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