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