Friday, August 28, 2015

A SUMMER OF GOD FIRST


I hope you are well and at peace,


Over the last few months I have visited
many countries including Germany,
Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Russia,
Belgium, Scotland, England and the
Czech Republic.

When we try to put God first he seems to 
be able to bless our life so much more. 
In the first years of being converted I felt 
that to show God that I loved him I 
needed to pray and go to Mass, as if I 
was doing God a favour. Now I 
understand the more time I can give God, 
the more he can bless my life. God has a 
wonderful plan for us, but can only show 
us this plan if we put him firmly first in our 
lives.

Over the Summer I had the blessing to 
speak to Priests and religious in Waterford, 
at the Little sisters of the poor. This was a 
real Grace for me because when I first 
came to Ireland, I had no house or place 
to stay and the Little sisters put me up 
many times, fed me and looked after me. 
At the talk there were about 200 people, 
it was to celebrate the gift of religious life. 
Again people who have tried to put God 
first in there lives, and have the wonderful 
Joy that goes with it.

 I also had the pleasure of spending time 
in Russia,Prague and Estonia, it is a 
wonderful gift to see the openness now
to faith, when for so many years the 
people and church was so persecuted. 
There is a real hunger in the people for 
the truth of the Catholic Church and its 
teachings. The pain in the older people is 
still there and the stories I heard of some 
of the struggles under the communists 
were quite remarkable. When a country 
turns away from God it turns away from 
love, mercy, openness and goodness.

I traveled over to Scotland and England 
visiting the Cenacolo  community and the 
Shrine to our Lady of Walsingham. The 
Cenacolo community was started for men 
struggling with addictions, I shared my 
story and one of the men asked me how I 
stopped hating myself. I said I started 
seeing myself as God sees me without 
Judgment, anger or condemnation, but 
with mercy, love and understanding.
When I wrote my first book my mum 
would not read the part of the book 
where I was so bad as a gangster in 
London, she did not mind reading the 
other parts where I tried to be good and 
had found God. Then she told me she 
had read the bad bits.  When I asked 
what she thought, she started crying and 
said, I thought my poor wounded little boy, 
she did not see me as a monster only a 
hurt little boy making so many bad choices.
And I knew this was a slight reflection of 
how God sees us, with an amazing mercy, 
love, and understanding, as his beautiful 
little boy or girl who have been hurt by 
our sins and other peoples sins and 
needing him to hold us and heal us in his 
forgiveness and love. At the Shrine to our 
Blessed Mother I was able to spend some 
time in prayer and meet good friends.

My last trip was to Munich to give some 
talks at a youth prayer festival, it was very 
blessed with hundred of people going to 
confession, many inner healings of 
forgiveness and self worth. My high point 
was a 22 year old homeless guy who had 
heard me on the radio and came as his 
story was like mine, we met and spent time 
chatting and he made his first confession 
and just cried and cried because he felt 
so loved by God, when I left he stayed on 
to help, and you could see God was going 
to look after him as he had chosen to try 
and put God first in his life.

Please pray for me as I have visits to England,
Los Angeles, Washington and Toronto in the
next few weeks.

You are very much in my heart and prayers,
God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore