Search Page

Each of us should pause to ask: "Am I worthy to enter Heaven?" Heaven is a place of peace, purity, thankfulness and joy; we need to repent, and to ask God's grace in order to change, if we are still disfigured by turmoil, immorality, ingratitude or discontent. How can we praise God with the Saints unless we are like them?

In Christ's sight, a person shows lack of love and respect for Christ when he is unwilling to prepare for an intimate encounter with his Saviour and God in Holy Communion. That preparation, for all who have gravely sinned, should consist of seeking forgiveness in Confession, called the Sacrament of Penance. In a state of grace, a person approaches Christ as if clothed in a pure garment of holiness, not the filthy rags of unrepented sin.

People trapped in mortal sin are helpless to change. They need the grace of God, if they wish to repent and be made holy: grace brought through God's promptings or the intercessions of other people. It's as if they are trapped in an underground cave, waiting for a rope to be lowered, to draw them up to safety, into the light.

Older children deserve to hear the truth: "If you throw away your life - your spiritual life - by immorality, drunkenness, pornography or violence, it will be impossible to regain holiness by your own power. You can then only hope to reach Heaven one day if you receive from God the grace to repent: a grace perhaps brought to you through the prayers and penances of people who care about you.

By our intercessions we can bring Divine grace upon a person trapped in a 'cloud' of sin. By Divine power, that person can be helped to see the spiritual danger he is in, so close to being lost in the Abyss. As his cloud of ignorance is blown away, or his sinful desires, he is helped to make wise choices about loving God and striving for holiness.

Someone trapped in sin is like a man trapped in a deep quarry; but the most pitiable is the one who, though trapped, does not want to come out. When a person at last wants to escape that prison of sin, helped by the intercessions of others, there is hope that he will open his heart to Divine grace: the power to rescue him.

We can save souls, by the grace of Christ, through our prayers and sacrifices. No matter how sick we are, nor how feeble our efforts, if we offer up our prayers, and our pains as penances for people trapped in sin and in danger of falling into the Abyss (into Hell), and if we offer everything in union with Christ's Sacrifice, we join in His work of salvation.

Just as a skier cannot avoid occasional falls, we cannot live on earth without troubles of one sort or another; but we can act, by God's grace, to avoid the greatest of all disasters, which would be to end up in the pit of Hell, by our own fault, and not reach Heaven. It is by faith in God, and doing His Will, in response to His call, that we can allow Him to make us holy. Then, by prayer and acts of charity, we prepare for life in Heaven, no matter what temporary problems we endure in this world.

We all need the prayers and intercessions of others. There is only one Way across the gulf that separates earth from Heaven, and we shall not cross it when we die if we have wandered away, far from the bridge, looking for all sorts of distractions from our ordinary duties, or avoiding the call of conscience, or unwilling to suffer for Christ by remaining faithful. Perseverance is all-important, by the grace of God.

The gift we are given at Baptism is the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who can lift our souls up to Heaven, across the gulf, when we die. A person who has become careless or disobedient and who has driven away the Spirit of Love, and no longer lives in a state of grace, will be lost, at death, in the Abyss, unable to rely on the Holy Spirit, having refused Him.

Christ wants us to avoid the ultimate disaster. Christ leads us by love, encouraging us to follow the Way to Heaven, helped by His guidelines and graces; but those who persist in disobedience and foolishness, ignoring His Commandments and decrees, or neglecting prayer, or corrupting others, or being irreverent towards His Sacred Ministers, or persisting, without repentance, in any grave sin, are allowed to follow their own paths. Alas, these lead to the great sewer which carries souls to Hell.

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.

None of our unavoidable sufferings or humiliations need be wasted. By our intercessory prayers, and the patient 'offering-up' of our sufferings, in union with Christ, we cause an outpouring of His grace to fall upon someone in danger of falling into mortal sin, or falling into Hell. Christ gives us the privilege of joining in His saving work, even though we are imperfect, as long as we live in a state of grace.

Every Mass is a triumph of grace, no matter how weak we are. When we unite our thanks and praises, our sorrow-for-sin, and our petitions and intercessions, with Christ's great sacrificial prayer in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we can be confident that our prayer is successful, for it is Christ Himself, from our altar, Who lifts up our prayer, with His, and presents them to our all-holy Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christians should ask for the grace to be charitable; but this does not mean that we must fail to speak necessary truths in order to spare people's feelings. Charity without truth is merely flattery, or leads us to placate those who need help in order to change. We should be as simple and straightforward as Christ, in our speech: kind and gentle, but unafraid to offer unpopular truths.

The two forms of the Rite of Mass which have been given to us in the Western Church have both been given by Christ our God, Who wishes none of us to be partisan, despising what others prefer. Yet Christ, like many of His flock, sees the regrettable mistranslations in the older translation of the Novus Ordo; and the style of language in it that represents a different attitude towards the Godhead and the life of grace: not as reverent as the Extraordinary form suggests.

If any of us is walking steadily towards Heaven, longing to please God, but aware that we have seriously hurt someone, through selfishness, and have not yet put things right, we will find peace of mind when we humble ourselves, and try to show that we are contrite. By our reparation and contrition, we prepare, by God's grace, for Heaven.

Christ points to Padre Pio - now Saint Pio - and invites us to follow his advice. Christ knows that we are often full of anxiety. With the grace of Christ, we can manage to do, for one day at a time, what Saint Pio recommended, over and over again: "Pray, hope, and don't worry".

If we were able to look over a huge hedge that surrounds Heaven, we would see gleaming squares and bright fountains where people can stroll in perfect companionship, if they are not busy praising God. Heaven is beautiful, and goes on forever; but everyone who enters must have a beautiful, holy soul. Wise people try, by God's grace, to get ready in good time.

The love of God is like a great flame that encloses all who trust in Christ. By our Baptism, we are made members of the Church and children of God. We already share in the life of God, and can be confident that our prayers are heard, and confident that, if we do not leave that state of grace, we will be carried across the Abyss when we die, to be brought towards Heaven: carried in the love of God, with no fear of being lost.