ST JUDE "THE PATRON SAINT OF HOPELESS CASES"!

Hello everyone
I hope you had a truly blessed Christmas and New year.

I had the grace to spend a lot of time with my mum during this period
and I thank God for the gift that she is to me. When I was a gangster
in the darkest period of my life, I never knew it but my mum used to
pray for me every day. Eventually she prayed a Novena to St Jude
(the patron Saint of hopeless cases) that Jesus would take me and
that I wouldn’t hurt myself or anyone else any more.

Soon after this, God stepped into my life in a powerful way and I ended
up going to a retreat at Aylesford priory in kent. I went to confession
and I had an incredible experience of Jesus when I received him in
Holy Communion that changed me forever, everything I had searched
for and had never found was with me in that moment, the one thing
that truly satisfies our wayward hearts, the love of God.

That took place eighteen years ago and just this week a friend of
mine called Michael was visiting from Australia, I stayed with him and
his family last year when I doing talks over there. I took him
to Aylesford to show him around, I brought him into one of the chapels
which I told him was one my favourites, it is the Chapel of
St Jude, and I became very emotional because I knew in a deep way that
it was his and my mum’s prayers that had led me to that place and to
Jesus, and I felt like he was saying to me that there is no such thing
as a hopeless case with God.

This week I have started a speaking tour in England, the first engagement
was at Westminster Cathedral hall. That evening the weather was truly
awful, there was a heavy snowfall all over London and the Southeast.
I was amazed to see so many people turn up in these conditions. I received
an email from one young man who told me he had been touched by God’s
love during the talk and particularly when I spoke about the fact that it
says in the bible three hundred and sixty six times “Do not be afraid” that’s
one for every day of the year even one for a leap year. He told me that he
made a decision in his heart at that moment to go ahead and make enquiries
about becoming a Priest (which he had been thinking about for some time
but kept putting it off) I will be keeping him in my prayers that God will
continue to bless and guide him.

That evening after the talk we travelled down to Brighton, even though the
roads were covered with deep snow, I really felt that God was asking me to
travel anyway. The school I was meant to be speaking at was closed because
of the weather but despite this I ended up meeting with Fr Graham Ricketts
and had a truly Blessed time with him and also Dominic Dring a teacher from
the school I had been due to speak in just happened to be at the Mass we had attended and I had a grace filled conversation with him also. After this I was filled a great joy because he showed me once again that his plans are so much
better than our plans if we can just be open to the guidance of his Holy Spirit.

Please keep this tour in your prayers I am due to speak to several thousand
Young people in schools across the country.

You are very much in my prayers.

God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore