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What is the message given to us by those who allow children in baseball hats to stand between some priests, at the altar, during the Eucharistic prayer? It is that it is more important to make children feel involved than to allow the priests to be close to the altar, undisturbed, as they offer the Holy Sacrifice of Christ! This is a tragic piece of evidence of flawed attitudes, today, to the Mass and the Priesthood.

God has revealed Himself to His people in ancient times; yet from the first Mass, Christ has been made Present amongst His friends; and it is His love, His prayer, and His Sacrifice on our altar, that seem like a pillar of fire: a fire of love that reaches as far as Heaven. We who love Him and offer ourselves with Him, can be sure that our prayers reach Heaven.

All who travel by the Royal Road of the Cross, faithful in love and sacrifice, can reach Heaven, both in their prayers, and when they die. They will meet the Saviour Who placed His Cross as a bridge across the Abyss between earth and Heaven, and whose saving work is celebrated in our feast: 'The Triumph of the Cross".

Just as God arranged that all who were bitten by serpents could gaze upon the bronze serpent and by spared, so God arranged that His own Son, Jesus Christ, would be lifted up on a cross; to look on Christ, and believe, brings healing from sin, a healing that, if continuing, leads to life with Christ in Eternity.

The Mass is at the heart of the life of a priest. A good priest is pleased to show the place where he offers the Holy Sacrifice daily on the altar; and he can be sure that all part hurts, memories, and failings can be offered up and 'burned up' in the great fire of love which is Christ's sacrificial prayer to the Father.

Christ came to earth, true God and true man, to dispel the clouds of ignorance of misunderstanding that clouded human minds on the subject of the Godhead. He came here, as a tiny child in the womb of the Virgin Mary, in order to Sacrifice His Life, out of love for us, to save sinners from Hell.

An altar is not a mere table. A priest is not just a leader. A priest who lives in dark times - whether interior darkness or external difficulties - should keep in mind the Heavenly realities. The priest who, on earth, has faithfully lived and offered Sacrifice as 'another Christ' will be served by Christ at the Banquet in Heaven; and his past earthly hardships will seem insignificant.

God understands the sacrifice of celibate men who serve Him. When priests have lived well, they have been Christ amongst others, and have drawn down grace in torrents upon a darkened world. These men, when they die, are greeted by Christ and Our Lady at the edge of Heaven; then they make their way to the Father, in the heights, Who sees in them the image of His Son.

Busy people are tempted to say: "I didn't have time to pray". But everyone who wants to honour God as He deserves can make the sacrifices that are necessary to find that prayer-time, whether by getting up earlier, or praying whenever the baby is asleep, or calling into a church on the way home from work, for example.

A priest has been ordained in order to preach the Gospel and to offer sacrifice, in order to rescue souls from their sins and lead them towards Heaven. So a priest who leads a soul towards Hell by suggesting his mortal sins are not serious, and that, in fact, someone can continue in his sins without any pangs of conscience, is a monster, in God's sight, because he is doing Satan's work.

We are present at Mass to the one Sacrifice of Christ by which mankind was redeemed. This does not mean that everyone is saved. Christ died for all. Everyone is offered opportunities in life, by God, by which to benefit from the graces poured out for souls through Christ's self-giving love; but He sees how tragic it is, that so few of us believe in Him, and follow Him.

Long ago, the new rite of the Mass was very hurriedly introduced. Through long-standing, tragic ignorance of the Traditional Mass, many people have lost the sense of ascending, together, to Calvary, to offer the Holy Sacrifice. The Traditional rite seemed to be put aside, and the Novus Ordo was in place. But now (in 2010) Christ is encouraging, through the Papacy, a growth in understanding, at last, of the beauty and antiquity of the Traditional Mass, and of its reverent phrasing, and its silences.

All of those Catholics who cannot be bothered to go to Mass once a week are like people marching across an icy landscape towards the Abyss. The snow represents the deadness of the souls of all who, by refusing to attend Mass, are as if saying to Christ: 'I don't need your prayers, at the Holy Sacrifice' - 'I'm not bothered about my salvation'; 'I'm not going to confess my sins, to be reconciled with You'.

Priests, especially, must not regret their state of life. We cannot avoid all suffering, in this life, but God can help us to bear it. No-one should envy people who have another vocation. Which is the greater sacrifice: doing without marriage, to become a priest, or suffering within a difficult marriage, to be faithful to the Lord's teaching? God the Father will reward all who make sacrifices for His sake, since He is just.

The priest is the man at the heart of the process of conversion. He brings good news about God's love, and the forgiveness given to repentant sinners. He brings Jesus to us: in His Word, in the Real Presence of Christ at Mass and in the tabernacle. He organises Catechesis; and he preaches, offers the Holy Sacrifice, prepares us for death, guides and helps the bereaved - and the faithful priest will be marvelously rewarded, even in this life. His greatest friend is Jesus Christ.

There were ancient temples where pagans offered sacrifices, and kept their victims in a dark underground chamber. There are many people today who freely 'sacrifice' their own souls by their un holy practices; and by these sins they freely move away from the light of God towards the dark, eternal state of being-without-God, rightly called Hell.

Just as sailors at sea know how to 'batten down the hatches' and survive in a storm, because of some basic duties and basic wisdom, so must we hold fast to some Catholic 'basics' that will help us to remain faithful in all the storms of life. We need to know and love Christ, to turn to Him in prayer and in the Sacraments, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and Confession. If we study the Scriptures, and ask for the prayers of the Saints and Angels, and show love to our families and to the poor, we do well.

Both forms of the Mass (Ordinary and Extraordinary) are a legitimate part of the life of the Church; both unite us with the same Sacrifice of Calvary; both give glory to Almighty God and allow the sanctification of his people.

There are three more things that many Catholics need to be told about the Mass - especially children. They know about the gathered Church, the Scriptures, and Holy Communion; it is tragic that so few have learned: 1) Jesus is made Really Present at the Consecration, 2) Through Him, we are made present to the One Sacrifice of Calvary, 3) Jesus, today, prays for us: He prays for our forgiveness and our Salvation.

We cannot see God, but we see signs of His action wherever we see acts of true charity. Love involves sacrifice, however. It should not be confused with sentimentality - or with merely human affection which can be blown away like a scrap of paper in a breeze, if hardships occur. Real love comes from God. His love, in our hearts, can help us to bear the sufferings that life can bring.