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The dangerous step of a suicide: Everyone who plans to commit suicide deserves to be reminded that death is like a prison with no exit. The entrance to it cannot be opened again, for a person who says: "I've changed my mind! I want to live! There I things I want to do". To commit suicide is to go towards judgement, before God has chosen to call that person, though only God knows how blame-worthy is someone who commits the sin of self-killing.

Only God knows exactly what is in the mind of a person who chooses to kill himself and so disobey God's law; but it is certain that once having passed through the gateway of death, a person can never exclaim, with any hope, "Oh no! I've changed my mind. I want to live! There are things I want to do". He will, instead, meet God, and Judgement.

To imprison someone unjustly is the equivalent of kidnap: an abominable crime, in God's sight. People who are responsible for such sins will have to account to God for them, when they die.

It is the fervent wish of Christ our God, Who is the source of life, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, that every woman shown her unborn child will look at that image with gratitude and love. How terrible it is for Christ, whenever a woman sits in judgement on her child, planning to destroy him by abortion because he is 'inconvenient' or imperfect!

People are not wrong to enjoy the innocent pleasures of this life: including sailing. But wise people, whatever their pastimes might be, know that they must prepare for a lengthier journey than any they make here. We must all move from earth to Judgement, when our lives draw to a close, and must account for our behaviour. How important, to repent and turn to God, rather than be fixed in rebellion, eternally.

Some people say that Christians lead sad lives, think too much about death and judgement, and are too cautious about their behaviour. A dismissive non-believer might be pictured as someone over-confident of his skill as a motorcyclist. He will be in greater danger, if an obstacle appears in his path, than a careful driver of a small car who keeps to the speed limit.

The soul of a person who freely chooses to sin can be pictured as a beautiful chamber, with a pair of inward-opening doors; but this place is filled by filthy water, which leaks into that room whenever that person sins. If he does not repent, he is in danger of drowning. Even worse, if he dies, unrepentant, the doors will be unable to open, inwards, because of the weight of the filthy water. He will be sealed with his sins forever, unable to enter Heaven.

We are used to making kindly judgements, as Christ has requested; but it can happen that a priest grows lukewarm. He acts in a pleasant, affectionate manner, whilst neglecting his prayers, and failing to show people, in private, the respect he shows in public.

Catholics ought to pray earnestly for their Bishops, who have so many people demanding their time or attention, or complaining, or flattering them; and it is easy for some to forget their main purpose: to teach, govern and sanctify those in their care. They will have to account to God for the souls in their care.

What will God's judgement be, on those Bishops who have focused on unimportant matters, and have neglected to teach the Faith in its entirety, thus endangering the Faithful? It's as though they have allowed souls in need of careful shepherding to wander near the edge of the Abyss.

We need to pray for ourselves, and for others. We must remember that a simple choice lies before each of us, whether to follow the Way that leads to life: Christ's Way - or to follow the other fork in the road, into a dark path that leads downwards, amongst trees, where people try to hide their sins from God. Only one Way leads towards Heaven.

Only God can judge the hearts of human beings; but we must be wise, not naïve to the point of foolishness. The most dreadful cruelties are sometimes perpetrated behind the most beautiful facades, as if tortures go on, within a doll's house. Yet cruel people who refuse to repent, and who die, will fall into the Abyss, through their own fault.

The state of soul of a faithful person is peaceful at its heart - like that of a man who drifts along a calm river until he is lifted up by Christ at the moment of death. But one who had chosen to avoid Christ and His Will follows a stormy route, interiorly - as if on a raging river; and unless he repents, he is hurled, when he dies, into the Abyss.

Whenever a politician uses his or her power to promote or pass foolish or corrupt laws, there will come a time of being called to account by God, as the politician is shown, at last, what dreadful results have arisen from his sinful outlook.

A Catholic who can not be bothered to practice the faith has a soul so dead, perhaps, as to be almost lifeless - like the frozen landscape pictured here. Where can he go when he dies, except into the Abyss, if he has refused to acknowledge, honour or serve God and enjoy His friendship - if he has refused the help of the Holy Spirit, Who carries towards Heaven, after death, all who die 'in Christ': as friends of God?

All of those Catholics who cannot be bothered to go to Mass once a week are like people marching across an icy landscape towards the Abyss. The snow represents the deadness of the souls of all who, by refusing to attend Mass, are as if saying to Christ: 'I don't need your prayers, at the Holy Sacrifice' - 'I'm not bothered about my salvation'; 'I'm not going to confess my sins, to be reconciled with You'.

At the end of human life, we shall ultimately make our way towards Heaven - by the grace of Christ - or to Hell, as a consequence of our own choices and actions. Hell can be pictured as a hole in the ground, from which no-one can return, whether to earthly life or to Heaven. It is a life of utter misery and regret, shared with others who have resolutely refused, until death, to accept Christ's invitation to turn to Him in repentance, to receive the gift of Divine Life.

Whenever there is a natural disaster in a poverty-stricken country, it should be borne in mind that, amongst the dead, are many who were responsible for the dreadful corruption, crime, poverty and injustice. No-one who has made himself rich or secure by sin can protect himself against sudden death, and Judgement.

If we picture an underground car-park, after an earthquake, with its floor a mess of broken concrete, and people feeling really unsafe on the uneven floor, with little hope: it will be worse than that for all who have preyed on the poor and have committed every sort of evil, and who have not repented before they died. They will experience Eternal separation from God and from loving friends and relations.

Those who use their roles in Government to support injustice and sin will meet the same fate as those who commit it - unless these politicians repent before they die. They risk Eternal separation from God, than which nothing is more horrible; yet they themselves would be to blame.