In 1972 I had to accept that continuing for the priesthood was out of the question for me -1 had strong suicidal tendencies and I experienced such inner emptiness that it appeared that there was a vacuum in my chest sucking me in; a deep bottomless hole. I had tried praying, i had tried daily Mass. I had tried to be as good as I could, but nothing seemed to work.

Then, Just after I had announced that I was leaving the seminary, I was prayed with after a Prayer Meeting, and Jesus came into my life in a new way. His presence filled the inner hole and took away the inner emptiness. Jesus did for me something that is beyond the powers of science, medicine and counselling combined.

I walked into the meeting after years of inner desolation and suicidal tendencies. I walked out of the same meeting a new person. Today, as a deeply fulfilled priest, Jesus is truly my best Friend. He is truly the bread of life for me. I have experienced what He meant when he said, "He who drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst again". John 4:14.

He desires for you to have a similar relationship with Him; to truly become your best Friend, to become just as He promised, the bread of life for you. Don't settle for anything less. Decide that you are going to keep seeking until you find a truly living relationship with Jesus.

2

Jesus desires to set you free from your compulsions. "Our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin" Romans 6-6 RSV.

In Alcoholics Anoymous they have learned how true this is; that once one admits that one is powerless over one's addiction, and then takes the steps necessary to become open to the Higher Power, which is Jesus, even the most chronic alcoholic can be set free.

This power is there for everybody and not just for alcoholics. Some have serious compulsions. For others the compulsions may not be as destructive, but not one of us is perfect. There are certain areas in which we too are powerless to become perfect. We try and try, yet continue to fail.

But as we learn to identify the areas in which we are incapable of becoming perfect, then accept the extent to which we are powerless in these areas, and then daily learn to become open to the power from on high, the transformation can be considerable and ongoing.

It was around 1988 that I first discoverd this approach to inner healing and inner transformation. I made a list of each of my inner compulsions and negative ways of responding. Then each day in daily prayer, I held each of them before Jesus, thanking Him that He had won for me the right to be set free. I found that it really worked.

After praying in this way daily for 10 years, and experiencing real transformation, as well as finding it a fabulous way to pray, I published it under the heading of "A Shower Of Blessings". In 5 years 80,000 copies have sold, and hundreds of people have written to me to say how much it has help them.

3

Jesus also desires to enable you to break free from your fears and inhibitions by learning to depend upon and draw strength from His power. This is also something that I have experienced in a big way in my life.

When ordained first, I was giving parish missions. But I was still suffering very badly through shyness and lack of self-esteem. I found speaking in public extremely difficult.

But! learned that if I allowed a mental image of Jesus into my mind's eye, and kept this before me continuously even while speaking, I could succeed in preaching quite successfully.

As long as I kept my inner eye on Jesus and not on myself, I was open to the power from on high.

Gradually, because I was operating like this every day, it became second nature for me. Now whenever I face difficulties, I automatically tune in to the power from on high. In a sense I have become an expert in this area.

By learning to become open to this power emanating from Jesus, people could do what otherwise is impossible for them - passing driving tests, doing well in interviews, reading in church, speaking in public, finding strength to keep going when depressed or when just tired.

This is not based on having spiritual experiences. Rather it is a power that is there for everybody all the time.

Elements of this way of becoming open to the power from on high are contained in my booklet "A Shower of Blessings"and even more so in my more recent prayer booklet, "Dear Lord, I'm Desperate".

4

Jesus desires to send a flow of blessings into our lives and into the world as we learn how to open our heart to Him in faith. "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will" MK 11:24 RSV.

There are, of course, some things, however attractive they appear, which are not God's will for us or even good for us:- What loving mother would give her child a jumbo bar of chocolate just before dinner?

There are other things that require the free response of others, while other blessings would require us to be far more united with the living Jesus. Yet despite these qualifications, there is so much that we can become open to as we learn to bring our intentions to Jesus with confidence in His desire to bless.

Jesus has revealed Himself several times with rays of blessing pouring out from His heart - as we see it in both the Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy images. A powerful way to pray is to mentally picture the rays of blessing pouring out from the heart of Jesus to embrace the situation that you are praying for.

Then as you continue to hold this image of Jesus in your mind's eye, with the rays of blessing embracing your intention, repeat either 3 or 9 times, "May your Sacred Heart, Lord Jesus, be praised, glorified and honoured throughout the whole world now and for ever more."

Continue to pray like this daily and you will see powerful results.

5

Jesus has a very special plan for your life, a plan that involves real blessing. If you find the special plan Jesus has for you, you will find great happiness and fulfilment. "I will instruct you and guide you along the best pathway for your life" Psalm 32:8 TLB.

I remember praying before ordination asking God to show me where He desired to lead me. It was likely that I would be asked to teach, and I absolutely hated the thought. If I wasn't asked to teach, I would almost certainly be sent abroad, and that didn't attract me either. So over a period I was asking Jesus to show me His plan.

Then one day, as I flicked through a booklet, the scripture verse, "We will devote ourselves to prayer and to preaching" just leaped from the page. It literally lit up before my eyes. I knew then that this was my calling - a life of prayer and preaching.

In my booklet "God has a plan for you", I have shared how God has brought about the fulfilment of that plan in my life over a period of 30 years, and how He has a very special plan also for you. Keep asking Him to lead you into the fullness of the wonderful plan He has for your life.

6

Jesus desires to bring you inner healing, including the healing of your memories. You can not undo the past, but Jesus, being outside of time, can go right back to the moment when you experienced hurt. As you learn to experience His power and His love, He can touch the wounds in your memory and set you free.

The Bible promises, "God works all things for the good for those who love Him" Romans 8:28. If you learn to open your heart to Jesus and to entrust your life to Him, in some way He will bring good out of every bad thing that ever happened to you - and even out of your own sins and failures.

7

Jesus desires to give you a new heart, "I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their hearts of stone and give them tender hearts instead." Ezekial 11:19 TLB. Our negative experiences combined with our own selfish choices have hardened us and impacted on us in different ways. Jesus desires to undo the damage, and to recreate us with a complete capacity to love and be loved. Yes - you can receive not just a reconditioned heart, but one that has truly been recreated.

8

Jesus desires to enable us to be reborn. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he can not see the kingdom of God." John 3-2 RSV.

Being bom anew involves first coming to a living relationship with Jesus; then learning to become open to His power to deliver you from your compulsions and to enable you to break free from your nervousness and inhibitions; then experiencing inner healing, including the recreation of your emotional heart.

Then you can move forward, inviting the Lord Jesus to send His healing, cleansing, delivering and transforming love into every area of your inner being: gradually having his healing, cleansing and delivering love go right back through your memories to the moment of your conception; gradually having his healing, cleansing and delivering love enter into your thoughts, into your desires, into your ambitions, into your plans, into your hopes, into your appetites, into every area of our inner being.

Jesus spoke of being reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, evoking the image of baptism. The word 'Baptism' literally means to be flooded with or to be dyed through and through with. To be truly reborn, we need to be flooded and dyed through and through with the healing, cleansing, delivering and transforming love of Jesus.

9

Jesus desires to draw us into a deep sense of the love and forgiveness of the Father; into the experience of the forgiveness of our own sins and the capacity to forgive others. As a help towards this, He has given us the sacrament of Reconciliation.

(Please God this Summer (2003), I will publish a booklet on becoming open to healing through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.)

10

Jesus offers us a beautiful ever growing relationship with Himself. He seeks to nourish this relationship in a whole host of ways, one very special one being the Mass. Here He offers us the opportunity again and again to be present in spirit with Him at both the Last Supper and Calvary. Here too He gives Himself to us and invites us to give ourselves to Him.

My booklet, "But I get nothing out of Mass" is designed to help you come to experience Jesus in this way in the Mass so that every Mass will become a very special experience for you.

11

Jesus gives us a whole new family, a heavenly family. This family includes our own loved ones who have joined Him in the heavenly kingdom; the great "cloud of witnesses that are all around us" Heb 12:1. It also includes the great saints, including the one that the Bible describes as being "full of grace" and "blessed among women", Our Lady herself, to be our mother.

12

Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to help us to become open to these and to the many other blessings that He desires to impart to us that I haven't room to include here.

My ministry

My life is dedicated to helping people to become open to Jesus and to the wonderful blessings that He alone can give us. I do this through my writing and preaching ministry.

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