One of the most controversial things in ministry and evangelisation to the LGBT community is the LGBT flag and image like this one.

Now if we take a step back and consider what is happening at the moment in the Ukraine and the call for prayer, images such as this one are very common and totally accepted.

When we see the Ukraine colours we understand that we are to pray for the Ukraine people who need God’s help. We don’t think for a second that they are all saints but we we do understand and see their need for God’s mercy.

So why is it then that the LGBT flag often incites such hatred and hostility among many Christians instead of compassion and mercy?

The first obvious reason is that it’s unclear what exactly the LGBT flag represents. Is it all the LGBT people or is it the godless way of life that so many of them live?

So what message does an LGBT flag with Our Lady give?

Is it that Our Lady loves all her LGBT children and is calling them to holiness and prayer or is it that Our Lady approves of gay lifestyles and gay sex?

And i guess each person may interpret it differently unless they stop and ask us “What does that mean?”!

Now in our case we are very clear that Our Lady does not approve of gay sexual activity under any circumstances and while she’s full of love and mercy, she’s also full of truth and sincerity.

However not all LGBT Christians believe the same thing and indeed some would really hate and take offence to what they would consider to be my old fashioned and traditional stance.

I know many LGBT Catholics that argue passionately that gay sex is just as good and holy as straight sex and lengthy documents have been written to justify their reasonings.

Personally I haven’t got the least doubt about it because from the teachings of the church to personal experience and messages for Jesus, they have all shown me the same thing and that is that God does not approve of sexual acts like that.

I have made quite a few enemies over the years because of this and quite a few priests have divine their best at times to convert me to their liberal way of thinking but I’ve never changed my position.

Whether gay or straight we are all called to holiness and this requires prayer, humility and self control.

Gay people such as myself have been very often very wounded by the church but this doesn’t mean that in his mercy Jesus throws away the rulebook and allows us to do what we like as we play the victim card.

True mercy means bringing people to the truth and then helping them to live it by offering as much love and support as possible.

It is not mercy to water down the truth rather than ramp up the help, it is laziness!

God has got high standards and that’s just the way it is! He calls us to prayer and offers us the tools for conversion through the church but it’s up to us to listen or not.

And so you see that the use of the LGBT flag is tricky as it has been used at times to send many false messages and we are still praying and discerning and doing our very best to reach out in love to the LGBT community while doing our best not to cause unnecessary upset or confusion to the catholic community.

So please be patient and merciful with us if at times we get it wrong or appear to go too far in one direction or the other. Don’t fall into gossip but come and talk to us because we’d really value your feedback and perspective and above all please pray for us because this is a very tricky and controversial area of ministry and yet one that is critically important in these times.

Have a blessed week as lent begins and as we all all reminded of the call to conversion and holiness.

Michael

Very often I feel so sorry for Our Lady who is always calling us to prayer and holiness and who is so often ignored by so very many.

Our Lady often cries and yet her pleas for prayer often remain largely ignored except for a small few.

Yesterday she shared this message with me:

“Our Lady 

My little Michael. My heart is heavy today because there is so much sin in the world and so little prayer.

Sin has become so normal that you no longer see its danger nor the urgency of prayer.

My motherly heart weeps bitterly as so many follow the news and reports of what is happening in the world without barely a prayer.

The suffering and difficulties of others is not to entertain you like a fictional soap opera but rather to move you to tears of love and compassion and prayer.

My children, open your hearts, flock to your churches and pray.“

It is true that it’s very easy for us to get caught up in the buzz and in the news but when it comes to doing the hard work of prayer and sacrifice, we are nowhere to be seen!

Even among prayerful people this is true, we can get caught up in the latest apparition or healing or famous priest and yet refuse to do the hard work of prayer and sacrifice for other.

As Our Lady put it so sternly and yet lovingly, the lives and sufferings of others are not there to entertain us like the television but rather to move us to action through prayer prayer acts of charity.

Finally she calls us to flock to our churches to pray at this time for peace as she desperately seeks our prayers.

Let us do our very best to help Our Lady and to be both listeners and doers of the message and let us pray from Our hearts in the same way as we would if it was our country in danger and of we were imploring God to help us.

Jesus is present in a very special way in our churches and so let’s not leave them empty during this time when Our Lady so desperately needs our help.

Michael

Last night I was called by Our Lady to sit in front of Jesus and to pray for the situation in the Ukraine.

I could feel the terrible pain of Jesus as he died on the cross in the face of more violence and deaths and suffering, especially among the innocent.

He spoke:

“Jesus 

War my children is one of the saddest manifestations of sin and of evil on the world.

Made by God to love him and love eachother, when human beings reject and hate God and eachother the result is war.

War my children hardens hearts and pushed human beings to kill and destroy eachother without love or respect for God or man.

War is never inspired by God in this way and pains the heart of God to tears.

My children, I do not want war but only you can stop war by accepting me into your hearts and by praying for your world leaders to choose peace.

Prayer moves mountains and I call you to praying with your hearts for peace with love and fervour.“

Jesus knows only too well the reality of violence and death because that’s what he lived himself and yet this all powerful God of love accepts the free will of his creatures even when this ends in war.

It can be hard to understand or accept why God doesn’t protect the lives of the innocent, especially the children and yet this is the mystery of free will and love.

Yet one thing is for certain and that is that the lives of the innocent killed in war will get an express ticket to heaven just like the ‘holy innocents’ around the time of Jesus’ birth.

So what then can we do right now?

A lot actually!

Firstly we can look at our own lives and ask ourselves a few questions “what would I do of it was my country at war and if my life was in danger. Am I ready to die and if not why?

And so perhaps a time like this is the catalyst for some to return to God, to forgive and reconcile with others and to thank God for our blessings.

And then from this place of humility and love the next best thing to do is to pray for peace in the Ukraine and for the lives of all those involved.

We can sit with Jesus and think of the lives of the children and his love for each and every person as we console him and implore him to send graces of love and forgiveness and peace to all those involved.

War is like a big fire and our prayers are like the water that puts it out. The bigger the fire the more water that’s needed and so every prayer counts just like every drop of water counts.

Just like fighting a fire, we need to be patient while persevering and never allow discouragement to enter our hearts despite how big the problems are or how small our prayers seem.

So let us keep praying, let us keep trusting and may this time of pain be also a time of reconciliation, healing and conversion for many of us as we just never know when we will be called home and have to account for our Iives in front of the justice of God.

Our Lady Queen of peace, pray for us!

Michael

This morning as there is so much talk about war and praying for peace Our Lady gave me a strong and challenging message.

“Our Lady 

All is well my child, keep your eyes focused on your own mission and do not get distracted.

The wars in the world and the wars in your families and communities are all due to a lack of God and love for eachother in your world.

Without God your hearts will never be at peace and when there is unrest in your hearts, there will be unrest in your world because the heart is the source of your thoughts, words, actions and deeds!

This is why I implore you to convert your hearts and to forgive and be reconciled with eachother.

There is little point in praying for peace in the world if there is not peace first in your own hearts.

Yes my children, the first warzone is the war in your own hearts and when you conquer that through prayer then your prayers for the world will be heard and will be powerful.

Come my children, unburden your hearts and allow me to use you to bring true peace to the world.”

Immediately after this message my heart jumped to the sacrament of confession where we find peace with God and from that peace we find the love and understanding to pray for and forgive others who have hurt us or wronged us.

My dad had this great saying when I was a child that “two wrongs don’t make a right” and it’s true.

And furthermore our Lady is challenging us to put out the wars in our own lives and hearts first before we try to put out the wars in the world.

We can only do this through prayer and humility and by reminding ourselves of what we were like or what we would be like if we didn’t know Jesus.

So in this time of unrest in the world, let us be people of peace and let us make full use of the sacrament of reconciliation and make every effort to forgive and reconcile with everyone who has hurt us.

And then from this platform of love and peace in our own hears let us pray fervently for the whole world and especially for the Ukraine and all the innocent lives caught up in it all.

“Jesus, thank you that our countries are not at war, help us to count our blessings and to forgive eachother and have mercy on the people of the Ukraine, especially the innocent lives of children.”

Michael

What can I say only that Our Lady, our most beautiful and gentle mother is utterly fantastic!

Our beautiful mother ensured that last night went amazingly well with a most beautiful peace and simplicity.

Even after all his old huffing and puffing the protesters outside were reduced to 3 and of them was there under false pretenses as she was misinformed about what we were doing.

They say that empty vessels make the most noise and Satan, empty of love, is the emptiest vessel of all.

He huffs and puffs and intimidates but ultimately he has no power over Our Lady and he has no power over our LGBT evening either!

Inside was wonderful! We decorated the church a little with LGBT flags and images of Jesus and Mary and the saints and it made for a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

I stood at the door to welcome people while playing loud Medjugorje music much to my amusement as the music drowned out the ‘prayers of the protesters’!

My mother always said that I was a cheeky little pup but I’m glad that Our Lady has found a use for it! One has to be bold and cheeky in a holy way in this ministry or else nothing would get done.

We had a very nice gathering of people and our evening took the usual format with the rosary, praise music, mass, adoration & testimonies.

Last night we were spoilt with two testimonies, one from Toni and one which was unplanned by Grace.

Grace went first and shared how the love of Jesus had got her through a marriage breakup and divorce and how divorced people can often feel rejected from the church just like the LGBT.

She then spoke of love for all, of the amazing graces that she has received in this parish and of God’s love for everybody.

The ideal introduction to Toni’s testimony of meeting Jesus and finding a home in the church as a transgender Catholic.

For so many years Satan has had a monopoly with the gay community, deceiving families to reject us as he waited in the background to devour us but Our Lady has other plans and she is welcoming us home and making a space for us too.

Music ministry was led by Séamus with Rayne helping out with his guitar too! The two did an amazing job and we were all very blessed.

Of course we couldn’t go without mentioning Monsignor Keith who has been an unwavering rock of support over the last few weeks and shared with us a great homily on the 5 stones of Medjugorje and the love of Jesus for everybody.

We are truly blessed to have Monsignor Keith and he is a shining example of the pastoral and loving heart of our heavenly father.

Of course there are many others to thank too; Eddie who led the rosary and shared messages from Our Lady, all the people who were praying for us at home, everyone that came and of course the greatest thanks of all to Jesus himself.

So it’s full steam ahead now and our next evening will be on March 30th. In the meantime we’ll continue to hit the streets with the message of Medjugorje and as usual if you’d like to help us we’d be most grateful!

Thanks for reading and wishing you all an amazing day!

Michael

P.S Recording of last night’s event

Rosary at start

Praise at about 23 mins

Mass at 53 mins approx

Grace’s Testimony 1hr 40 mins

Toni’s Testimony 1 hr 51

Tonight we will have our Medjugorje evening for LGBT people and our theme will be the 5 stones of Medjugorje and the call to holiness.

Yes! Whether gay or straight we are all called to conversion, not conversation of orientation but conversion of heart and of life and of ways!

Jesus desires to make us all saints and for this he needs our cooperation which is why he sends his mother to help us and to teach us.

“Jesus 

Write my child!

My love my children is like an ocean of mercy that desires to flood your earth and extinguish all fires of hatred and division.

My love is limitless and boundless and the problems on earth are like a little spark of fire in the eyes of my mercy.

But my love in not like a tsunami that floods the earth uninvited and destroys all before it.

My love invites itself and waits for a response. I knock but only you can open.

If humanity was to turn back to me and repent at a global level, my supernatural love would sweep the earth and bless you with unimaginable graces.

But your world leaders are like Pharaoh who resisted the warnings of Moses until the final punishment hit.

How much more will your world resist me you my ask?

Sadly the answer is ‘a lot more’ and there will be woeful consequences at a global level which may be also interpreted as punishments or chastisements from Gog just like in the time of Pharaoh and Moses.

Those who do believe and follow me will be more and more persecuted and many martyred for not denying me and the reality of eternal life and eternal damnation.

My children, do not get discouraged! Following me is not easy but I am with you and in these times I help you in a special way through my mother.

Do not envy unbelievers who revel in their sin and claim that it has no consequences while they laugh at you and mock you.

Pray for them that they may be converted and change their ways through the witness of your love and through preaching the gospel.

My love is for everybody, nobody is excluded but you must become like little children and allow heaven to teach you how to live and how to love in ways pleasing to God.“

A very strong message from Jesus and an urgent plea to us all to surrender our ways and lives to him and to seek holiness.

And that my friends is what tonight’s Medjugorje prayer evening is all about, a road to holiness for the LGBT community through conversion of heart and the 5 stones of Our Lady Medjugorje.

Hope to see as many of you as possible there!

Michael

After a month of fighting and opposition to the love and mercy of Jesus for the LGBT community, Our Lady crushed the head of the serpent once again and tomorrow night we will have our next evening.

Tomorrow evening should be great because we’re growing in confidence and in experience every time and with all the publicity we got from the opposition, even more people have promised to come and support us and get behind Our Lady’s mission to the LGBT community across the world who so desperately need to know the love of God for them.

I was also encouraged to see that the flyer that I put up in the Carmelites survived the weekend (first one was pulled down) and also the notice outside our church has survived (also pulled down before).

So with so much good will and positivity and support around us we are feeling so very loved by both God and the good people here in London and it’s probably the first time in almost 15 years that I could say that I feel safe in the church community as a Catholic gay missionary.

An enormous thank you to all the prayer warriors of London who have supported us and especially to Monsignor Barltrop who has been an impenetrable rock of support to us since arriving.

And the good news doesn’t stop there! Yesterday Rayne and I booked flights to Ireland and will visit in March! £20 return flight isn’t bad even for my budget.

It will be both exciting and healing I’m sure to show Rayne where I grew up, where I fell apart and where I was put back together again….like Humpty Dumpty…..not to mention meeting my parents and friends over there!

What can I say only that I owe it all to Jesus! His mercy has lit up my life in every way and now he sends me out to light up others and to encourage others to trust infinitely in his mercy knowing that He can and wants to do the same thing for them.

So if you are in London, please come tomorrow to our event to show your love and support for the marginalised and misunderstood people of the LGBT community and if you are not, you can support us through prayer or by watching on Facebook.

May the love of Jesus and Our Lady of Medjugorje for the LGBT community reach every corner of the world and may the day come that we never hear the words “God hates me because I’m LGBT”.

Thanks for everything!

Michael

Last night I attended a ’40 days for life’ meeting and as I listened and prayed I reflected on how similar their mission is to mine in some ways!

Now wait a second you might say, gays don’t have babies but while they may not have babies, so many are utterly addicted to the thing that makes babies….sex.

If you ever visit Soho and go evangelising in the gay scene you must be 100% comfortable in talking about sex your own journey because otherwise you will run a mile and by doing so reinforce the same old stereotype that Catholics are all boring and prudish and afraid of intimacy and the body.

John Paul 2 understood this and when he wrote about marriage and sex he had absolutely no fear of talking about the beauty of the body and indeed of sex.

As catholics we’re not used to talking about sex and intimacy openly. There is a “if you are thinking about it then you are doing it” attitude and so a lot of shame prevails.

Yet whether gay or straight we are all made be God to love both him and eachother intimately and we can’t learn to do this properly without talking about our bodies, our sexualities and the various struggles thereof.

So many good Catholics that I have known over the years struggle enormously with things like pornography and sexual promiscuity despite praying the rosary and going to mass and confession and many feel like just giving up!

They are often ashamed to talk of their struggle as if somehow they were alone and so the vicious circles of shame, silence and lonliness continues.

Promiscuous sex leads to all sorts of issues whether gay or straight. Abortions, sexual diseases, depression, shame, anxiety….are just some of the issues.

When I lived in Australia we had a ministry to help those struggling in this area and it was very freeing and healing to hear a whole bunch of Christian men of all ages sharing openly and vulnerably about their struggles and helping and supporting eachother without judgement.

Often I think that as catholics we desperately need this type of ministry and vulnerability and yet that we are so very far away from being comfortable talking about our bodies.

It’s often not helped by the fact that most of our priests are totally uncomfortable in talking about intimacy and sexuality in their as if somehow it was unrelated to holiness or not relevant to them….

In reality the opposite is true, holiness and wholeness go together and that’s where sexuality and spirituality need to be integrated so that we learn to love our bodies and learn to love and use our sexualities in a Holy whole way.

This can only happen by talking about it unashamedly and then of course bringing it all to prayer and ironically this is one area where we can actually learn from the gay community because while it goes to the other extreme, they have absolutely no inhibitions or shame in talking about the body, sex, intimacy etc.

If we really want to tackle the problem at the root then it’s not in shutting down gay bars or abortion clinics (although this may be good), it’s in converting our hearts and learning to love and use our sexualities in loving way.

And this is what Our Lady’s call at Medjugorje is all about; conversion of hearts and lives through prayer and community and this is what our Medjugorje LGBT evenings are all about.

Jesus and Mary desire to bring us on a journey of holiness and wholeness and to teach us how to be truly happy, not by hiding away and being prudish or afraid of intimacy but the opposite. They desire us to surrender our entire lives to them and to embrace the gift of life while living it to the full in a holy way as a witness to the glory and love of God

Come Holy Spirit, strip us of all shame and pride and clothe us in the vestments of holiness and wholeness for the glory of God and the healing of humanity.

Have a great day and let us pray expecially for those who have not been taught how to use their sexuality properly and have got omti trouble, that we may be Our Lady’s apostles of love to them!

Please join us on Wednesday evening if you can.

Michael

Saturday night and we hit Soho again, this time a little bit wiser and more confident in what we are doing!

We started off at Mass in St. Patrick’s Soho where Fr. Alex gave an excellent sermon on the call to going out on mission and to bringing the love and our experience of Jesus to others.

One group of people who are well known in Soho for going out and doing their version of evangelisation is the Hare Krisna group! They sing and dance all over Soho while handing out books and leaflets.

All joking aside, we can learn a lot from these guys. They are totally uninhibited and unafraid to spread their message and yet we have a much better message…..Jesus!

Last night we started off in Leicester Square and then meandered over to Old Compton Street via China Town as we stopped and sang and preached about the love of God while handing out miraculous medals.

One Spanish guy stopped and found it deeply insulting to see Our Lady with a rainbow flag. Seemed to be the Spanish version of a certain someone who’s name I won’t mention.

Fortunately I knew enough Spanish to tell him to get lost and not enough to enter into an argument!

One thing you notice about Soho and street ministry is that because the volume of people even the loudest of music doesn’t travel very far and this is both reassuring and frustrating; reassuring because even if you are nervous few will hear you and frustrating because if you have something really awesome to say or sing….few will hear you.

As we continued up towards old Compton Street we were gaining in boldness and so when we arrived at our spot we played “Mamma Mia” while looking and pointing to Our Lady.

Immediately a group of guys came around us to dance and we handed them out some miraculous medals which they were so eager to put on! One explained to me how he had felt so hurt by the church and was delighted with what we are doing.

Most people just walk buy unless we play a catchy song and so the real trick is to find catchy and upbeat songs which carry also a message that could be interpreted also spiritually. It’s an art of it’s own and one which we’ll surely master over time.

And providence was very good to us as our friend Ivan joined us for the evening and took us for dinner afterwards..an all you can eat Chinese buffet …I’m still digesting it!

So there you have it! Make way Hare Krisna for Jesus Christ and may the LGBT community in Soho come to know the healing love of our Lord, saviour and friend.

Have a holy day and pray for our mission!

Michael

This morning Jesus spoke to me:

My heart thirsts to be known my children, not as a famous figure in history but as a real person truly present and alive now.

“Jesus 

My children, I am God, I am love, I am real. Reach out my children and share my love with others with compassion, tenderness and mercy 

Do not be ashamed, do not be afraid. Just because I am invisible to your human eyes does not make me any less real.

Bring people to me, teach them about me and tell them that I love them and thirst to heal their hearts and lives.

Remind my priests that not only am I real but that I am alive and that I heal and restore lives through my church.

Open your hearts wide to all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and allow me to use you all powerfully.“

Certainly a very encouraging message for us all in these dark and secular times where God is ignored and sin promoted and normalised all across the world through the media.

Sin will never bring happiness and indeed as the Bible puts it, “the fruits of sin is death”.

We see this very clearly with all the abortions on these times when the little babies pay the price for the sins of a society that doesn’t want them and promotes sex without consequences.

We see it also in the gay scene where historically so many died of aids and suicide as the world and even church rejected them and pushed them into the claws of Satan.

Sadly, right across the board, it is often the innocent that suffer the consequences of the unjust and ungodly who often appear to get away with everything but that’s not the case either. Corrupt leaders whether in society or in the church face something far more serious and daunting; the very real prospect of eternal damnation in hell for their actions.

And so we see that Jesus is pleading with us to turn to Him and to turn away from sin and he’s pleading with those of us who already know him to make him known far and wide and to make his healing power known.

Following Jesus isn’t easy but is is the road to true happiness and peace followed by an eternity in heaven with him!

So let us be brave and be strong and reach out across all obstacles and borders to show others the way, the truth and the life with the love, compassion and tenderness of Jesus.

Off to Soho again tonight with Our Lady. Pray for me!

Michael