He changes a man from a slave of sin and selfishness into a son of God. He leads man from darkness to light, from death to life eternal.

Through His suffering and death, He won for us the new life that His Father gave to Him.

All of us have our own sufferings, and one day we shall die. There is no escaping this for rich or poor, young or old. If I can offer these sufferings and death of mine with and in Jesus Christ to the Father, I can be sure that He will accept me and share His new life with me.

The way to life is through death, as Jesus one day explained : “Believe me when I tell you this; a grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, or else it remains nothing more than a grain of wheat; but if it dies, then it yields rich fruit.” (John 12, 14).

 A LAST MEDITATION

We have often paused in these pages to reflect in the depths of our heart in silence. We can do this for the last time with the beautiful meditation of Cardinal Newman :

“God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission, I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

“I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good. I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

“Therefore, I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me – still He knows what He is about.”

A FINAL PRAYER

My God, I have read many things in these pages.

I knew many things before.

You are great;

And I have only one prayer.

It is a simple prayer;

I say it with all my heart.

You cannot be deaf to it:

LORD, HELP ME TO DO WHAT YOU WANT.

Question Paper 5 : Booklets 9 & 10