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A Christian artist is right to use images of a font or a full-immersion Baptismal pool in paintings, as reminders of the process of conversion and sanctification. This is the path the Heaven: the path which leads through Baptism to union with the Blessed Trinity - and, as life continues, a way of even deeper purification necessary because of day-to-day sins.

Christ asked me to draw a cartoon, to show out how cruel young people are, who act 'cool', like their friends, striving to appear independent, unemotional, sophisticated and tough, but ignoring the needs of others, and refusing the normal courtesies of normal conversation with adults, or young people outside their group.

It is a tragedy beyond words, that some people refuse to turn to God who created them, especially that they disbelieve or ignore Him when they die. It is He Who made them, from love, He Who supports them in existence, and now calls them 'Home'; yet in refusing to speak to Him or to ask for help, they deny themselves the comfort He can give, and by their free choice, condemn themselves to an Eternity without Him: and without the experience of His love, it is Hell.

It is a cause of sadness - but for even more fervent evangelisation - that many people ignore the glorious God Who gave them the gift of life. In freely choosing to reject His love, and His invitations to repent and change, they approach death and Eternity carelessly. Without a last-minute repentance, they will condemn themselves to everlasting torment and darkness, as if beneath His throne, by their own fault deprived of His comforting Presence.

It is a cause of sadness - but for even more fervent evangelisation - that many people ignore the glorious God Who gave them the gift of life. In freely choosing to reject His love, and His invitations to repent and change, they approach death and Eternity carelessly. Without a last-minute repentance, they will condemn themselves to everlasting torment and darkness, as if beneath His throne, by their own fault deprived of His comforting Presence.

Pride was the sin of the Angels, as described in Sacred Scripture, when some rebelled against God and fell from grace. Pride, too, with stubbornness, is the sin which the Lord sees in the hearts of those who persist in disbelief even until death, ignoring His invitations to believe and to repent, so that they can enter Eternal life with Him and not fall into Hell.

Even when people persist in disbelief or grave sin, there is hope that a person can be saved - provided he repents before he dies. Christ continues, to the last moment of such a person's life, to encourage him to turn to Him. If someone has never heard of Christ, Christ will even appear to him as that person dies, to give him the opportunity to repent and believe - or else to fall away forever.

In this earthy life, those who follow Christ must invite all people who feel helpless in their sins and fears to reach out to God, through Christ. Faith is like a rope. If we grasp it, we can count on the Lord's help to be drawn up towards sanctity and salvation. People who say, "I don't need God", or, "I want to be independent", are like people trapped in a pit who insist on their own strength but fail to climb out.

It was necessary, in God's sight, that the Virgin Mary be conceived Immaculate - free from Original Sin, and then from personal sin, so that at her consent she could be a fit mother for the Son of God, as she taught and guided Him in His childhood, developing His human faculties.

There is one great blessing received by many poor people in so-called 'third world' countries. They receive a full account of Catholic teaching, and embrace it with fervour and joy - unlike many European Christians who have been offered a distorted or truncated version of the Faith that can neither inspire nor hold them.

There is no room in a heart both for malice and charity. A person who acts with deliberate malice might be trying to be worldly or sophisticated, in imitation of some modern hero, but more often he is prompted by the evil one who delights in causing us to belittle, hurt, humiliate or terrify one another.

Many Catholics like to appear strong, to fit in with the world. We must not do wrong, to please a secular or atheistic government. When there is confusion or near-panic amongst Catholics about dealing with the world and organising medical or surgical care, or schooling or Catechesis, in ways which fit in with the guidelines of a secular government, the Pope, and Christ Himself, serve as exemplars. If we do what is right, and do nothing wrong, willing to accept the consequences, we will please God and have peaceful consciences.

No-one ought to suppose that a person who kills himself is wise. In every life, there is some suffering. The way in which we respond to it reveals our character. Whether sick or well, rich or poor, we have free will. We can respond with recognition of what is good in our lives, even in difficulties, or we can give in to self-pity and resentment. All people - including suicides - are judged by God, at death: by God Who is both merciful and just, but who gave life as a gift, not to be carelessly thrown away. Suicide is a sin.

Even sick, disabled and paralyzed people, like every conscious person above the age of reason, can exercise his or her free will, in order to choose to live with a loving and grateful heart and outlook, or to live in self-pity and even despair. Plainly, God lovingly makes allowances for the troubles people suffer, but each person can develop a soul radiant with Divine Light, or, refusing grace, have a soul which is shrivelled and lifeless.

Some people are so determined to enjoy independence from God - not realising the danger - that by deliberate sin it's as if they nail shut the 'door' of their souls, and so prevent the light or wisdom of God from entering. This self-imposed darkness will be theirs forever, unless they repent before they die.

Just as a conifer develops good health, and fruit, if it is well-nourished and watered, but dies if it lacks nourishment, or is poisoned by a neighbour, so the person full of grace produces good works, if nourished on prayer and the sacraments, but suffers spiritual death if it fails to take necessary nourishment of the sacraments or accepts the 'poison' which is the devil's temptations to sin.

People wonder why certain persons have been chosen to do certain wonderful works for Christ; yet He cannot call anyone to undertake special missions in life if he or she has already said "no" to Christ about obeying His instructions about everyday matters of faith and morals.

A person who has repented of mortal sin, and has been forgiven, after years of neglect of the spiritual life, is like a seaside shack after a furious storm. Even if it is still standing, and the rain is kept out for the occupant, it will need many repairs before it is a comfortable home. Much penance and prayer is necessary, to purify a sinner, and repair what had been damaged in him by prolonged self-love.

People who take other people hostage and keep them captive do the opposite of what Jesus did - Who came to set people free from sin and slavery. There is a need for prisons, in ordinary life, for people justly tried and found guilty. But those who keep innocent people captive do, in physical terms, what the evil one does in spiritual ways. Indeed, they have aligned themselves with the evil one who always opposes God and goodness.

It is good practice, to send greetings cards, with sincere good wishes. Christ sends down grace like an arrow, to the hearts and minds of those to whom we send loving Christmas greetings and for whom we pray, in our concern for their wellbeing now and their Eternal welfare.