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Christ asked me always to practice what I preach: to maintain in His Presence a beautiful 'balance', between approaching Him with awe and gratitude, and being confident that He offers me, daily, experiences of the most tender intimacy.

Christ commended me for my efforts to pray every prayer - even grace before meals - with greater reverence, recollection and gratitude, and an awareness of the holiness of Him to Whom I speak.

Just as I have rested in Our Lady's arms at home, in prayer, so Jesus, as a child, nestled in her arms long ago. Imagine what He learned, from being close to someone so tender and true. Imagine how she grew in ever greater holiness, being so close to Him.

At Mass, as Christ prays to the Father, the saints look on from Heaven and share in our prayers

We must not worry if we cannot always 'compose' ourselves for prayer, or must pray in a hospital bed or a railway carriage. Christ's greatest prayer, the most beautiful, was prayed from the Cross, when He surrendered to the Father's Will, in death, in love and obedience.

Our prayers, with the prayers of the Saints (whose intercession we seek), rise up like incense to Heaven, like a fragrant offering which is acceptable to Him.

The prayers of the Saints rise up to join the sacrificial prayer of Christ, as it rose from the Cross and rises still from Christ Who offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is Calvary's offering, re-presented.

The prayers of the Saints, offered for needy souls, are like a fragrant offering to God. As they rise to Heaven, they can penetrate even those hearts which are locked 'from the inside', and persuade sinners to open their hearts to God.

People who repent of their sins show their contrition in different ways. Real repentance causes souls to turn to God as did St. Ignatius Loyola and others. But Judas rushed away to kill himself, despite his sorrow. Hence the need to pray for one another.

After the Consecration, we can be certain that Christ is Present amongst us: Christ Who died on the Cross, praying for sinners, and Who is Present now, praying for us in our day, and offering the same sacrifice.

After Confession, absolution, prayer and penance, I found myself lifted - as the Lord explained - into the 'dance' of the Three Divine Persons, Who showed me Their delight in my trust and obedience, as They shared Their joy with me in prayer.

A person who repents of sin, goes to Confession, receives absolution, prays and offers penance as the Church requests, and who perseveres in love and service, is eventually drawn into the life and prayer of the Holy Trinity, as if spiralling in a heavenly dance of delight, in known and blissful union.

Many Catholics today, who do not believe in all the teachings of the Church, paint a caricature of the era before the Last Council. They say that the laity did nothing but 'pay, pray and obey', but seem unaware of how much Christ admires people who lead prayerful, humble and obedient lives, in any age.

Many Catholics today, who do not believe in all the teachings of the Church, paint a caricature of the era before the Last Council. They say that the laity did nothing but 'pay, pray and obey', but seem unaware of how much Christ admires people who lead prayerful, humble and obedient lives, in any age.

Christ wishes that more Catholics would be concerned about His honour, and would treat His 'house of prayer' as a holy place, and not as a market-place or a pub, with loud chatter and little prayer.

Christ asked me to place two pictures side by side in a new published card, so that people can see that the prayer He offers, as our High-Priest, from the sanctuary at Mass, is the very same sacrificial prayer and offering that He once offered from the Cross.

A person in turmoil is wise if he turns to the Father in Heaven, and believes in his love. If he prays, he will be led to the right Way; and if he follows it, though it takes him through dark times, he will be moving towards the light of Heaven with a new hope in his heart.

Christ looks with great tenderness and love upon us all; yet He helps with especial care all who are too sick or weak to give much time to prayer. It is as if He gently lays them down, and invites them to rest in His presence, knowing that they are loved.

The image of Jacob's Ladder, seen in a vision, is helpful when we want to explain the importance of being in a Catholic church, where Jesus our God is Really, substantially Present in the tabernacle. Through Jesus, we have access to our Father in Heaven. Jesus is like a 'ladder' by which we can ascend, in prayer.

We meet Christ in the prayer and love of the Christian community, in the Holy Scriptures, and in our priests; and supremely in His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament