OUR HOPE IS IN JESUS CHRIST

Hello everyone

I hope you have had a very blessed and Holy
eastertide! I had a restful time over easter
in Ireland and it was nice to spend 10 days
in our community house. When I reflect
back to when I arrived in Ireland 14 years
ago with a few clothes, a secondhand car
which was given to me and 60 pounds in my
pocket, it has been amazing how God has
provided everything I've needed to do
his most holy will. I have never gone
without a bed or missed a meal (as my
waistline will attest to) When Jesus says
"Do not worry about what you are to eat, or
what you are to wear" it is as true today
as it was 2000 years ago.

After easter I travelled to Birmingham
to speak at a number of schools. It was a
great grace to see Christ being resurrected
in so many young people and their teachers.
One of my greatest joys is to speak in
secondary schools and to bring hope into
young peoples lives about how much God
loves them and how important they are to
him. After speaking in 4 schools to over
1000 young people the emails and feedback
were humbling and is always a reminder
of how God's light shines through our very
brokeness and in our weaknesses God's
strength is made perfect.

One of my friends once said to me, "I am praying
for you to be like St Juan Diego" who by simply
sharing his story converted 10 million
Mexicans. When we share our testimony, we
share God's miracles and he able to create
many more.

When I got back from Birmingham to Ireland
we gave a mission in Mayfield in Cork city.
One of the things that touched me from this
mission was the amount of young people who
came from the school to the amazement of the
some of the parishioners. One parishioner
commented on the radio "You must come to
this mission it was full of skinheads, punks
and young people of every background that
you wouldn't expect to see in a church".

I then travelled to Beaumont in North
Dublin. This is a city parish and the
people are amazingly friendly with a great
love and openness for God. The mission
was very blessed in so many ways and
some of the people came up and told me
how through the mission they felt Jesus
was walking with them even in the pain
of their lives.

When we are going through a tough time
or feel we are failures, it is then that God's
grace is the most powerful. In the worlds
eyes the crucifixion of Jesus was a total
failure but this victory was God conquering
death. Some people in Ireland and the
world feel the recent referendum to open
marriage to homosexual couples was a
failure, but I believe God will use this to
wake up the Irish people into seeing that
God's law cannot be changed. He will also
bring about an overwhelming grace to the
wonderful Holy Sacrament of true marriage
between a man and a woman. As my old
spiritual director Fr Andrew Apostolli from
the CFRs once said to me "If a million people
say this is right, but in God's law it is wrong,
it is still wrong" Our hope as always is in
Jesus Christ.

Having given another mission in Belturbet,
Co Cavan, and speaking at the secondary
school I flew to Newcastle where I gave a
number of talks in schools parishes and a
doctors conference. At this event it was very
inspiring to meet so many doctors and nurses
who stand up for the teachings of the Catholic
Church and will not compromise these ethics
in all that they do in their chosen professions.

In all the parish based missions, schools
and other talks I give I find that there is
an ocean of grace available if I spend
enough time in prayer. More and more I
understand that when we want God
to create miracles then we have to give him
permission and this comes through prayer
and sacrifice.

As Mother Teresa 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"

Please keep me in your prayers over the coming
months as I will be travelling to Denmark, Russia,
Belgium, England, Germany, USA and Canada.

You are very much in my prayers

God bless you in his deep love
John Pridmore

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

THE LIGHT OF CHRIST

As we are well into 2015 wishing you a very happy 

new year and hoping you are at peace.

Since my Christmas break I started giving a 

number of talks in schools from London, Leicester, 

Stoke, Manchester and Lancashire. This was a two 

week tour with many thousands of the young 

people seeming to be very touched and brought to 

a personal experience of Jesus’ love for them.

One of the high points for me was a school in 

Manchester where after my talk they had priests 

available for confessions and I was told that the 

young people were still going to confession two 

hours after the school had finished, which

showed me the hunger of the 16 to 18 year old 

students to taste God’s mercy and forgiveness.

After this tour I went to Spain with a priest friend 

of mine and gave some talks in Gibraltar at a prison 

and parish which were kindly arranged by Fr Charlie 

who is a parish priest in Gibraltar who I got to know 

as my friend when I ran a youth retreat in the summer 

of last year.

Fr Charlie is a great witness of a priest who 

puts God in first place in his life and seems 

to work tirelessly to bring others to a deeper 

relationship with Jesus. My priest friend who 

travelled with me also gave some talks in 

Spain and Gibraltar.

It often seems strange to me that there has 

only ever been one diocesan priest canonised 

in the history of the Church (St John Vianney) 

I have the privilege of spending quite a lot of 

time staying with diocesan priests around

the world, and must say on the whole they 

are an inspiration to me of men trying to 

live radical lives for Jesus and his teachings.  

When I am travelling it gives me time to 

see the media’s influence on our world 

and I must say that sometimes it is hard 

to keep that hope in Christ’s victory. 

The darkness and evil that seems to be in 

so many countries and situations can bring 

you to a deep despair. However during 

this time of lent we are reminded of how 

much pain, hurt, rejection and fear that our 

Saviour suffered at the  hands of evil, even 

unto death. Only for the glorious light of the 

resurrection to take place and conquer death 

and evil forever.

So it is when I stay focused on the wonder 

of Christ and the hope in his victory that 

the darkness in our world seems to 

evaporate and the light comes pouring in.

Despair, fear and hopelessness knocked on 

the door, faith answered, and there was no 

one there!

We ran two parish missions when I got 

back to Ireland in Tallaght, Co Dublin and 

Allen in Co Kildare and even though it was 

freezing conditions the people came in 

great numbers, which showed me the thirst 

that people have to come closer to God.

I also travelled to Tullow to speak in a 

secondary school and while I was there I 

contacted a priest called Fr Michael kelly 

(who lives near there) He played a big 

part in my conversion over 20 years ago. 

He was the one of the first priests I spoke 

to after my initial encounter with God and 

he told me about the possibility of 

confession and guided me to a youth 

retreat which completely transformed my 

life! This was the first time I had seen him 

since then and it was a joy for me to spend 

some time and chat over a nice meal.

Next I ran a school retreat in the beautiful 

setting of the Franciscan friary at 

Rossknowlagh in Co Donegal. During

the day most of the young people took 

the opportunity to go to confession and I 

hope and pray that it lead them to a deeper 

relationship with Christ.

Please pray for me over the next few 

weeks as I will be travelling to Texas, Tampa, 

Chicago, Juarez, Mexico City, Bantry, 

Liverpool,London and Tonbridge to talk in 

Parishes, schools, youth groups and prisons.

You are very much in my heart and prayers.

God bless you in his deep love

John Pridmore

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