when they die; and although the smoke still rises up from Hell, we need to remember that Christ has already won the great war between good and evil, and the evil one has been thrown into the depths.
By fervent prayer, we can withstand evil spiritual assaults. When we share the truths of the Gospel with new fervour, or in new ways, we can find that we have stirred up the anger of the evil one, who tries to distract or disturb us in prayer, by horrible sights of the fires of Hell, or by problems in ordinary life; but we must remember that Jesus is stronger; Jesus is Lord, and we are right to trust in Him and to feel safe in His love.
People who are deliberately and directly involved in passing laws which permit the neglect or abuse of children or the killing of tiny infants by abortion - or who practice those evils - by their own actions build a wall between themselves and God. Unless they repent, they cannot join Him when they die, but must be damned.
People are co-operating with the evil one when they frame laws which permit a greater number of abortions or which permit the neglect or abuse of children - or when they carry out such acts. Unless these people repent, they cannot break down the wall they have built between themselves and God, and must go down, when they die, to join the evil one forever.
We have the Pope to guide us on modern problems as well as well-known evils. Society is being damaged, as abortion becomes more and more commonplace, just as scientists are confirming what God has told the world through His prophets, His Son, and His Church, for millennia, that each human being, however tiny, is a unique individual. Each deserves to live all the life that has been given, from conception, in the manner decreed by Almighty God.
God looks on with joy when people treasure their families, and treasure their heritage - which means their good traditions, memories, artefacts, cultural specialities and stories, though excluding what is evil, scandalous, or unwise, and not revering family practices to the point of idolatry.
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