JULY 2007 MISSION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM:

ENGLAND AND WALES

This is my fifth year of missioning in the UK, and it is becoming more and more a familiar ground to me. The Lord feeds His missionaries with the love of repented sinners and with the challenge of the non-repented

Whichever way one looks at it as a missionary, it is a great honor to be part of the great Kingdom of God, to be an awakening trumpet for His people.

The history behind the UK culture is enormous and involves so much that one couldn't possibly start to touch the surface of it right now. I would like to center though, on what is relevant to my particular spiritual navigation through this land.

I returned here to mission on the third of July and began with a talk at Saint Joseph's Church at High gate Hill in London city. It was my second venue so I went into a teaching on spiritual growth.
On the fourth of July I went to speak in downtown London at Padre Pio's bookstore, which is a mandatory stop for all Catholic preachers and evangelists that travel through this land. Even though the store is relatively small, it holds a big heart of faithful who are true fighting soldiers looking for spiritual nourishment. A place located in the midst of a very Godless area, a light in the midst of darkness teamed up with the greatness of the West Minister Cathedral which is but a few blocks away.
On the fifth of July I preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in London at Berrymead Gardens. I shared my testimony of conversion since it was my first visit there. Every time I relay my story of conversion, I find the Holy Spirit presenting a whole new ground of information specifically related to the audience that is present. Each person will receive a specific input into their personal experience with God. If I was to record each one of the testimonies that I share all throughout my mission trail, I would have enough material to write a book of hundreds of pages, because every time something new comes up. What is infused in the heart; what is mystical, is only able to flow out of you under the guidance of The Holy One who infused it in you. You become a simple vessel of His will, which is great. One does not have to take notes or think about what one is going to say. He will do it. It is a great and mysterious feeling. Only once I heard from an older man that stating this was very pretentious on my part. But after praying really hard and asking my spiritual father about it, we concluded that stating this was proclaiming the Gospel itself. The Lord Himself told us not to prepare what we were going to say, that it will be the Holy Spirit who would speak in our place. So I witness to that as something that truly takes place in my ministry every time I preach.

On the sixth of July I spoke at Kenton prayer group. I gave a brief testimony and went into a spiritual teaching on our Catholic faith. When I say this, I'm not pretending to be a scholar of the faith per say, only that I mystically reflect on many aspects of the faith giving it a deeper dimension as an invitation to dive into the inner waters of the spirit of God. We are living a world that is murderous spiritually speaking. If we do not to strengthen ourselves spiritually, we would not make it in one piece out of this earthly exile; our souls would be badly wounded and it could take centuries of purification before we are able to enter the plentiful ness of the Glory of God. So there is no time to waste when it comes down to becoming real saints right now.

On the seventh of July I gave a retreat day at Saint Peter's Church in Woolwich New Road, London. It was my second time preaching there. I had a beautiful experience with the congregation that day and the parish priest was very welcoming and open to letting his herd be anointed with a day of deep reflection on various areas of the faith. It was great to be back to such a precious church. I have a very special affection for the person of Saint Peter and it was clear that his presence was noticeable that day.

>From the 8th July through the 2nd of August I missioned in the following places:

July 8- Cathedral of Saint Joseph, Swansea, in south Wales. It was a great gathering with Canon Michael Flook and father Paul, who was the organizer of such venues in that area. I visited a convent and shared my testimony experience with the sisters. It was great for me to find a faithful convent where adoration is still present, and is actually truly free from the new age influence.
Manchester at Our Lady of Grace Church. A great gathering. The parish priest was very giving and enthusiastic as to the experience of my message. I was able to announce the gathering throughout the Sunday Masses after the homilies.
On Monday July 9, I went to Liverpool and spoke at St Emilies; the house for the New Dawn organization, which is a Charismatic family of more that 30 years of evangelization throughout the UK and many other countries. It was great to visit with them and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Miles Dempsy, who is the founder and guide of the mission is always a very anointed and welcoming human being. I truly feel the presence of a courageous soldier of Christ when I'm in his presence. The Lord has done wonders with all of them there. It is a great honor to preach at their home base.
The next day I went to Wirral, which is across the river from Liverpool, in North Wales. I spoke at the Holy family Parish. We had a very good gathering there and after the evening mass I shared my testimony.
The day after I went to the very north of England to Middles borough. I preached at The John Paul center in downtown run by the Redemptorist priest. It was a noon gathering with a great turn out. The priest in charge was very open and kind to the mission and guided during mass his congregation in preparation for the talk. The next day I went to Stocton-on-Tees at Saint Joseph's church. I gave my testimony following the evening mass and the Rosary, which was led by the parish priest. It is wonderful to have a parish priest involved with praying the rosary with his parishioners. If we could have more of that, we probably would have more vocations. On July 21st I went back to mission in London at The Catholic Charismatic day of renewal at Friends House in Euston Road. A gathering of over 500 people, who meet every month throughout the year. They bring speakers from all over the world and are ecumenical. It was a very anointed Saturday. I was very pleased to be able to share a great day in the Spirit with a congregation truly hungry for God and a mix of all kinds of races and nationalities from all over the world.
On the following Sunday, I gave a retreat at a farm about two hours outside of London in Folkstone. It was a family that has been very involved for years in a very anointed ministry of evangelization and much of it has been fed by the wonderful experience of Medjugorje. I was very happy to meet them and share such a beautiful sunny day of retreat outdoors, which made it more pleasant.
On the following Monday I went to Christ The Prince of Peace Church in Weybridge, Surrey. It was a large gathering and the parish Priest was very committed to his parish in a very spiritual way, which is so good to see nowadays when parishes can easily fall into a very social type of life with very weak spirituality. I was very happy to meet the parish priest and to know that someone is really doing the vocation with love and true sacrifice. The people were happy and could sense the presence of the Lord working vividly on the congregation as a good response to the faithfulness of the parish and the parish priest. I was honored to share the conference with the presence of a Canon who was in his nineties, and passed away shortly after.
The next day I had the joy of coming back to Our Lady of Willesden Shrine. This is a very special prayer group that is now strongly concentrated on praying for the well being and protection of London city in particular. I know that their prayers have contributed to a lot of changes in the events related to terrorism. Many bombs were found before they exploded, and this is not an accident of merely human strategy and intelligence, but an act of Mercy as a result of Prayer. Other groups in London are doing this also, like the Charismatic group I preached to in Euston. I'm particularly pleased with the spiritual guidance that Rick has given to his group in Willesden. It is a place where the travelers come and feel loved and cared for. People from many Africa and many other nations gather there.
The following day I went to the Ealing Abbey Hall in Charlbury. It is a very ancient Benedictan monastery, with about 20 monks there. A lot of them are not in good health, but they still continue with the monastic life. It was my second time preaching there. We had a great turnout, and I spoke about striving to be a true Catholic; a reflection on being truly aware of who we are and what we really are doing about our responsibilities given to us as soldiers of the mightiest army.
The next day (July 26), I spoke at the Brompton Oratory at a gathering called "Call to Youth". I gave my testimony there to a very large youth audience. The priest who was part of the Oratory fathers congregation really left a great impression on me. It is wonderful to see a priest wearing the habits still; not that it could make you a saint, but it brings you in into a monastic presence that is badly lacking in this so naked and materialistic world of today where even our church members have become so fashionable, that the Gospel is designed as people do with clothes. The priests there were integrated and faithful, truly committed to bringing God to the youth with a true personal experience of God, through a true testimony of their personal lives with the Lord. I admire them and pray for them so that they continue to remain as faithful and strong as I found them that night in the center of London.
The next day I went to give a retreat at the University of Cardiff. It was great to be in the Chapel of the university preaching, and I was honored to have two priests attending the retreat.
On the following Sunday I preached at Saint Frances de Sales Church in Newbury. I gave my testimony to a group of local parishioners in the afternoon time. It was a good spiritual day and they were really concentrated throughout the whole talk. Good questions emerged after the talk and we had the chance to exchange valuable information between us.
My last days in England couldn't be better. I participated for the second time in the largest Charismatic gathering in the UK that is held every year for the last 26 years in Walsingham, about three hours northeast of London. This gathering lasted a whole week and is held in tents. There is a main tent that holds about 4000 people. Speakers come from many countries. I have been honored to be part of this great gift of God to the people of the UK. Families come with their children and camp out in the fields nearby. It is a very special and anointed week. I spoke in the main tent the second day about " The landing of the city of Light" and in the afternoon in the main tent again, I shared the story of my conversion. I was only able to be there for two days because I was traveling to Medjugorje to preach to the youths on the 3th of August. I parted England with a heart filled with love and great memories from all of the places I missioned in, and the people I met who truly enriched my life and gave many more reasons to continue traveling along the mission without stopping to look at anything else than my missionary life. May the good Lord Jesus continue to bless England and to bring our Catholic Church strongly back. It looks as if a giant is emerging from the ground of the blood of all the martyrs. The Catholic Church is rising again and many people are being blessed by it . The Eucharist is going to make a big difference, the more communicants we bring into the Church.