Good morning all!

As we are all learning to live and adapt day by day, life goes on. I saw this morning that Prince Harry and wife Meghan left Canada and have now moved to the Hollywood area of California!

Meanwhile prince Charles has been tested positive with the Coronavirus and the queen is isolating at Windsor.

It is a reminder to us all that life goes on and that the ups and downs of life spare nobody, not even the royal family!

Yesterday too I got some good news. In the middle of praying for all the people involved and sick with the Coronavirus I have also been asking God to open more doors in my own ministry to the church and gay community.

Yesterday with Séamus and Toni we did an hour of Eucharistic adoration (livecam) for that intention together with praying for the sick and the dying.

Afterwards I received a spontaneous text message from my friend Padraig in Ireland congratulating me on my letter which was published in a well known catholic newsletter, ‘The curate’s diary’.

Written in Ireland by Fr. Thady Doyle, a charismatic catholic priest who has had a remarkable life with Jesus who helped Him in so many ways as he struggled with his vocation, with sexual weaknesses and with celibacy.

You can read Thady’s own testimony on his website and pray that many other priests find hope in it and solace that God’s merciful gaze shines on them too!

http://www.jesuspowerministries.org/n1.htm

Anyway last month there was an article on homosexuality and a girl who had left a gay lifestyle. I decided to reply to the article commending Fr. Doyle for so bravely talking about Jesus and these issues and yet also sharing my story of how Jesus had pulled me too from the gay lifestyle but had not turned me straight!!

To be perfectly honest I didn’t write it with the intention of it being published and so was extremely surprised to discover that not only was my letter published on this months magazine but that Fr. Doyle had replied too with a very encouraging exhortation.

This magazine is widely circulated in catholic charismatic circles in Ireland and so a wonderful way of reaching out in love and truth to so many families and people.

Thank you Jesus!

I rang a friend of mine in Northern Ireland to tell him. He is the person who sent me the magazine last month and has been a very good prayer friend since meeting in Medjugorje last year. Brendan was delighted but he seemed a little troubled.

Just recently a young person in his area struggling with their gender identity commit suicide. The family were distraught.

Just earlier as we prayed together in our room, Toni voiced a prayer for all transgender people suffering and hearing this news gave us a chilling reminder of the seriousness of the issue.

While the Coronavirus must and should be taken very seriously, we must not forget that life goes on and that all these other issues are just as serious even if less publicized.

So many people die of suicide and even more in the LGBT community.

The current coronavirus crisis may accentuate the suffering for many people and if we are not careful may lead to an increase in suicides across all communities.

Hopelessness, despair, uncertainty, being locked in, loved ones getting sick and dying can push already fragile people over the edge.

Closed shops, closed churches arguably don’t help. We all know the value of having some time alone in the church or coffee shop just to rest our minds.

And so as I thank Jesus and Fr. Doyle for publishing my article, I am also concerned for all those people suffering today and contemplating suicide.

I hope and pray that in the church we can come up with creative and inspired ways of reaching out to these vulnerable people while not forgetting the serious reality of the coronavirus.

“Lord Jesus, may we be your hands, your feet and your heart today for others. Help us to reach out even if we put ourselves in danger….for

”

Have a blessed day and a special blessing on Fr. Doyle and all the priests and missionaries all over the world praying and working tirelessly for the healing and care of the sick, the needy and the vulnerable all year round

Padre Pio, pray for us.

Michael