Hello dear Friend,

How do we get to Heaven?

We know that God created human beings to know, love and serve Him in this life so that they can be happy with Him in the next.

So we must serve God - which means we must think, speak, and act in ways that are pleasing to God. We must strive to do God’s Will, and not our own, in all things! Obviously this is not easy, especially in these dark and troubled times. In fact, we will only truly serve God to the extent that we love Him. Jesus Himself explained that if we love Him we will obey all of His Commandments.

So we should love God. Most people measure their love by how much they enjoy it - by the hugs, kisses, gifts, the fun and so on. But the real test is this: your love is only as true and as strong as you are willing to sacrifice yourself, and even to suffer, to make the person you love happy. The first and best examples of Perfect Love are Jesus and Mary Who continually suffered and sacrificed Themselves so that we could have a chance to save our souls. Their great Love for us opened the Gates of Heaven, and only our love for Them will get us through those gates when we die. So we must truly love God and Jesus in His Sacred Humanity and Mary if we are going to serve Them, so that we can go to Heaven. How do we start to actually love Them with a strong, pure, and generous love?

One thing that helps our love is to keep images of our loved ones near us - at our home, work, school or anywhere else where we spend a lot of time. We should choose pictures that we like of God, Jesus, Mary, the Holy Angels and Saints and look at them frequently. They will inspire us to have holy thoughts during the day, which will please Heaven very much. These pictures will also help us remember to dedicate all of our time, even our sleeping hours, to God, Jesus and Mary, so that They can always help us to do good and avoid sin. Finally, by looking at holy images, the flame of our love is rekindled and grows.

A very great truth to remember about love is this: we can only love someone as much and as well as we know them. So how do we get to know God, Jesus and Mary?

One very necessary way to get to know someone is to talk to them and spend time with them. With God, Jesus and Mary, we do this mostly through prayer. Prayer is simply talking to someone from Heaven. Our prayers can be ones that have already been written, like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Holy Rosary. We can also just use our own words. Heaven encourages us very much to pray in both of these ways.

Even though we are not likely to hear Their voice, when we talk to Someone in Heaven we can be sure that They will always answer us. If Their answer is not right away, it is because They want to test us. Unfortunately, we human beings are often very impatient. We also don’t tend to appreciate what we receive too easily. God wants us to be good and grow in virtue. He does not want to help us become spoiled and ungrateful, so He often waits to see if we will be patient, humble and keep asking.

All of the Saints agree that the more a person prays, the more chance they have of saving their souls when they die. People who only pray a little have an equally small chance of going to Heaven. So pray frequently, even if it is just little prayers in your own words spoken from the heart. Remember it is not the amount of words that counts – but the sincerity of your love which pleases God.

We must pray every day for the grace and help to love God, Jesus and Mary more and better each day. Jesus told Saint Margaret Mary (a French Visitation nun who died in 1690) that He is always waiting for us to turn and ask Him for the help to know, love, and serve Him. Saint Margaret Mary was actually the person that Jesus used to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart throughout the whole world. She wrote:

“I wish I could express all that I know about this amiable devotion, and reveal to the whole world the treasures of grace which Jesus Christ has stored up in His adorable Heart and which He intends to pour out in abundance on all those who practice devotion to It. … People who live in the world will find through this amiable devotion all the helps necessary for their state of life: peace in their families (which is sadly missing from so many homes today), comfort in their labors, the blessings of Heaven in all of their undertakings, consolation in their troubles, and a real refuge in the Sacred Heart during their whole life and especially at the hour of their death. Ah, how sweet it is to die after having a tender and constant devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!”

Mary, also, has been given to all of us in a very special way as our most loving and powerful Mother. There are countless true stories of so many wonderful things that She has done and obtained for those who ask for Her help. After God, She is the wisest, the most powerful, and the most loving of all. She very much wants to help us - especially to be good and to save our souls. Talk to Her every day. If you are faithful in this you will soon experience Her loving help and protection, as so very many others have.

Her intercession is very important in these times. In 1917, Jesus sent His Mother to three simple shepherd children in the little village of Fatima, Portugal. She came with a message for the Church and the whole world. Jesus was very angry at the abuse that His poor Mother constantly received from this ungrateful world - and even from most Catholics! He demanded loving acts of reparation be made to make up for the sins committed against Her. If this reparation was not made, then the whole Church and world would suffer the just punishments for their sins. Sadly, enough reparation has still not been made, and the terrible sufferings inside and outside of the Church continue.

Mary also showed the children a vision of hell, showing them the sad reality that most people lose their soul when they die. She told them: “You have seen hell where poor sinners go because they have no one to pray and sacrifice for them.” Many, many souls then would be saved if enough prayers and sacrifices were offered up to Mary for their salvation. This vision inspired these young children (ages 9, 7 and 6 years old), to offer up many, many prayers and sacrifices to Mary in reparation for all sins and to save souls.

If we imitate these three children, we will please Jesus very much and console Mary’s Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. We will also help Mary convert and save poor sinners, and in the process we will become Saints as well!

In the Cathedral of the Catholic Kingdom, one of the stained glass windows is called “Devotions that can Save Your Soul.” When you go there, you will find a collection of nine Church approved devotions that will help you to do all of these good things that we have been talking about. And there is a special bonus as well! Each of these devotions has the promise that, if you follow the devotion faithfully, you will save your own soul! After you die, you will go to Heaven!

But be warned! You cannot do these devotions with the idea that you can then live however sinfully you want. God’s mercy is a special grace, and He will not let it be abused. We must at least desire to be good and try to amend our lives. God has generously given these devotions as a merciful help to save our souls, NOT as a permission to keep sinning, with no desire to ever change! Besides, it is our sins that cause all of our unhappiness! Why shouldn’t we want to stop?

So read these devotions and learn all of the amazing promises that Jesus and Mary want to give you through them. A good start is to consecrate yourself to Jesus through His Sacred Heart, and to Mary through Her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. To consecrate yourself, you can read a Consecration prayer that has already been written down or you can use your own words. Later, when you have the opportunity, you can add more formal details - but for now, a simple and sincere desire to belong completely to Jesus and Mary is all that is needed.

Part of being consecrated is living our consecration. This means trying to live better than we are now - and to keep going! There is always room for improvement. Here are just a few things you can do that will help you to be good and to be faithful:

Be sure also to visit our page of free Catholic downloads. Click here to go there now and see the many free Catholic images, e-books, MP3 downloads, and much more that are there to help you. These are available for everyone!

And once more, I encourage you to go to the Cathedral for this collection of nine powerful devotions. Click here now to see the helpful information, e-books and images that will assist you in completing one or more of these devotions and sharing all of them with everyone you know.

See you in Heaven!

Thank you again for being a part of the Catholic Kingdom. We are blessed to have you with us.

Until we speak again ...

May Our Lord and Our Lady fill you, and all those you love, with every true peace, blessing and grace ... now and forever.

Please keep everyone in the Catholic Kingdom in your prayers. Always. You are always in ours.

And let us pray that God fills each of us with the love that He desires us to have for Our Most Blessed Mother.

I remain your friend in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary,