Good morning and what a bright and cheerful title for a blog!

A few days ago we had a very interesting conversation regarding hell and whether or not it exists!

Before I continue I will state that I personally believe in its existence and not only in its existence but in its ever-growing population! They’ll be having over crowding problems poor things!!

On the ‘it does exist side’ are those who follow things like Fatima, Medugorje etc.

Our Lady spoke very clearly of hell to the seers there and some were even shown visions and even brought there to see!

All the major mystics spoke of hell such as Padre Pio. They were in direct contact with it!

On the ‘it doesn’t exist’ side are many theologians who are sceptical of anything mystical.

The usual arguments are

1. God is love so hell couldn’t exist

2. God is all powerful and it’d be an insult to his power to say that He wasn’t able to save all souls

The arguments aren’t bad but yet they are quite childish and romantic!

1. God is love but look at all the suffering He allows here on earth and so why would He not allow a hell?

2. God is all powerful but He’s not all forceful. If a soul refuses God, it is no reflection of God lacking power but rather the soul in question lacking humility!

Supposing for a second that Hell does exist, it too is held in existence by God as are all beings in it. So tell me then that God lacks power or can be fooled, I don’t think so!!

We could also look at the scriptures where Jesus spoke many times about hell and the final judgement where like sheep and goats, the good and the bad would be seperated!

One thing common to all major spiritualities is the notion of purifying our souls.

Some believe in reincarnation and that we keep coming back to earth until we are finally purified for heaven while others believe in other methods of purification!

Which is why the blazé attitude of many christians is shocking and even absurd!

The very people who will spend thousands on schools, houses, cars and holidays think it too much to pray daily, go to confession and mass regularly and do a spiritual retreat occasionally.

It is absurd!

And so for these people who want nothing to do with God, in His mercy He has arranged for them a warm log fire in an ‘hotel eternity’ (emphasis on the ‘hot’) called hell!

Of course you are free to disagree with me, I’m simply expressing what I believe to be true!

Bless

Michael
The Fatima Prayer: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy”.
(Our Lady at Fatima, 13th July 1917)

Good Monday morning and what better day than a Monday to speak of change!!

‘If you always do what you’ve always done; you’ll always get what you’ve always got’

Sounds logical ..so then if your life is to improve a little, some changes are needed and if it’s to improve a lot, a lot of changes are needed!

The only problem with change is that it involves risk! At 23 I was unhappy working in Dublin so I got a job as an actuary in Paris!

I expected the change to help me but the new job was a disaster, living abroad alone was far harder than expected and my mum being sick was the last straw!

The change ended up with me having a breakdown and finding myself back in Ireland more lost than ever!

And you too surely have your own experiences of changes gone wrong from relationships to financial decisions and the effect of this is to paralyse us!

By 25 I was terrified of any changes and was grabbing to my one security which was my job!

But little did I know that my security was an obstacle to God and I had to break more before I accepted changing jobs!

Eventually the breakthrough came when I said:

‘God, I do not know what is good for me, you tell me and I’ll do it’

He took me at my word and within 3 weeks I went from being locked in my house with anxiety to driving to the south of France!

This change was the right decision because it was a god-inspired change and despite a lot of people not understanding, it was the best decision of my life!

What made it possible was prayer from the heart, constantly talking to Jesus and Mary and allowing them to guide me day by day!

So today you may be unhappy in life and know that something must change and you don’t know what or don’t have the courage!

My message is simple. You have a father in heaven looking on you with love and mercy and who wants to inspire you and give you the direction and strength that you need!

If you pray to Him you’ll realise like I have that it is only a fool that doesn’t pray and prayer will become more important in your life than the very food you eat!

So friends, let us talk to God from our hearts and let us learn to listen to His direction for our lives.

There is no situation too desperate for Him nor any person that He will refuse!

May God inspire your day, your week and all your decisions!

Michael

Good morning!

The last 2 days readings at mass have been about the difference between unspiritual people and spiritual people and the unspiritual part of us and the spiritual part of us.

Unspiritual people and the unspiritual part of us have no interest in spiritual things. Like birds with broken wings instead of flying majestically in the skys they squalor about on 2 feet on the ground feeding of rubbish!

Unspiritual people are not far from animals in their behaviour. They live for food, drink, entertainment and sex. Any thoughts of eternal things such as God, prayer etc. are utterly ignored!

Even spiritual people can feel a draw to behaving like this but the difference is that that fight! They see it for what it is and through prayer they overcome themselves!

Jesus says to pray at all times! ‘It’s boring’ many will say. ‘You need a balance others will cry’.

People like this haven’t really understood prayer.

I studied mathematics in college for 4 years. How could I study only maths….boring right?

Well no! Mathematics is very broad and vast and I recall in my first year having many different maths classes!

We had linear algebra which was mainly about vectors and matrices, we had analysis, discreet mathematics, statistics, finsncial math and then and computer programming!

As the years went on we explored more the worlds of complex numbers, probability, actuarial maths….

Honestly it went on and on!

Now spirituality is the same! To the unspiritual mind it’s ‘boring’ but to the spiritual man it’s more vast than maths!

There are so many different sides to prayer.

There is community prayer such as the offices of the church, there is mass, lectio divina, rosary, intercessory prayer…

There is healing and deliverance prayer, prophetic prayer, charismatic prayer, praise and worship..

There is infused contemplation and adoration not forgetting talking to God and making our work a prayer by doing it with love!

So how sad I get at times when so many discourage those who are called to prayer!

An olympic swimmer does not win a gold medal by watching TV and playing chess nor do world champion tennis players come to the peak of their careers on the golf coarse!

No! Their success comes from a gift which they develop through being focused and concentrated and through many sacrifices.

Is it not similar when it comes to prayer! If we want to be spiritually strong do we not have to step aside from the crowd and focus on prayer!

Do we not have to make many sacrifices at the risk of people calling us imbalanced fanatics!

Look at all the saints we pray to and how they lived their lives and think also of how much they were disliked and ridiculed on earth by their fellow christians!

So yes, the world needs people strong in prayer and strong in faith. By God’s grace I hope that I am one of them and that you are too and if not, it’s never too late for us to begin as

‘today is the first day of the rest of our lives’!

Pray, pray, pray! Our Lady needs us!

Bless

Michael

Good morning!

Growing up my mum had great faith. She’d talk about Jesus working through the priest and of His real presence in the Eucharist and that this life was short. She even baffled me once when she had my little sister while well over 40.

“I wanted to give the gift of eternal life to another soul”

Of course she knew it was God, but God couldn’t give birth!!

And so the theme of eternity was one that was never far from my thoughts and the reality that this life is short and both a gift and a responsibility.

Perhaps that’s why being gay hit me so bad. I didn’t want to be gay and was aware of living a life pleasing to God was a requirememt for going to heaven.

I feared I’d go to hell if I accepted that I was gay as if somehow accepting it was agreeing with it and that lifestyle and I had no intention of going to hell!

I was trained as a business planning actuary. I qualified at a record age of 23 and had more money and human respect than people twice my age.

Yet I wasn’t happy as I was plagued by the notion of eternity.

Actuarial work revolves around life and death; pensions and life assurance. We used to do projections to estimate how long people would live and so how much money they should put aside to have a decent pension!

While interesting my head would often think of the ‘second retirement’, the eternal one when you die and it plagued me.

About once a month I’d drive home (3 hours from Dublin). On a Friday night I’d stay up till 2 in the morning talking to my mother. Inevitably spirituality would come up and when she’d go to bed I’d look at some of her books!

‘Prayer is a hunger ‘one of them was titled.

It frustrated me terribly that I couldn’t grasp it because deep in my heart I knew that mam was right. She had a life with many trials and yet she had something that I didn’t, meaning and peace!

‘Why don’t you get interested in prayer’ she asked once!

My reply was prophetic

‘because if I did it’d take me over’

I knew even then that if God was real that I should give Him all but I was scared.

My mum left me be but I know she prayed for me more than the others as she knew I was lost.

When she fell to pieces years later with a mysterious depression that could not be cured by doctors I knew inside that I had to face the music.

As I saw doctors ignore and undermine her faith and members of the family laugh at her my heart bled. How arrogant some can be.

I guess this was the tipping point for me and like diving into an ocean I hurdled my life at God.

After that Jesus healed my mum even if she never got the same thirst for prayer that she had before!

Then I suffered what she had lived her entire life as I lived with almost no money and severely bullied because of my extraordinary interest in prayer.

And just like my mum, after years of bullying I broke again at 33 and yet I rose again. I did not come from a family or culture where giving up was an option!

Even to this day I face enornous rejection. People find me too much, I have little money, I sleep on a floor but yet deep inside I have peace even when I cry because I know that I’ve held nothing back from Jesus.

Yesterday a guy called me a ‘depressing evangelist’ because I spoke to him about eternity and conversion!

‘God is love’ he said and ‘we must live in the present’ and be happy!

‘Yes’ I said ‘God is love which is why we should talk to Him and listen to Him and ask His advice and direction and live in the present with Him’ I replied!

The day before a contemplative priest criticsed me for not having a balanced life in his opinion. Sadly he doesn’t understand my life and sees me as a fool!

So these are the trials of following Jesus, attacked from every corner and yet supported by the heavens!

So what is my point! Well I guess it’s that we must be witnesses to prayer and to eternity even if it makes others feel uncomfortable. We must trust that our example may disturb people’s worldly philosophies and lead them to an authentic search for God in their lives just like my mother’s did for me all those years ago!

Keep the faith

Please pray for me

Michael

Good morning!

Today is a dull rainy day in London, I love it, it reminds me of Ireland and after so many years living in hot countries I’m enjoying what others hate….the rain!!

Yesterday was a productive day as I managed to get both a haircut and open a bank account in the middle of my prayer and evangelisation routine.

I get a healing from the ordinary things of life while others search the extraordinary! At times I wish I could give them a taste of my life and they’d soon see that nothing matters only pleasing God!!

Before bed last night I glimpsed at the days news. Trump always seems to make the headlines but another interesting article was the possible discovery of Noah’s ark!

Now some believe that the story of Noah is a true event in history while others believe it to be a myth. Call me gullable but I tend to believe that these events did take place however unlikely they may seem.

It reminded me of a talk I was at last week on the Bible (every Monday at St Patricks Soho for anyone interested).

Because I’m so involved in evangelisation I tend to analyse things through the eyes of a non-believer and so anticipate and then mitigate the issues. Perhaps my actuarial training was useful after all as it was all about critical thinking, risk analysis and risk mitigation.

Whatever the case it’s good that there was no insurance industry in the time of Noah as the whole of creation got wiped out except the animals and people on one boat!

So I was thinking of all animal lovers and how they might react to all the animals on the planet dying except for a few on the ark….

Then I was thinking of the amount of human beings that may have died and again how strange it may seem from an unbeliever’s point of view!

It certainly isn’t easy to grasp how a loving God can allow all this and without being firmly rooted in prayer one could easily lose their faith.

It made me see even more that faith is a gift. Many of us have experienced God’s love in one way or the other and so we know and trust that God is love despite these types of arguments!

Yet without these graces we too may be struggling to reconcile the God of the old testament with the God of love!

This is why it’s so important to continue to pray and to trust even when we don’t understand fully and why also it’s important to ask the question ‘why?’ always through the lense of faith so that we can talk to people who don’t believe and discuss these types of questions comfortably.

Saint John Henry Newman was a very strong believer in educating the laity and of reconciling faith with reason.

‘Truth meets truth’ he so wonderfully put it!

And as another saint put it

‘I do not seek to understand so that I can believe,
but I believe so that I may understand‘

(St. Anselm of Canterbury)

So friends, as the evenings grow longer why not join a prayer meeting or a study group where you will find answers to some of your questions, question some of you answers all in the fellowship of of other like minds seeking to grow more in both understanding and faith!

Bless

Michael

Good morning!

This morning I was reflecting on the priesthood and on the power bestowed on each priest through ordination!

When a priest says “I forgive you” or “this is my body” he does not need to shout! Heaven obeys and the miracle is accomplished.

A lay person could shout and roar the same thing and heaven would stay silent, they don’t have the power or permission.

Similarly each priest receives other gifts as he is being trained. From what I recall these are called the minor orders and include a blessing to preach the gospel (you’ll never see a layperson reading Gospel at mass) and exorcism.

The whole lot makes the priest a very dangerous man to Satan and so Satan cunningly sets about destroying him!

Step 1: Instill doubts about the real presence of Jesus in the eucharist. How many poor priests are riddled with doubts as they say mass.

Step 2: Eliminate sin and so the need for confession to a priest. At best say there is no sin, second best is to confess directly to God and bypass the priest thus missing out on enormous graces.

Step 3: Destroy the preaching ministry by diluting the gospel into a feel-good message for everybody without any substance or challenge under Satan’s subtle deception of ‘being nice’.

Step 4: Eliminate the exorcism and deliverance ministry under the pretext of prudence, fear and superstition and hand this realm over to the psychiatric world who have no training in spiritual matters!

Now the poor priest may get bored and so Satan must set about occupying his time otherwise less he realises what is happening!

Now flows the endless tasks that any non-ordained person could do; flower arrangements, secretarial work, finances, endless meetings and projects!!

Satan’s motto is to keep him busy and especially to keep him from prayer.

After a few years many will leave the priesthood, others will turn to the drink while others become heretical in their thinking!

‘The family that prays together stays together” they say. How much more true for priests!

And so today my prayer is for priests. That they may truly believe in the power and significance of what they are doing and why they were ordained. That they may detect the snares of Satan and not be fooled or compromised and most of all that they may love Jesus and Mary and be docile obedient instruments to the Holy Spirit!

St Padre Pio, pray for priests!

Hello there!

One might wonder what suicide has to do with prayer and yet the answer is a lot!

We all know what suicide is but do we really know what prayer is?!

Saint Theresa of Avila described it as a conversation between two lovers; you and God!

Prayer is not just about words, it is about relationship and when we have a true heart to heart relationship with Jesus then something like suicide is ridiculous!

So why do so many commit suicide and many of them catholics too?

Is it that they didn’t really know how much God loved them and despair set in?

When I suffered with depression in my 20’s I went to many professionals.

I went to a doctor then to clinical psychologist. After I went to a psychiatrist and then to a psychotherapist! I went to a Chinese masseur, a hypnotherapist and to a reiki healer ….a road of confusion and despair.

And each time I went away almost €100 poorer and no less wise!

You see I was lost and I was looking for answers that they didn’t have.

I was looking for God, for Jesus and for His plan for my life.

Eventually Jesus came and I did a U-turn and began seeking help from prayer and priests rather than tablets and professionals.

The priests taught me who God is and who I am. They taught me about healing and forgiveness and the tablet of love called the eucharist!

My life took shape and Jesus gave me hope!

After I asked myself why people go to professionals who by in large exclude God and Jesus from their practices.

I was sad to learn that even christian professionals are not allowed to talk about Jesus in their work.

Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and money are the God’s of that world!

And so today I pray for all young people struggling with depression and suicide and I pray for all priests too.

I pray for priests to be anointed with the power of Jesus so that they know and truly believe that they have more to offer any soul than any professionals because they can offer the healing power of Jesus.

I also pray for the conversion of professionals and that they too realise that there is a God beyond their books and tablets and that His name is Jesus!

Come Holy Spirit, let no beautiful soul created by you commit suicide while we stay silent. May the name of Jesus be spoken on every street, in every office, in every hospital and may we rise up as catholics for the love of God and the healing of humanity!

Be bold in the name and power of Jesus!

Good morning!

Today is world mission Sunday and 3 of my favourite saints come to mind!

1. John Paul II. His understanding of the human person and of sexuality is a treasure that the world has yet to hear. Theology of the body needs to be heard, not just by catholics but by all people.

It is a masterpiece of theology and of who God is and of who we are.

I wish I heard it as a child and knew the love of God and the gift of my sexuality.

Instead I heard of missionary work in Africa!!

2. Mother Theresa. She was always on TV when I grew up in the 90’s and I prayed to her in Dublin when I was on the verge of taking my life. ‘I want to be like you’ I said and love the poor shamelessly and publicly!

Mother Theresa not only prayed for the poor, she become one with the poor just as Jesus became one with humanity.

Mother Theresa’s example is a remedy to the spirit of hypocricy that catholics are often accused of and an example of giving all!

3. My favourite and that is St Therese of the child Jesus!

Therese geniously understood that the most urgent mission field wasn’t in Africa or China but was the one in her own heart!

She realised that one can do enormous things for Jesus by doing simple things with love!

And so these 3 saints together make a perfect combination for the healing of today’s world!

With the instruction on John Paul II and the charity of Mother Theresa and the trust of Therese our catholic church could once again be flooded with young people seeking God, seeking healing and seeking truth!

At times we fail to see that our mission territory is all around us and this makes me sad.

How often do I go to prayer meetings and nobody says hello, how often at mass does the person beside me reluctantly shake my hand at the sign of peace without even looking at me!

It’s a bad sign if they can’t talk or shake hands considering our destiny is to spend all of eternity together in the most intimate of unions!!

And so you see that John Paul II got it right when he called for a reevangelisation of the west and that starts with you and me!

It starts with our hearts, our fears, our selfishness, our pride, our judgements and out of these places of transformation it extends to the people around us, especially to the very broken and from here to the whole world!

So on today’s ‘world mission Sunday’ there is no need to think of Africa or China or India but rather look at our own hearts and repentenly offer them to Jesus for all the places where we hold back in word and action and deed leaving others rejected and hurt!

Saint John Paul II

Pray for us

Saint Mother Theresa

Pray for us

Saint Therese of the child Jesus

Pray for us

Bless

Michael

Good morning!

Last night I was once again out and about in the Soho area, what hit me wasn’t so much the sadness but rather the lack of happiness.

Without God in our lives we can’t have true happiness because we are made for God.

This is what Our Lady is tirelessly saying in Medjugorje for nearly 40 years and why she prays for conversions.

When I see the gay scene I see a group of people thirsting for love, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit….but they just haven’t met Him yet!

There are so many broken lives and more than anything these people need Jesus, need hope, need healing, need truth, need love, need community, need prayer!

Ever tear and breakdown I had over the years I learnt by the example of St Theresa of the child Jesus to offer to God for the conversion of others. Suicide statistics are high, they didn’t need me making them worse!

And that is why I fight now for these souls that they may experience Jesus too and that what happened to me should not happen to others!

That is why I went to the bishop in Medjugorje as I was concerned about the pastoral care for gay people.

To some it may seem like revenge but no, it is justice. Justice to the gay community who desperately need Jesus and Mary and appropriate pastoral care. This is my calling and the mission that God has entrusted to me.

In my opinion there needs to be priests and lay people trained in this specialist area. The gay scene is different and sins such as sex are just normal. It takes time for lives to change and wading in too early with talks of mortal sin and chastity is not the way to go!

Those talks were needed 30 or 40 years ago, that boat has sailed as they say!

Alternatively I believe that what is needed is intense love and intense healing of people’s lives.

To be introduced personally to a loving God and father, to learn to pray and to cry out the terrible wounds of life’s rejection.

Afterwards things like purity will follow bit by bit but extra mercy and understanding are needed here as habits have been formed, wills may be weak, support inadequate and temptation strong!

I have always had a dream to go to Medjugorje on pilgrimage with a priest and a bus load of hurting lgbt people.

I can imagine Our Lady’s heart of love eager to touch their lives and to show them Jesus.

I can also imagine the controversy it may cause but it’d be worth it!

Medjugorje was born out of controversy and has survived because Our Lady is protecting it!

In any case I can always dream but I’m one of those people that likes to bring dreams to life and a bit of heaven to earth!

So please join with me today praying for the healing love of justice and reconciliation that many gay people may come to know Jesus through the intercession of Our Lady of Medjugorje and that all fears and misunderstandings may be extinguished for the glory of God, the healing of souls and the upbuilding of the catholic church!

Bless your day!

Mike