SAINT JOHN BOSCO
Hello Everyone
I hope you are well and at peace,
After Easter I traveled to Paris do a talk in the Beautiful
church of Saint Sulpice, which is the second biggest in the
city. The event that was was taking place there was to
celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, thousands of people
packed the Church for the Vigil and during the Mass Fr
Daniel Ange got up to speak and it was a such a blessing to
witness the fire and conviction with which he preached.
After the Mass my talk took place and I had a man called
Jean Phillipe translating my words into French. It is the
second time he has done this and I could tell that he was
truly translating the Spirit and not just the words. When I
thanked him for this he told me that he looked upon it as a
ministry for the Lord. It was great to spend some time with
him and to see his love for God and his desire that others
encounter that love.
Paris is a city that I love to visit and has a fantastic history
of great men and women of God. In the Church of the
Rue du Bac lies the in-corrupt body of St Catherine Laboure
to whom Our Lady gave the miraculous medal. When I
prayed in there I lifted up to Our Lady all the young people
to who I have spoken over the years many of whom I have
given miraculous medals. Around the corner to this is another
Church with the body of St Vincent de Paul whose witness
of service to the poor still bears fruit to this day.
A few years ago I had a dream which reminded me just how
important the Saints are in our walk with God. Not only are
they witnesses by their very lives, but they stand before God
and intercede for us and their missions have not finished just
because they are in heaven. Another French Saint, Therese
of Lisieux said "I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth".
In the dream which I mentioned I was surrounded by Lions
and at first I was afraid of them, but then I was aware that the
Lions were in fact protecting me. When I prayed about this I
felt that God was showing me that the Lions represented the
Saints and they are a powerful source of protection and help.
When I returned from Paris I was running Parish missions in
Donnamanagh, Co Tyrone and then in Bohola,Co Mayo.
After which I ran a retreat entitled 'Healing the wounds of
our past' in Knock. During this retreat I felt that God
was showing me that if we really want to be free to serve
him wholeheartedly and to find healing in our lives we must
use the fullness of the truth that God has given us in his Church.
In other words the Sacraments of the Church, The word of God,
The Saints, The Angels and Our Lady. If we use all that God has
made available to us it is an awesome power and the words that
Jesus spoke to Peter should echo in our hearts "You are Peter
and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell
will not prevail against it". During the weekend there was immense
grace and I saw that many people were being set free to complete
the mission entrusted them by God.
Please keep a young man called Anthony in your prayers, he recently
spent a few days with me for the second time and he has gone back
to London and it is very difficult for him at the moment.
Over the last few weeks I have done Talks to secondary school
students in Banagher Co Offaly, Cahir Co. Tipperary and at
Tulla, Co Clare. At Tulla I met my old friend Sister Bosco
who has an amazing gift with young people. She has worked
at the school for 30 years and the teenagers absolutely love her,
because they know she loves them. Not surprisingly she has taken
her religious name from St John Bosco who is the patron saint of
young people, he once said "It is not enough for young people to
be loved, they must know that they are loved!" For me it was a
privilege to spend time with Sister Bosco and I always come away
feeling uplifted. I must say that on reading the emails that some
of the students sent to me after the talks it is clear that like all of us
they are crying out for love and truth in their lives.
I also led a one day school retreat for a group of students from
Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, the highlight of the day was when
they went to confession and you could see the joy in them
afterwards.
I remember a couple of years ago I was doing a talk at a school
in Ireland and it was a Priest who was the school chaplain that
had asked me to come in and speak. I could see that it was a
tough place for him to minister in. I have great admiration for
people like him who keep going faithfully no matter what the
cost to themselves. I felt this so strongly that at the end of my
talk, in front of all the kids I knelt down and asked for his blessing.
As he was blessing me he burst into tears and quite spontaneously
all of the young people gave him a round of applause because I
think it had dawned on them how much he cared about them.
Mother Teresa often said we are not called to be successful but
Faithful, so let us pray that when we get to heaven we might hear
those words from Jesus "Well done good and faithful servant"
and that the Saints and Angels that we have called on to help us
during our lives would be there to welcome us to our heavenly
home.
You are very much in my heart and prayers.
God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore
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