TRUE PEACE

Wishing you a very blessed and merry Christmas.

During this season where the child Jesus comes into

the world to bring his light and healing I am reminded

that many people ask me how can they find true 

peace? I have always felt Mother Teresa's description

is not only wise but profound.

She said "The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of 

prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love

is service and the fruit of service is peace."

Sometimes in our lives it is very easy to take our eyes

or our hearts off what really matters and what is 

important to God. I often feel when I am leaving to

start a mission what a privilege it is to serve Jesus

and there is a joy in my heart. But when I feel the

burden of tiredness or selfishness and the desire 

of what I want, the joy is always lost and I am left 

with a begrudging heaviness.

When we ask Jesus for the grace to really give, and 

to give until it hurts, we receive all the graces Mother

Teresa speaks of. So as this year comes to a close

I look back at all the miracles Christ has worked

through his broken servant and am in awe and 

wonder of the servant king as the shepherds and

the magi were.  

After Ballyfermot I travelled to Kildimo in Limerick 

to run a parish mission for Fr John Donworth which

was a very blessed time. I had the privilege to speak

at a school that was dedicated to St john Bosco and

it was beautiful to see the Salesian priests reflecting

the joy and patience of the great man. For the 

last 20 years I have been giving talks to young people in

schools and prisons and have met some who are 

very wounded and very angry. St John Bosco said

"The more a young person screams at you, the more

he is saying please love me." In my own life I was 

someone who was hurt when I was young and would

never let anyone get too close to me and would get

angry if anyone tried to give me attention, thinking

this protected me, but all it did was isolate me from

love. But when Jesus showed me in his patience

and unconditional love that he would never stop

trying, I was melted as I feel young people are if

we reflect that patience and unconditional love.

I then travelled to Galway to give a mission for an

old friend Fr Tadgh. He is a priest who has a joy 

and a happiness and when I asked him on my last

visit why he is so happy, he said "It is because I

work hard at being a priest" and the words of 

Mother Teresa came back to me "Give until it

hurts!" It was a very blessed mission with lots of

graces.

I then flew to Chicago where I gave a talk at a 

mens conference in the great lakes. I always 

have a deep joy in seeing men gather because 

of their love for Christ.

After this I flew to Sacramento in California. The

priest and the people were very open and loving

and there was a depth of faith in this parish.

While I was in Sacramento I made a special friend

called Jack, who is a boy who serves for Jesus in

Mass and has a deep gift of love in his heart.

(Merry Christmas Jack!).

During this time one lady came up to me and 

said that she was terminally ill with only a few 

months left to live and she had felt a great fear 

and trepidation about meeting Jesus. But at the 

mission she had made a wonderful confession 

and now felt an excitement and joy, like the 

sunshine had come after the rain. May we all 

make a wonderful confession this advent. Our

lives are short on earth but when we open our 

hearts to the wonder of our saviour, the servant

king who teaches us to not only give and give

until it hurts, but to give our very everything for

others. This is peace, may we embrace it.

Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones.

John Pridmore

SURRENDER TO JESUS

I hope you are well and at peace, 

Since my last update, I travelled to Stoke 

on Trent to do a parish mission with an 

old friend Fr Julian Green. He is a priest 

who tries to put Jesus first in his life.

It was a real blessing as he had consecrated 

whole mission to Mary and though Mary's 

prayers to Jesus. There was many miracles 

and Graces for all the people who attended.

Then I traveled to Douai Abbey in Berkshire 

to speak to young Catholic adults, with some 

of the young people there was a real openness 

to live their lives for Christ and not get sucked

into the world and what it offers. I often feel in 

our world today how many distractions we 

come across trying to stop us putting God first.

A line I hear is "I do not have time to pray" yet 

Jesus says cut off from him we can do nothing 

of any worth. There is aways that tendency to  

be very busy, doing things, but is it in Gods will? 

and if so, how much time do we spend

asking him to bless what we do in his name? 

A priest friend of mine, when he was given a new 

parish, decided to ask God in prayer what he 

wanted him to do. When he received light in his

prayer time he did what he felt God was inspiring

him to do and his new parish doubled in size.

Next I went to Littleborough in Lancashire to run 

a parish mission with Fr Arthur. The Mission was 

great and many people came back to confession. 

Fr Arthur was not in the best of health, yet he 

was trying to bring his people to Christ.

We got a wonderful letter from him after the 

mission saying how much wonder God had 

worked at the mission.

During that same week I flew to Hungary to speak 

to about 3000 people at a conference. It is always 

a Grace for me to see the faith around the world 

and what Jesus is doing. In Hungary despite years 

of communism, there seems to be such a wonderful 

group of faith filled people, Mother Teresa said that 

where there is persecution the faith is always strong. 

After the conference I was invited to speak at a 

school to 400 young people and a prayer group of 

some 300. The people who looked after me were 

great witnesses of Christ.

After this we ran a parish mission in Tipperary, Ireland.

It is always nice to come back to Ireland and again 

see the faith in the people be brought back to life by 

the power of his great love for us. At one mission in

Dublin a woman sent a message to tell me that when

she heard my testimony of God's mercy and grace in

my life it quite literally saved her life because she had

decided to commit suicide (she had experienced 

huge difficulties and suffering especially with her 

children) she hadn't been to Church in years and she

said she didn't even know how she ended up in the 

church that night, but God's love touched her life in 

a deep way Jesus brought her healing and new hope. 

I truly believe that these kind of miracles can only 

happen when people are praying. So for that reason 

I ask for your continued prayers for my work.

I pray that each one of us will completely surrender 

to God's will and be apart of all the Miracles he 

created us for, and that we may all bring many souls 

to his love.

You are in my heart and prayers, 

May God bless you in his deep love.

John Pridmore

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

Hello Everyone

I hope you are well and at peace.

Recently I had the opportunity to spend a week on
silent retreat at a Cistercian monastery in the South
of France. It was a blessing to take time in the
presence of God without any distractions. During
that week I realised how important it is to really put
God first in our lives and the joy that comes when
we do that.

Following this I travelled to Sainte Maxime la Saint
Baume (Where there is a shrine with the relics of
St Mary Magdalene) to speak at a Eucharistic congress.
The priests who were running the conference were a
fantastic witness to me of people who try to live for
God. One of talks I heard made a deep impact on me,
the priest mentioned that the average person watches
four hours of television per day and he said that when
we stand before Jesus we will have to explain how
much time we have spent watching television and
how much time we have spent in prayer seeking his
guidance and strength.

It is so easy to lose that intimacy with God and to go
through the motions in our spiritual lives. I for one
have decided to switch off the TV and only watch
what I feel will lead me closer to God. I'm sure all
of us have some distraction or temptation which
hinders our relationship with God.

When I returned to Ireland I led a healing weekend
at Mount Melleray Abbey. About 60 people attended
and many of them shared how they had received great
grace and healing from the wounds of their past and
a new freedom and joy in their lives.

After this I set off on a six week trip, where with my
team we led three missions in Scotland and two in
England. We saw some beautiful graces and people
told how they had been to confession for the first
time in many years and had been renewed in their
relationship with God. We also met some great priests
including my old friend Fr Julian Green who we
ran a mission for in Biddulph in Staffordshire. He
is someone who is always searching to find ways
to draw people to God and has great faith. While
we were with him he consecrated his whole parish
to Our Lady knowing that she will lead them and
guide them to Jesus her son.

Also during this trip I went to speak at the Youth
2000 prayer festival in Walsingham and it was quite
an emotional time for me because Youth 2000 are
celebrating their twenty fifth anniversary of running
eucharistic centred retreats for young people. At the
retreat I met many old friends and I was reminded
how I set up the first Youth 2000 retreat at
Walsingham. Myself and my friend Niall arrived
there in February 1999 and were wondering at the
possibility of running a retreat there. We had no
money and only one contact in the local vicinity.
So we sat down in the middle of the field opposite
the shrine and we prayed a rosary asking Our Lady
that if she wanted the event she would bless and
guide all the practical details. Six months later we
sat down in the same field to pray in thanksgiving
that Our Lady had made it possible to bring 2000
young people from every corner of the country to
spend five days in prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament and there had been great miracles during
those days. The beautiful thing is that the retreat
continues annually to this day. That is the power
of Our lady's intercession!

Over the last few weeks I have spoken to thousands
of young people in schools around the country and
I would ask for your continued prayers for this
ministry that the seeds that are planted may grow
in good soil in their hearts. Like for all of us is it
so easy for the worries and distractions of this world
to stop those seeds from growing and bearing fruit.

You and all your intentions are very much in my
prayers.

God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore

WHO IS MY MOTHER?

Hello everyone,

I hope are well and at peace.

Since my last update and being filled with the grace
of Our Lord's resurrection over Easter, I gave a
mission in Co Laois, Ireland. The parish priest
there had spent many years in Brazil and was a
world of information about the make up of the
Church in South America. He explained to me
about liberation theology and how this came
about in the ministry of some priests. As with
all areas where we can be misguided or misled
they seemed to start with a very good intention,
but it is when we step across that line of obedience
to the teachings of the Church that the problems
start. However this priest had a love for the Church
and the people he served and was a good witness.
There was one middle aged woman at the mission
who had a deep fear of the Church and of authority
because of a retreat she attended when she very young.
Despite this the Holy Spirit guided her to come
to the whole mission, she went to confession
for the first time since she was a child and her fear
was healed.

Next I travelled to Knock (The national shrine where
Our Blessed Mother appeared in Ireland) There I
gave a weekend retreat based on healing the wounds
of our childhood. It was a programme I did myself
where I received many graces and a freedom to serve
God more fully. At this retreat we witnessed Our
Blessed Mother reaching into the peoples hearts and
bringing a deep sense of God's love and a real sense
of self acceptance.

Over the last few years I have been working on my
4th book entitled "Consecration To Jesus Through
Mary" This consecration based on St Louis de
Montfort's writings changed my life and brought
me to oceans of Jesus I did not know or understand
until I gave my heart to Mary to present to Jesus,
and in so doing I could see Jesus as his Mother
Mary does. St John Paul II stated that this
consecration was a turning point in his life along
with countless other Saints and Holy men and
women. After the retreat in Knock I had
the opportunity to finish the book and it is now
available from my website or any good bookshop.

I then travelled to England where I spoke in a
number of schools to a few thousand young people.
I always enjoy this part of my ministry and the
response of the young people through their openness
to the truth of Christ's love for them. It was also
very obvious on this particular trip the amount
of teachers who really want the young people to
know God's plan for them and are prepared to put
themselves out for this grace.

Then I gave a parish mission in Manchester which
was very blessed. Some of the priests from the
surrounding area were so touched by the confessions
that they came every night and even though on one
night England were playing in the world cup the
Church was still full.

After this I flew to Gibraltar where I gave a retreat over
a weekend to about 100 young people. This was very
emotional for me as some of those attending had been
really wounded by the world and the culture of death.
But to see God's transforming love bringing them back
to life in him was both wonderful and amazing. The
culture of death promises that if we put ourselves first
and do only was is pleasurable for us with no regard for
others this will bring us life. As I know only too well
the culture of death brings death and pain.

The culture of life promises that when
we sacrifice ourselves for others, give until it hurts,
helping the weakest and being the light that Christ's life
showed we have fulfilment joy and happiness. The
culture of life brings life to it's fullest.

During my travels I met a man who I thought was a
Catholic priest, only to discover that he was from a
society that had been excommunicated from the Church
because of their disobedience to the pope and the teaching
of the second vatican council. Whether we move away
from the Church and it's teachings through liberation
theology or thinking that no Mass is valid after vatican II,
the results are the same, disobedience and separation from
the Church that loves us.

On reflection over the last few months our Church is like
a Mother who is there to both guide us and protect us, who
loves us and cares for us and the more we are obedient to
our Mother and her teachings the freer our lives become.
St Therese of Lisieux stated that for many years she searched
for her true true vocation and then discovered "In the heart
of the Church my Mother, I will be love!"

I pray that each one of us may be the love of Christ to those
we meet.

Please pray for my up and coming missions and retreats as I
will be travelling in France, Ireland, Scotland, Hungary and
England.

You are very much in my heart and prayers.

God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore

www.johnpridmore.com

THE UNFAILING HOPE OF JESUS

Hello everyone

I hope you are at peace and had a blessed Easter.

At the end of March we started a parish mission in Bray 
by the sea in Ireland, It was a very well attended mission 
with an almost full church each night. I often hear on my 
travels around the world that the Church in Ireland is in 
real difficulties, with people stopping going to Mass. 
However my understanding is very different. The people’s 
faith in Ireland is wonderful with so many people giving up
their time for their love of Christ. With the missions we 
run the Churches are normally full each night, and a great 
number at the weekday morning masses. Maybe it is the 
hundreds of years that the Irish people have prayed the 
Rosary and kept that closeness with Our Blessed Mother,
who always brings us to Jesus’s Heart of Love. Bray was 
very Blessed with a real hunger for God in the people.

Whenever I am by the sea I think of God and thank him 
for my conversion, because I remember many years ago 
I was in a prison, and my cell overlooked the beach, each 
day I would watch people walking or swimming and 
enjoying their freedom. I always thank Jesus for the freedom 
he gives me now. Also when I give talks in prison now I like 
the fact that when I want to leave they let me out because 
there was a time they would not let me out :-]

Next I traveled to give a mission in Arklow, County Wicklow.
There were many Graces with lots of people making great
confessions and finding that personal love that Christ has for 
each one of us.

After this mission I went to Croatia to promote my first book 
which is now in 9 languages including Croatian. This was a very
special visit, I gave talks in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. The 
publisher traveled with me and was a great host and a real man 
of prayer. About 300 to 400 people came to each talk and there
were lots of radio, TV and newspaper interviews. It always amazes
me how much the media can be used to proclaim the wonder of 
God and how little it happens. So every chance I get, I give the 
fullness of Christ's truth.

When I got back to Ireland it was Holy week and I had my mum 
come and stay with me. My mum is a big reason why I am with God
she never stopped praying for me and a bit like St Monica 
stormed heaven for me. It was a good Easter with lots of 
lessons for me. One Priest said to me a long time ago, 
every day we need conversion and if we stop being open 
to conversion we are spiritually dead, so I pray to be 
converted and change every day.

After Easter I gave a talk for my friend Patrick McCrystal who 
runs Human Life International, They are a real powerhouse 
of Grace against the culture of death and proclaim the 
teachings of the church in mercy and love, it is always a  
privilege to be asked to talk for them.

Lastly I gave a mission in Rathkeal near Limerick. When I arrived 
in the church, I knelt down at a statue of Our blessed Mother 
and was reflecting on how unworthy I am to speak on behalf of 
Jesus, with all my sins and failings, but Mary seemed to touch 
my heart with the love of the Holy Spirit and say it is OK to be 
broken and a mess just keep on getting up saying sorry, because 
God loves you so much. And I thanked Jesus for my life in him.

Please pray for me, I travel to Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland , 
Chicago, England, Spain and France in the next 2 months giving 
missions and talks. You are very much in my heart and prayers

God bless you in his deep love.
John Pridmore

PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!

Hello everyone

I hope you are well and at peace.

In February I had a trip planned to Texas to speak at
a mens conference, but about 1 month before I was
due to go there I found out there was a mix up with
the event. The only problem was I had already booked
my flights. At first I was simply not going to bother with
the trip but as I prayed about it I really felt that God was
asking me to go anyway, even though there were no speaking
engagements planned!

So I decided to contact two good friends of mine who
have connections in Texas to ask them if they knew
anyone who would like me to speak while I was over
there (even though it was very short notice) I began
to pray asking God to open any doors he wanted me
to walk through. Amazingly there ended up being a
talk almost every single day I was over there.

I spoke at a life teen event to about 350 teenagers
and it was a very blessed evening. One girl emailed
to say that she had been going through a very painful
time after her parents had split up and she was
beginning to lose her faith. She had been invited to
come to the life teen event but she really didn't want
to go. Yet somehow she ended up going (someone
must have been praying for her) she received a deep
inner healing as she listened to my story and Jesus
showed her that she was precious in his eyes and
he was so close to her in her suffering. There were
many similar emails from young people who were
going through dark times and trying to make sense
of where God was in their lives.

I met some wonderful people on that visit including
a lady called Elizabeth who arranged for me to do
a parish mission and really looked after me while I
was there. At the mission it was uplifting to see many
people going to confession and telling how much
God had touched their lives.

I ended up travelling down to Tampa in Florida to
speak at a men's conference at which 800 were in
attendance. These events are so anointed and I had
some great chats with some of the guys and you could
see that God was moving in a powerful way. I would
love to see more of these events in Europe!

Next I travelled to Wales where I spoke at a youth
2000 retreat, which for me is always a pleasure because
it is through these retreats that I came to experience God
in a deep way in my own life. It was nice to see some
familiar faces and meet up with some old friends,
including Fiona who is doing a fantastic job running
youth 2000.

After this I flew to Ireland and ran two Parish missions
in Dublin and Coalisland and during the missions I
spoke in the local secondary schools.

Following this I went to visit my very good friend Fr
Frankie Mulgrew who has now been ordained to the
priesthood for around a year. He is in a parish in
Lancashire and he arranged for me to speak to about
800 students in the local secondary schools over the
course of two days and to speak at all the weekend
Masses in his parish and finally to do a talk on the
Sunday evening.

The thing that impressed me was that Fr Frankie would
rise at 6am each morning and pray for two hours before
the Blessed Sacrament and had been interceding for
these talks for a long time and had offered Masses for
these intentions. Because of this you could see how
God was touching many hearts and I felt there was a
tremendous openness in all the people I spoke to.

This just reminded me that prayer is the secret and that
through intercession and perseverance God really can
work miracles, first of all in our own hearts and then
in the hearts of all those we meet.

You are very much in my prayers, please pray for me.

God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore

OUR TRUE CALLING

Hi Everyone

I hope you are well and at peace,

Recently I went to run a parish mission in a
place called Attymass in Co, Mayo which
was made famous by Fr Patrick Peyton who
was born and raised in the village. He was an
incredible man who left Ireland very young
and really discovered his vocation to the
priesthood in the United States. After a
miraculous healing from a life threatening
illness (through the intercession of the blessed
virgin Mary) whilst in seminary, he vowed to spend
the rest of his life spreading devotion to Our
Lady.

After this he travelled the world and he especially
called people to family prayer (particularly the
rosary) His favourite saying was 'The family
that prays together stays together'. Sometimes
crowds of over a million would come to hear him
speak. While watching a video of his life it
reminded me how true it is that God doesn't choose
the qualified, he qualifies the chosen. Fr Peyton said
yes to God's plan for his life and he put his heart and
soul into living out that plan in his day to day existence.

Soon after this I felt God was trying to impress upon
me the urgency to reach people with the message of
Jesus and not to waste the time and opportunities he
has given me. In my own heart I recommitted myself
to this calling he has given to me that I would give it
my all.

As always when we say yes to God's plans in our hearts,
he then gives us the practical opportunities of putting
them into action. Lots of invitations to come and speak
began to arrive and I knew that God was working in
the way that only He can. I truly believe that the most
important aspect of this work is that people are praying
for those who are spoken to, because that is when the
miracles really happen. So I would ask for your prayers
for the coming months when I will be speaking in Poland,
Croatia, Texas, London, Cardiff, France, Chicago,
Slovenia, Spain and Manchester, as well as our parish
missions which will take place all over Ireland, Scotland
and England.

At the beginning of the new year I did a tour of schools
in England and spoke to about 2000 young people. Next
I spoke to 100 headmasters and headmistresses from
Catholic schools all over England on the feast of St John
Bosco (The patron saint of youth) who is one of my favourite
saints! The priest who spoke before me said during his
talk that the vocation of the teachers wasn't just to prepare
the students for employment, but to inspire them for
their true calling which is to love and serve God, to give
generously of themselves and to become people who
change this world for the better. Many of the head teachers
shared with me that they were very touched by the retreat
and they felt challenged in their own vocation.

You are very much in my heart and prayers

God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore