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By His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, Christ made a Way to Heaven. It's as if His head is in Heaven, as He speaks to the Father from our midst at every Mass, as a great mass of needy people encircles the altar on earth.

We pray with power whenever we pray in the name of Jesus. He is truly our bridge, and our Way to the Father. Christ carries all our needs and desires to the Father, as we pray, and draws the Father's attention to what is most urgently-needed, whether grace and help for ourselves or for those we love.

If we are determined to withstand temptations and spiritual assaults, we will use holy water, which is a sacramental, blessed by the Church. It drives away demons. It is more than a reminder of our Baptism. Wise people keep it by them, as well as a crucifix, and a rosary. They know the help received through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and through the name of Jesus.

We have witnessed desperate people calling out to their beloved friends and relations who are trapped underground after an earthquake. The Lord would like us to be as fervent in calling out to Him in prayer, interceding for the Holy Souls who are 'trapped underground' in Purgatory, being purified, and prepared for Heaven's glory

It is not the duty of the priest, at a Requiem Mass, to announce that the deceased person is certainly in Heaven. His duty is to lead the Church in prayer, and to offer the Holy Sacrifice for the remission of the sins of the living and the departed. Only God knows who has been saved - though we should live in hope - and who has gone straight to Heaven: God and His Church, who canonises the Saints.

If we reflect, we will remember that Christ was an innocent victim, in a long-ago earthly life. Innocent victims of abortion today deserve, of us, fervent prayer and brave words, so that Christ, by His almighty power, will banish this barbaric practice.

They do not see our sins; yet the saints in Heaven are in Communion with us. They see our joys, and comfort us by their prayers when we are in pain or dispirited. There is no death, for those who live in Christ: only 'life in Christ'

Though we might recognise how weak and sinful we are, we are acting with wisdom if we come to Mass with contrite hearts, so that we are present as Christ prays to the Father on our behalf. Christ knows all our needs.

A man who complains about a boring spiritual life and who prays only reluctantly and with little love is like a boy who is made to wash, by his mother, and grumbles about it, and who has not yet learned of the joys of being clean, fresh-smelling, and in a clean shirt after a good shower.

Just as a tornado, with tremendous power, causes lives to be changed as it whirls across the earth, the prayers of the Saints, with tremendous power, funnel down to earth the graces of God, to a particular place, to bring about change in the lives of those who pray, and those who are prayed for.

To receive Christ in Holy Communion, with His Divine life and light and love, is to receive Fire from Heaven: a transforming fire from the heart of the God-man. How foolish we are if we rush away straight afterwards. How foolish is the priest who does not pause in prayer and recollection, but rushes towards the end of the Mass.

When we pray for the Faithful Departed we not only help them to be drawn closer to the light of Heaven - by the grace of Christ - we also bring them the consolation of knowing that they are not forgotten: that their friends and relations on earth hold them in their hearts, and long for them to find joy, on entering Heaven's glory.

Only a person willing to change can co-operate with God's grace, to be freed from the bad habits, attitudes and beliefs which imprisoned him; then his bright soul can soar to God in confident and peaceful prayer.

A person who trusts in Christ completely, believes in the teachings of Christ's one true Church, and strives to put them into practice, has a freedom and joy in life and in prayer which those people deny themselves who are stuck in the 'mud' of disbelief, dissent, and argument.

It is important to pray for those enslaved by sin. Our traditional teaching is true: that by the prayers of the Saints and holy Angels - including St. Michael the Archangel - evil can be overcome, by the grace of Christ, souls helped and even earthly problems ameliorated.

No theologian will do well if he only reads and reflects upon truth. He or she needs the Divine Light, which is given in prayer, when a person opens a door from the inside so to speak, and becomes illuminated - mind, heart and conscience - to 'see' truth in what is being studied, and to be of one mind with God and his Church.

Just as my children and husband and other relations are always in my heart and prayers because we are members of one family, so the whole Church - the Communion of Saints, on earth, in Heaven and in Purgatory - should be held in my heart. We are a great family, with special relationships binding us. All people deserve respect and love, but especially those in our 'household of faith'.

Where Christians meet together, and express doubts about the moral law, it's as if a cloud of black smoke is billowing throughout the gathering, causing confusion, and disorienting the participants. People like these are in need of prayer, and wise guides, to help them to open their eyes to truth.

As an ordinary, lowly human being, each baptised person has been made worthy to enter the 'holy of holies', once reserved for certain men. That 'holy of holies' today is the Presence of God. When we approach the Father, through and with Christ, it is as if we pass through a curtain; and we can be confident that our prayers are heard and granted by the Father, for we are His adopted children.

From the monstrance on our altar where Christ is Really Present, Christ's praise rises up to the Father in Heaven. Christ offers our praises too, as His own. All who praise the Father through Christ, and who remain faithful to the end, will continue that praise, in bliss, in Eternity.