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Just as a chef is kind to his trainee when he reminds him that he has forgotten to put eggs in his sponge mixture, so we speak from charity, not from hard-heartedness, when we give people precise instructions about the Faith, and tell them what behaviour is sinful in the sight of God.

If we pray in the name of Christ, with faith in Him and in the power of His Spirit, we can be sure of holding 'outside' our souls those thoughts, temptations, demons and fears which sometimes attack us. With Christ, we are safe from them, as if behind castle walls - no matter how terrible the 'noise' of the warfare being waged by our spiritual enemies.

If we pray in the name of Christ, with faith in Him and in the power of His Spirit, we can be sure of holding 'outside' our souls those thoughts, temptations, demons and fears which sometimes attack us. With Christ, we are safe from them, as if behind castle walls - no matter how terrible the 'noise' of the warfare being waged by our spiritual enemies.

If we pray in the name of Christ, with faith in Him and in the power of His Spirit, we can be sure of holding 'outside' our souls those thoughts, temptations, demons and fears which sometimes attack us. With Christ, we are safe from them, as if behind castle walls - no matter how terrible the 'noise' of the warfare being waged by our spiritual enemies.

It is the desire of Pope Benedict that everyone come to what Holy Scripture calls 'the obedience of faith'. He enjoys a little leisure time; but his whole desire is to bring people away from dissent and disobedience. The really new, radical way of 'being Church' today is to believe everything the Church teaches, as he does, and to put it into practice.

When spouses are obedient to God's plan for marriage, they want to be faithful to one another, and if it is possible the wife seeks to care for the children as only a mother can, the father wants to support the whole family, and the children are happy, well looked after and secure.

We please Christ if we are 'faithful in little things', for example, by reaching out to help someone in need, instead of ignoring that person to fulfill our own plans.

Christ wants us to respect priests who are 'other Christs' amongst us. But when a priest publicly speaks against the teaching of the Church on faith or morals we are not wrong to warn others about the danger of listening to his advice - though we must not speak with scorn or malice. And we should pray for him.

The faith of Catholics is not based on a theory, or a calculation, but a Person. It's as if a special person has been sent in a capsule from outer space! Some people picture the many religions, sects and cults as being like goods in a shop. We survey the shelves until we find the one that suits us - we are told. Christianity is different. We are given, above all, a Person: the Divine Person who gave Himself to us, in our world, as a baby. He lived, taught, grew up, was killed, and rose from the dead, so proving His power, and making a way back to Heaven for all who would repent of sin and follow Him.

Many priests fail to mention the Cross. Jesus died on it, because of our sins. Few warnings are given from the pulpit, by many priests, about the serious sin by which people condemn themselves to Hell if they do not repent before they die. Many are lost because they have failed to repent of their adulteries, suicides, abortions, and lack of faith in God.

Our guardian Angels always pray with immense reverence and devotion. They love to see us pray in the same manner; and though we do not usually see them we can delight in the knowledge that they are beside us as we pray: our faithful guardians and companions.

To live as a faithful Catholic, in difficult circumstances, is like climbing a huge mountain, knowing that a great welcome awaits climbers at the summit. A good climber does not lose hope, but keeps climbing, confident that - by God's grace - he will be strong enough to persevere.

I saw brave men, in clerical garments, who stood close to the Father's throne. In the heights of Heaven there was a small group of members of the Clergy - Bishops as well as priests - who had fulfilled God's Will completely, on earth, by teaching the Catholic Faith in its fullness.

It would please God if every Catholic would do what Pope Saint Pius X did, in that he loved to give glory to God by doing His Will, and worked to save souls. In every type of vocation we can give glory to God and save souls by our faithfulness and love, fulfilling the Father's Will not personal satisfaction.

As God looks upon the world, He sees how few of us believe in His goodness, how few of us expect answers to prayer, how few of us have prayed with faith in the merits of His Son Jesus, Who died for us. Our faith has not developed because we have not really given our whole lives to God, in regular prayer and works of charity.

St. Catherine of Sienna, who lived in a street I once saw, believed in the Father's goodness. She obeyed Him. She prayed with faith, and was answered like the Apostles in earlier times; she put her trust in God even when He led her through suffering in the course of her particular vocation; yet her reward was Heaven.

People who want to arrive at the beautiful city beyond the mountains - in Heaven - need to take advice about the route from One who knows about it and speaks with authority. God the Son has shown in the way to Heaven, the Way of faith, hope and love, in charity and truth. People are foolish who say they can go in any direction.

Prayer and penance, faith and love, are essential. A person who hopes to reach the highest stages of the spiritual life, and Heaven, whilst ill-prepared and ill-disciplined, and self-centered in his opinions and plans is like a man who declares that he will climb Mount Everest by his own methods, and who sets out ill-equipped, and wearing flip-flops on his feet.

Whoever trusts in God and in the merits of Jesus His Son, and prays with faith that he will be helped, is indeed helped, even in the deepest pit of sinfulness, despair and self-disgust. He can even be led into an intimate friendship with his Creator, when he has been drawn up from darkness.

Some people discuss the Catholic Faith as if it were a light matter: a question of joining a happy group just for company and reassurance. They do not realise that the Faith is about truth and goodness. There is a battle raging in the world - though many people are still blind to it - it is a war between good and evil.