In the Spotlight

In many ways, yes! When we die it is difficult for us to go straight to being with God because of the bad things that we do in our lives which have brought us away from God and what is best for us. Purgatory is not so much a telling-off by God as an opportunity to get in shape so that we can experience true closeness to God in Heaven.

‘Sin’ is really anything that brings us away from God, that gets in the way of our relationship with Him. We sin because when God created us he gave us something called ‘free will’, which means that we are not simply His puppets living out a life that he has already decided, but that we can make our own choices about what to do and how to behave. Because none of us are perfect (Jesus was!) we do not always follow the best paths in life. When we go down the wrong path we are sinning.

When you look at the story of creation in the first couple of chapters in the Bible, the message behind that story is that from the very beginning of creation and human beings existing, people recognised a need for God, and began to find ways to relate to God. So I’d say that the first person to believe in God was the first person to exist.

I guess I’d say that if your feelings for her are getting in the way of your friendship, and you don’t feel you’re being honest, then you should tell her. She may already have an idea that you like her so it’s probably better to tell her now. If she wants to just be friends, then try to remember friendships tend to last a lot longer than boyfriends and girlfriends, and at the right time the right girlriend will come along.

The Bible tells us that, through the Holy Spirit, God is in each one of us when we are Baptised into the Christian faith. So God is with us all the time! Knowing and experiencing this can be difficult though. You might be able to see how great God is through nature, so a beautiful sunset or a walk in a wood; or you might feel God’s love through the love of other people. Jesus is also actually there in bread in communion at Mass, so if you want to get really close, Mass is the place to be.

The historical answer is that when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its religion, the existing holidays and festivals were changed to become Christian festivals. So the Winter Solstice became Christmas. The idea of Christmas is not to remember the exact day when Jesus was born, as we can never know for certain the date, but to celebrate the fact that God in fact did come to earth, and became human for us! It's so amazing, it's really something we can celebrate and thank God for every day (just maybe not with the presents and tinsel!)

Jesus tells us that He is with us always. This might sound a bit strange, particularly since we can’t see Him around us. But the truth is that through the Holy Spirit, God is with us and in us. So really it’s about recognising that! Practically, try to find some time on your own to be still and try to become aware of God’s presence. Perhaps make a prayer corner, with a Bible and a candle, to help you focus. Or try listening to Christian rock music during the day and let the words help you pray.

Testament is another word for promise. The Old Testament was the promise between God and His people through Moses, that He would protect them and guide them. The New Testament is the promise between God and His people through Jesus, His Son. This promise is that we can be in relationship with God, despite the mistakes we make and the things we get wrong as humans, and have eternal life with Him through Jesus' death and resurrection. I don't know about you, but that sounds like pretty good news to me! :) The word Gospel also means Good News and as the Gospels are included in the New Testament, the whole of the New Testament is sometimes referred to as the Good News, but when we get down to it the Good News is that God has been planning how we can spend eternity with Him from the very beginning of time, because he loves us that much!

Jesus said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could tell the mountains to move themselves into the sea, so having faith when we pray is always helpful. God always answers our prayers, however we may not receive the answer we're looking for. Just as you wouldn't give a sharp knife to a young child- in case they hurt themselves - God knows what is best for us and so sometimes his answer is "no", or "not right now". Of course, that doesn't mean we should necessarily give up - sometimes, God wants us to persevere with our prayer so that we truly rely on him, and sometimes it's about learning to pray for what God wants rather than what we want.

A good habit to get into is to take some time before you go to bed, to look back over your day, and see if there’s anything you need to ask forgiveness for. There’s also an opportunity at the beginning of Mass to ‘call to mind our sins’, and to ask God to forgive us. If you need to go confession though, and for some reason you can’t make the Saturday slot, most priests are happy to hear confessions at other times if you call and make an appointment with them. Top tip: Don’t miss out on the grace that comes from the sacrament, find a way to get there!

God has given us what’s called free will, which means we choose our behaviour, and he never forces us to do anything. Sometimes God might want us to do particular things though, so when we pray it’s good to take time to listen to him. You might want to ask what God if there’s something special he wants you to do, it might be telling people about Jesus, or raising money for charities, or just smiling at people! One of the best things about life is discovering what God has in store for us. But the choice is always yours.

God will never ever stop loving you. God is so loving that it is true to say that God IS Love. Some people imagine God is going to punish crush them if they do something wrong. This isn't a good image of who God is. One of the best images is that of a loving and forgiving Father. God does love you and always will.