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Whenever we pray in the name of Christ to our Heavenly Father, we are wise to keep in mind that Heaven should be our final destination. Christ has made possible our contact with Heaven, and the promise of Eternal joy for the faithful. If we could peer through a little window into Heaven, without being dazzled by Divine glory, we would see the wonders prepared for all of Christ's true friends.

A person who neglects his own soul by neglecting prayer and the sacraments, becoming lukewarm towards his Saviour and lukewarm or cold towards his neighbour, has a soul like a neglected road. Without care or repair, a road soon decays, to become riddled with potholes, covered in weeds, stones, dead branches and puddles.

It is as if the Holy Souls are suspended in God's love, as they move closer to the light, little by little, helped by our prayers, until the moment when each can enter joyfully into Heaven, and share in the blissful life of the Saints, at the heart of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Truly, it is Christ Himself, our Risen Lord, Who is Present with us on All Souls Day, Who raises His hands in prayer, praying to the Father for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, as the priest offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

It is tragic that so many people have not been baptised. A family which is affectionate but which ignores or disbelieves in God, and has no respect for the Commandments, cannot be saved by qualities of optimism or human warmth - but only by the grace of Christ accepted. They need the prayers of the faithful, that they will open their eyes to the truth which they have never encountered, or have half-heard, and dismissed.

People who become proud that they have spent their lives perfecting human skills, but without attending to God, or virtue, or prayer, have little possibility of reaching Eternal Life, unless they turn to God in repentance and trust, and put Him first in their lives, and keep His Commandments.

If it is really necessary to ask people not to chatter loudly in church, where Christ is Present in glory, as His angels adore Him, and people are still kneeling in prayer, we must not be upset if we are criticised for sharing the truth: that this building is a house of prayer. If we are reviled, for Christ's sake, we should rejoice.

It is not wrong to be prudent, in making decisions about whom to trust. People who show themselves to be habitually untrustworthy are acting in accordance with their current, unpleasant nature, just as a mosquito bites because it is his nature to do so. We must speak with charity, and pray for such people, but need not trust them without some sign of repentance and change.

People in mortal sin are in great need of help, the help which can be brought to them through the prayers of other people. Divine grace can be brought to souls through intercession, just as dramatically as if a life-line were to be suddenly thrown to a person about to be swept over a huge waterfall, to her doom.

Some people refuse to open their hearts to God about their fears, sins and weaknesses, even though they go through the motions of leading ordinary lives as faithful Catholics. It's as if their soul is like a garden, hidden behind locked gates - the will - as they keep God out, but also keep out His wisdom and His consolations.

There are Catholics who complain about the Church and the world; but each of us needs a reminder that Catholics who cannot be bothered to get out of bed in the morning, to pray with reverence to their infinitely lovable and holy Saviour, are not going to become great friends of His, and cannot expect to be given great work to do, unless they change.

We are right to be confident when we ask the Saints of Heaven to pray for us or for people in need. Their prayers rise up like incense to the throne of God, and bring down upon us graces from Heaven. This is especially true when we pray at the shrine of a Saint: a shrine blessed by the Church.

Christ has called His priests to be apart, as He was, when He prayed on the mountain to His Heavenly Father. A priest must lead his flock along a narrow road, high into the peaks which lie ahead: peaks of sanctity. He can only lead if he himself is prayerful, and charitable and willing to bear hardship in the Lord's service.

We are wise to pray for God's help, and to ask for the prayers of Our Lady, so that we will use time well. Those who waste time, spending their lives in acting against God, will end up in Hell with the demons who also act against God - but who hideously mistreat all who are in their power. Christ died to save us. We are foolish if we do not turn to Him for forgiveness, and Divine power.

True intimacy with Christ can be achieved, by His grace. A person who genuinely loves Christ might begin with only an image of Him, as she prays; but if she perseveres in prayer and acts out of charity, throughout all difficulties, and remains full of faith, she will come to know the living Christ, as if through a door, behind the image; and she will move towards Heaven in His company, in peace and joy.

Real love for God is shown by offering Him the courtesies we offer to people on earth whom we respect. If in God's presence, in prayer, it is respectful to say: 'please exclude me, Lord' - if we have to rush away, suddenly, for example. We would not rush out of an earthly throne-room without a word to the King.

There are many people facing decline and death, and who do not say a word to their Creator, Who made them, and the whole universe, and Who holds us all in existence. Even the pagans call out to their creator; but many modern, supposedly well-educated people keep a sad silence, in their agonies, and so do not receive the comfort God can give - and the hope of Heaven.

Christ assures us that we need not feel guilty about weeping occasionally, when we are saddened by incidents or circumstances - though He does ask us not to give in to discouragement but to turn to Him in trusting prayer to find new strength. He Himself was upset when His friend Lazarus died. He understands all our sorrows.

We should honour Our Lady, and have confidence in her prayers. No-one's prayers are more powerful - except her Son's - than those of the Immaculate Mother of God. What millions have believed is indeed true, that just as an earthly king refuses nothing to his beloved mother, so Christ our King can refuse nothing His Mother asks. We are not wrong to pray by statues of Our Lady, which help us to fix our minds on her who lives in Heaven.

The Scared Liturgy is prayer offered by Christ, in the power and light of the Holy Spirit to the Father Who reigns in Heaven. No other praise can surpass the praise which Christ offers from the heart of our Church - especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To pray at Mass is to pray in Spirit and in truth. We pray in the power of Spirit, through Christ Who is the truth of God. God invites the whole world to prefer this sacrificial, sublime prayer to all of their own ideas, methods or idols.