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No matter how devout a person has been, no matter how grateful to God for His love, that person, when at last approaching Heaven after death, will find himself amazed by the beauty and majesty of the Godhead, and be prompted to exclaim - "I never knew how glorious You are... I never realised how beautiful and how good!"

There were people who hoped to cast off ancient beliefs, customs and disciplines, after the Second Vatican Council. For two generations, many Catholics have built a new 'road' for themselves to walk on, with their modernist ideas, and lack of reverence both for the Sacred Tradition and for the Real Presence of Christ amongst His People - and for the Pope, who leads us, by the Will of Christ.

Modernists have used the Second Vatican Council's decrees as a means of demanding more change in the Church than the decrees themselves allow. They have built a new road for themselves to walk upon, but have left behind the Holy Spirit. He is active, but in the heart and mind of the Pope, who guides the truly faithful souls on the Way of Christ, which winds around the path made by the extremists.

Christ wants us to see this image, from Him, about the irreverence and silliness often seen in Church at what is a memorial of His Passion and Death! Those Catholics who wanted complete change in the Church after the Second Vatican Council tried to build a new road for everyone to follow, with changed doctrines and distorted attitudes; yet the one true Church continued to practice reverent worship, around them, and to teach truth in faith and morals.

People who promote new devotions should be setting a good example to all the people who see them or hang onto their words. Are those speaking drawing attention to God, or to themselves? Do they believe in all the teachings of the Church? Have they profited from their message? Are they obedient to those in authority over them in the Church?

When a new Bishop is appointed, he should know what his Master, Christ, is inviting Him to examine, as he begins his care of a new Diocese. The Bishop will ask about his priests, and their well-being. He will look at the Seminary, and its training. He will ensure that catechesis is well-organised, orthodox and wholehearted; and he will see whether the Sacred Liturgy is celebrated in a way which gives glory to God, and every possible help for the education and salvation of souls.

A person on a joyful drive through the country-side in Spring, to a pleasant destination, can enjoy the new greenery, and the blossom on the hedgerows; but it is necessary to remain alert for the whole time to road-signs, both well-established and new, to avoid danger. So it is on our journey to Heaven. We are foolish if we ignore the warnings offered by the Church, as well as accepting her food and fuel for the way.

No little prayer or little act of devotion goes unnoticed by our Saviour. Christ looks on lovingly, for example, when we greet Him as soon as we awake, whenever that is. He delights in seeing our first thoughts turn to Him, as we begin a new day in His service, confident of His love.

There are people who search vast areas of Europe to discover the massive graves of the war-dead, to bring evil-doers to justice; yet a similar evil continues even today, as hundreds of thousands of babies are torn from the womb by doctors, at the request of the mothers, as nurses assist. It's as though, today, there are new 'war-dead': infants slaughtered in the war against life.

St. John Vianney was not a great scholar, but he loved God with all his heart, and so did all he could to write interesting and powerful homilies in order to lead people to repentance, new life, and sincere love for Christ, and for their neighbour.

St. John Vianney was so fervent that he was inevitably attacked by Satan, who wanted to frighten him into giving up his Ministry; but St. John knew the power of Christ, and trusted in Him. He learned to laugh at Satan, and continued to work and pray, to save souls.

It can seem as though our life's arrangements and relationships are destroyed in a moment, like a bombed out city from which we flee. But sometimes our crises have been permitted by God so that we can flee all that was worldly and sinful. Then we are freed to 'build' a new life of holiness and peace.

It is wrong, in God's sight, for us to deny God, in an attempt to be tolerant. A Government of a Christian country has a duty to tell people who wish to become citizens that the Christian Faith is the foundation of our country's institutions at large, that the greater proportion of the citizens claim to be Christian, and they they are expected to respect what is Christian, though no-one forces newcomers to become Christian.

Whenever we make new efforts to be more attentive to Christ's wishes, and more vigilant about our sins and failings, we come to prayer in a new closeness to Christ; even if we neither see nor feel this, it's as if the 'wall' that seems to separate Heaven from earth has been torn open, and Christ gazes down with joy and gratitude, because He is loved.

God can work wonders through our perseverance. When a priest, or any sincere follower of Christ, finds it hard to believe in the saving power of the Cross, and sees life as a grim progress with little hope, he should reflect on this truth: whoever imitates Christ and accepts the Cross, in patience, finds that, little by little, it becomes a living thing, fruitful, putting out new branches and leaves, precisely because that person is reproducing Christ's life, and being fruitful in saving souls.

After every Confession, every new start on our spiritual journey, we ought to move straight ahead, on the Way to greater sanctity. This means we should fix our eyes on Christ; with His help in the sacraments and in prayer we can avoid those routes which lead only to sin, in alienation from God, here and in eternity.

It is true that everyone is to be made welcome, who wants to attend Mass; but this does not mean that people in mortal sin have a right to approach the sanctuary to receive Holy Communion. It is the constant teaching of the Church that, in such cases, people must first be reconciled and receive absolution; then each one can begin a new life of holiness and purity.

Just as the turning-around of a great liner takes up many miles, renewal in the Church is a lengthy process, now being helped by the New Movements. It is necessary because of decades of disobedience, outright dissent, and inadequate catechesis; yet it is lengthy because it takes a long time to slow down the foolish and unnecessary projects and programs in the Church.

Every Pope deserves our prayers. Each Pope who faithfully fulfils his duties works to save people from the pit: to bring them to know and love Christ, or to renew their knowledge and love. He follows Christ in the office of Saint Peter, and often does so despite the physical and emotional cost. He has a world-wide flock, which is the Catholic Church.

When a politician, by his votes to promote or increase abortion provision, walks further and further away from life in God - as if along a long corridor - and avoids every alternative route, he will eventually find himself in a place from which every new route leads to the Abyss. He will have entered a place from which only damnation awaits him, unless he repents before he dies.