Wednesday, October 16, 2013

FORGIVENESS LEADS TO FREEDOM!


Hello Everyone

I hope you are well and at peace,

At the end of August I travelled to Winipeg in Canada where I
spoke to 1000 people at a Marian conference. It was a very blessed
weekend. While I was there I had the honour of meeting and
spending time with a man named Roy Schoeman. Roy was an
orthodox Jew and business professor who had an amazing
conversion to the Catholic faith. He had a powerful revelation
how in the spiritual realm money is worthless and it is only the
treasure we store up in heaven that is of any value when it comes
to eternal life. His witness of living for God was truly inspiring.

From there I went to Scotland and ran parish missions in Greenock
and Dunfermline. I was very touched by a man who told me that
during the mission he felt moved by the Holy Spirit to speak to his
neighbour with whom he had fallen out with several years before.
He knocked on her door and said to her that he felt that life was
too short to carry on with their feud, and would she forgive him for
any hurt he had caused? Straightaway she embraced him and said
of course she would forgive.

This reminded me of a time a few years ago when I was challenged
by a priest to forgive those who had hurt me in my life and to pray
for them. There was one particular person who had caused me
immense pain and I will be honest I didn’t feel like either praying
for them or forgiving them. But in obedience to what the priest
had said I started to pray and at first my prayer was “Bless this
person, but make sure they suffer!” but as the months went by,
gradually God softened my heart until eventually I genuinely
wanted this person to be blessed. Little by little and by the grace
of God I realized that I had forgiven. Years later I was astonished
to hear that this person had been become a Catholic, made their
first Holy Communion and Confirmation and was now attending
Mass each day. Maybe it was part of my forgiveness that played
some part in their conversion.

After this I led missions in Brighouse, Yorkshire and then Folkestone
in Kent. At Folkestone I had the joy of meeting up with two good 
friends of mine, Kathy and Carole who were helping and serving
during the week.

My next stop was Toronto, Canada where I spoke at 5 different events,
including to 2500 secondary school students, also at an event called
Theology on Tap which took place in a pub, and at a business
breakfast hosted by Cardinal Thomas Collins. The Cardinal said when
speaking to the businessmen “It is in the little events of everyday life
that we glorify God, by being honest and having integrity in our
dealings and by showing kindness and patience to those we meet”
 This was especially appropriate as it was the feast day of St Therese
of Lisieux who wrote of her little way in much the same terms. I
knew it was God reminding me that the little things are important
to him and not to miss the opportunities that he sends moment by
moment.

The final mission I did was in London at a Church called St Cedds.
It was nice to be back in my hometown and work with the Parish
Priest Fr Adam who I have known for many years.

The things that I really felt God impressing on my heart over the
last few weeks are that the more we can forgive the more freedom
we receive in our own hearts. That we should never get too busy,
but to embrace the present moment because that is where we find
God, and finally to make sure that our hearts are fixed on the things
that truly matter because, as Roy discovered, at the end of our lives
it is what we have done for God that will be our true treasure.

You are very much in my heart and prayers

God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore