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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.
If women do not cover their hair in church, they should at least control it. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should be respected as a sacred rite, carefully choreographed, with reverent and beautifully-vested Clergy. If women are sometimes allowed in the sanctuary, they ought not to be given privileges proper to the clergy; and they should be invited to attend to their hair and clothing, in honour of almighty God.
There are times in a person's life when he might not want to be separated from God, and so have opened the door of his soul by good thoughts, or prayer, but looking upwards, realises he has not yet gained the courage to make real changes in his behaviour. He can be powerfully helped by the prayers of people aware of his plight - by the grace of Christ.
Whether we are lay-persons, or Clergy - even Cardinals - every committed Christian should examine his or her conscience, to see whether, in a time of indifferentism, each is leading people to surrender to Christ: not to a Christ of the imagination, but to the only Christ, the One guiding His Church, sharing His life in her sacraments and wanting us all to obey and love Him.
The Lord sees how tirelessly people search the streets for a suitable place in which to live; yet He wishes we would all expend as much time and energy on searching for the meaning of life - which He has revealed to us as being union with God in this life and in Eternity, through having our sins forgiven, through faith in Jesus Christ.
From the crib, the infant Jesus saw only shadowy figures around Him. He lay helpless, in His humanity, as His Mother smiled upon Him, and Saint Joseph gave a protective presence. We need to ask ourselves: how would I have approached Jesus in His lifetime in His infancy, His teaching ministry or His Passion. How do I treat people today? The measure of our love for other people, in God's sight, is counted as the measure of our love for Jesus.
Those Christians who enquire and explore, like children in Narnia, find a place where it is already spring-time. In the Catholic Church, Christ already reigns. He has banished the snow and ice by His love, His true teaching, His provision of the precious drink of Eternal Life - His own Precious Blood; and He asks all people to come and live in His Kingdom, here on earth, and then forever, in Heaven.
It is true that our prayers are sometimes granted when we pray in Jesus' name for a sick person to be made well again; yet even more important than good health is Eternal Salvation. That should be the other aim of our intercessions - and one of the reasons for requesting the powerfully effective sacrament of the Sick, for ourselves or for sick people we know.
If a child could look back five centuries, then another five, then another - to when Christ lived on earth, she would see: the very same Catholic Faith is taught today, as in the first century after Christ. God the Father looks upon the earth, glad to see people who believe in the whole Deposit of Faith, handed down from the time of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Yet very few believe the Faith in its entirety; so, in our age, as in the first century, and the fifth, tenth and fifteenth, there is a great need for witness, evangelisation, and intercession.
Those Holy Souls whose time of Purification has nearly ended are like people who slowly ascend a great stairway, clad in their best garments, aware that they will have the privilege, very soon, of being announced to Royalty. The Holy Souls make no complaints, aware that at the top of the stairs they will be greeted by the King of Heaven, with joy, and by His Virgin Mother.
In Mediaeval times, people were taught the truth about the Mass, the central act of our religion, and the greatest means of praising God - through His Son, and His Son's Holy Sacrifice, re-presented in the presence of the Saints, the Holy Souls and the Angels. What is important are prayer, adoration, and the knowledge that we join in the worship of Heaven. (It is because most children are taught only that the Mass is a community meal, that there are so many images given, through Radiant Light, of every aspect of the Holy Sacrifice. The Lord wants every effort made to teach the truth about these Holy Mysteries.)
The ancient tower of Babel fell, because of the pride of its builder. But we have a tower which reaches to Heaven, so that our prayers can reach the Father, every time we pray. It is the Sinless Son of God, in Whose name we pray, who makes possible our climb up to the Father in prayer - as well as the holy Mother He kept sinless, who helps us by her intercessions.
It is tragic that people think that God is cruel, to allow people to go to Hell. He is reaching out, all the time, to save us from the consequences of our sins, warning us of the total loss of joy and peace when people freely choose to try to live without His love. He even sent His Son to earth, as man, to speak to us, and to plead with us to repent, and lead holy lives in union with Him, in preparation for Heaven. He sacrificed His life for this - but still, many people walk away.
Christ wants everyone to know the truth about Hell as well as Heaven. He spoke a lot about Hell, in the Gospel stories, but this is rarely mentioned today. He wants us to realise that someone who deliberately commits grave sin, despite Christ's warnings, is foolish as well as disobedient. That person is freely choosing to walk into those flames, unless he repents in time.
We should use the time well, doing good, and preparing for Heaven. At the end of earthly life, each of us will be on our way towards Heaven - carried by the Holy Spirit across the Abyss, even if we then pause in Purgatory - or on our way into Hell, in the depths of the Abyss. Our freely-made choices in this life affect our destiny. God is asking each of us: "What are you doing with your life?"
Many people who sincerely love Christ and do His Will become the targets of the evil one. If he cannot tempt them to sin, he mocks them for their kindness, or their purity, and makes them endure salacious spiritual assaults of various types; yet all the time, Christ is close to such souls, supporting them in their trials. It's as if each of these faithful persons stands amidst piles of stinking rubbish, but is being held in the arms of Christ.
It is sometimes necessary to appeal to a person's heart, and to his faith in Christ, in an attempt to persuade a Christian in Government not to extend abortion laws. A person in such a powerful position can have millions of babies killed, by his legislative action, or he can act in accordance with justice and mercy, and let them live, as he should.
The Lord showed me that, just as on a lengthy car journey there comes a time to put down the map, collect belongings, and pick up gifts for the people we are meeting, so, in life's journey, when we believe it is shortly to end, it's time to prepare, to clear up our belongings, leave gifts for those who are close to us, and prepare, spiritually, for our meeting with the Lord.
Everyone who sincerely repents of his sins, before he dies, will be forgiven by God, as Christ has promised. Yet someone who has acted with unimaginable cruelty is left in great need of penance and purification. He can find that, in Purgatory, he is allowed to reflect on his great wickedness, and on the mercy of God who has saved him from Hell, in circumstances similar to those in which he once confined his victims. It will be a long time before he is ready for Heaven.
At the Mass, we are present as Christ prays for us to be forgiven. When He is made Really Present at the Consecration, it is as though we have a pathway, in Him, through time and space, to be present to all He has done for us in His earthly life, supremely to the once-for-all Sacrifice of the Cross, on which He suffered to win forgiveness for sinners, including ourselves. By His Precious Blood, He sealed a new Covenant between Heaven and earth. By His Resurrection He conquered sin and death.
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