PUTTING JESUS IN FIRST PLACE

Hello Everyone


Wishing you a very holy and blessed Easter.


Since the last update the good Jesus has
kept me very busy. Having given a mission
in Turf Lodge, Belfast which was like a
walk down memory lane for me. When I
first came to Ireland some 14 years ago I spent
a lot of time in West Belfast giving retreats
and talks in schools and parishes. The people
are very welcoming and open to the Spirit of
God. In this mission I met some good friends
and it was nice to see the openness again in
the people. Mother Teresa always said that
where there is great persecution there is great
faith.


I then travelled to El Paso in Texas to do a
number of talks in Churches and schools,
and also Juarez and Mexico city across the
border in Mexico. Juarez you might
remember was very much in the headlines
as being the murder capital of the world, with
an average of 10 people being murdered a day
for 4 years. In one of my talks a man came in
who whose face and head were completely
covered with tattoos (which is sign of being
a gang leader) at the end of my talk I went
over to the man and gave him a hug. He
started to weep and told me that he really
struggled in forgiving himself for what he
had done. It turned out that he was a warlord
in charge of a big gang in Juarez and had
changed his life round and was giving talks
in Churches and schools. The man had been
shot 9 times and had ordered the deaths of
many others. We spoke about the incredible
mercy of God and how he was a God who
loves to forgive! I felt in my heart that this
man was going to bring many souls to Jesus.


Juarez was a place of real poverty and yet
the people had a great joy and faith. Again
Mother Teresa's words came back to me,
"Where people are persecuted there is great
faith".


The person who arranged all these talks was
an old friend of mine called Laura who lives
in El Paso with her husband and 4 children.
It was a wonderful grace to be a part of their
family for 2 weeks. During this time I flew
to Mexico city and spoke in a school to 700
boys. It was such a blessing to be able to also
spend some time at Our Lady of Guadalupe's
shrine. Many years previously this was the
image in which I made the first consecration
of my life to Jesus through Mary, leading me
to be able to forgive myself and see myself
as God sees me without judgement or
condemnation, but mercy and understanding.


My next stop was St Patrick's church in Tampa,
Florida where I ran a mission for a week. This
was an amazing parish run by Franciscan
priests. It was such a blessing to see so many
lives touched by the grace of confession and
the Eucharistic healing service. I also had the
privilege of speaking to 500 young people in
St Petersburg, Florida. During this time of
mission there was a mother who was worried
about her 33 year old son who was not
interested in God or the Church. I told her to
go to Mass for 9 days consecutively and pray
a 9 day novena to St Teresa of Avila (Who
is a tough cookie) The mother emailed me to
say that on the 5th day her son had asked her
to take him to confession because he wanted
to change his life. Since then there have been
other miracles when people have prayed the
same novena.


I then came back to Ireland to do a mission
in Bantry, West Cork for an old friend of
mine Fr Sean Crowley. It was a joy to see
Fr Sean as a priest. When I first came to
Ireland, his family were very kind to me and
in those days both Fr Sean and his brother
were farmers.


His brother became Brother Patrick of the
CFRs. We should always be open  to what
God's will in our life is, as both these men
are a great witness in their vocations.


After this I went back across the Atlantic to
speak at the largest men's conference in
America. It is called Men of  Christ and
is held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The
person who helps run this conference, Kevin
O'Brien has become a good friend of mine.
It was very uplifting for me as a man to
see and share our faith with nearly 3000
other men. During the conference I also gave
a talk to the future men, the 14 to 18 year
olds about what it is to put Christ first in
our lives and the response was overwhelming.


Following on from this I gave missions in
Liverpool and then Tonbridge as well as
talks in a London parish and various schools
around the UK. Again the faith was a joy
to see and experience. We have a God who
is not only full of mercy but full of miracles,
when we try to put him in first place in our
lives.


It gives me immense hope at this time of
Holy week, when our humble Christ
poured out his life for us, to see the
wonderful response of so many people in
so many countries who are willing to take
up that same cross and follow our Saviour
to Calvary and to reap the reward of his
resurrection.


During this time of Easter let us try to put
him in first place.


God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore