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During the Mass, the whole Church is united in praising God the Father, through, with and in Christ, in the Holy Spirit. All the Saints of Heaven are adoring the one true God Who has brought them to His heart, for all Eternity. We too can hope to enter Heaven if we receive the Sacrament of salvation, and remain faithful.

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.

It is tragic that many people do not believe in God our Creator, Who gives signs of His wisdom and beauty in the natural world; it is tragic that they never speak to God in prayer, or ask for help of any sort. We must ask, about any atheist who dies, "Who will carry him across" - across the Abyss, to Heaven, if the deceased has refused the help of the Holy Spirit.

As surely as terrorists destroy buildings and human lives, Satan destroys families by his malice and his evil influence. Satan acts against the love and joy in family life, working to remove harmony, peace, kindness, faithfulness, forgiveness, sobriety and prayer. Those who attack the family are doing Satan's work; yet God is stronger than an angel, no matter how wicked the angel; and we must count on God's help.

As surely as terrorists destroy buildings and human lives, Satan destroys families by his malice and his evil influence. Satan acts against the love and joy in family life, working to remove harmony, peace, kindness, faithfulness, forgiveness, sobriety and prayer. Those who attack the family are doing Satan's work; yet God is stronger than an angel, no matter how wicked the angel; and we must count on God's help.

Just as a scientist, using an illuminated magnifying lens, can see hair-line cracks, and other dangers to hygiene, invisible to the naked eye, so the Lord can illuminate our souls in prayer; and the Divine, healing light that shines within our souls when we bring our sins, hurts and problems to God is a powerful means of achieving purity and holiness.

We must not be made despondent by our minor distractions in prayer, or our tiny failings. As sure as miners find what they want in a mine, we can mine spiritual treasure from our little faults, by using each as a reason for prayer. If we are distracted, we can make an act of humility. If we have neglected some good, we can make an act of gratitude for all God's gifts. If we find it hard to forgive, we can praise God for having forgiven us our sins.

The Living Word, Who is Christ, is as if waiting to meet us through our reading of Sacred Scripture. We can meet Him there, as well as in our prayer, our spiritual Communions, our visits to Him at the tabernacle, our gathering-together with fellow Catholics - and our supremely powerful and intimate union with Him during the Mass, in Holy Communion.

In making a spiritual Communion we invite God to come into our hearts and lives in a more powerful way. If we turn to Christ, make an act of sorrow for sin, an act of trust in His love, and an act of confidence in His presence in our souls, with a reverent request for a spiritual Communion, it can be as if the clouds and the sky have parted, to let the light of Christ shine more strongly upon us, bringing His peace and joy to our souls.

Those Catholics who never frequent the sacraments, or never pray, or live trapped in mortal sin, are in great spiritual danger, with no sure hope of being carried across the Abyss to Heaven when they die. It's as if a man is walking surrounded by clouds thrown up through his own sinful ways, clouds which hide from him the sight of the Abyss in front of him, and the Heaven which lies at the other side. Unless he repents, and sees where he is heading, he will fall into the pit.

A Mass can be offered anywhere appropriate, even in a private house, with due respect and reverence. But a domestic setting should not be an excuse for informality, or disregard for the rubrics. Jesus Christ is no longer a carpenter, but King of Heaven, and glorious in His Majesty. It is better if there is room to kneel, as we adore Him, and offer His praise and His sacrificial prayer to the Father in Heaven.

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.

God delights in our love, proved by our devotion in prayer; but He delights in the charity in our hearts, when we freely choose to leave our devotions to attend to a neighbour, whether a person taken ill, or a husband arriving home and deserving a kind welcome.

We might change, if we pictured the different people Jesus meets in prayer: some scowling at Him, some glad to be near, some not sure it's worthwhile, some not convinced that He hears, some not willing to give up their sins, some thrilled to be able to speak with Him at any time of day or night.

Jesus Christ is swift to console His friends in their heartache, pain or exhaustion. If we call out to Him in faith and humility, asking for the privilege of a spiritual Communion, He is very close to us, bringing peace that only He can give, and guiding us in our actions by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit.

It can happen that a person becomes so despondent about the demands of the Gospel that he begins to blame God, or the Church for what he sees as unfairness; in his rage he might fall, and endanger his spiritual life and his immortal soul. It is important to persevere in prayer for people in difficulty.

Though we cannot see them, the other members of the Church, of Heaven and Purgatory, are united with us in praise of the Father, through Jesus Christ, at every Mass. We can take comfort from the truth, that we are already doing, on earth, in our prayer, what we hope to do in Eternity, when we are perfectly joyful in God's Presence.

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.

Just as a person who has a wondrous experience of flying through the air, by parachute, knows that such an experience, daily, would be joyful but never so exhilarating as during the first flight or two, so a person granted special spiritual experiences can become less awe-struck - though, it is to be hoped, no less reverent - when these have become part of her life of contemplative prayer.

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!"