Called to Radical Holiness in a Dark Age of Sin

Was Down Under again, but the first time in Perth, as the keynote speaker of the 21st Flame Congress held at John XXII College Auditorium from January 21-23. Eddie Russell had invited me there. Eddie was a facebook friend with whom I had a chance (?) enounter last year. He had mentioned he was passing through Dubai and I suggested he get out the airport and check the place out. Eventually, when I found out what he did, I asked him if he'd like to speak to our communities. He said he'd love to and did! He was magificent and everybody loved him, especially me!

Last month, he suddenly wrote to me asking if I'd like to come to Perth and speak to his community as he was undergoing surgery and couldn't lead the session as he had been doing for the past 20 years. I had put a stop to outstation mission for nearly two years, but I had sensed God telling me it was time I got off my butt, so I didn't take too long to accept. I was glad I did, because it was one of the loveliest missions I had ever undertaken, and by the time it was over, I was exhausted, but happy, especially at making a whole lot of wonderful friends.

Veritas TV

HSI MoreLove Media is delighted to present VERITASTV.NET (http://veritastv.net/), a new channel with music videos & talks. We begin with some of my recordings including the popular Discipleship Program. As the file sizes are quite huge, you may need to let them buffer before you play them. I pray they touch your heart. God bless you.

Short-Short Audio Story

My short-short fable for children (very grown up ones too!) titled "The Grasshopper" has been beautifully adapted by Kristine Cornils as an audio story. Click here to listen to it. And there is a moral, so what's it? :)

New HSI Community Begins in Sharjah

HSI started a new community in St. Michael's Church, Sharjah, UAE. Parish Priest, Fr. Ani Xavier, came and inaugurated the community, which promises to be one of the most powerful among all the existing communities because of the high level of faith and maturity already existing among the participants, who numbered nearly 200.

Stations of the Cross

I have been leading the Stations of the Cross at St. Francis of Assisi Church every Good Friday for the past six years, and though this provides a wonderful opportunity to stir people's hearts, this might be the last for a while as I'd like others to have a shot at doing this. There must have been over 1000 people present in the Church for the session today.

HSI: Association of Faith and Outreach

Bishop Paul Hinder has officially recognized Holy Spirit Interactive (HSI) as an Association of Faith and Outreach of the Vicariate Apostolic of Arabia, thus formally opening the doors of churches in Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, and, of course, the United Arab Emirates to us. HSI already has three hugely successful communities functioning within the UAE.

HSI Borivili Completes 3rd Quarter

The School of Discipleship in Don Bosco Church, Borivili, Bombay completed its third quarter today with nearly everybody who began the journey with us still on board. The fourth quarter begins on April 25 after a short break, with its doors now open to everybody. If you live in Bombay, do come for the first talk which will be on healing and deliverance.

New Blogs

I've got two new blogs up: one is Christianity and the Art of Mountain Climbing; the other Breaking Free. Living Free.

Christianity and the Art of Mountain Climbing
For the Christian disciple, every day is like a trek up a steep, difficult mountain. While not all the experiences are pleasant—as a matter of fact, many are extremely unpleasant—they all contribute in bringing us to the perfection that God calls us to. I share my personal experiences here, including my struggles, my failures, and my mistakes, and the lessons I learned in the process, in the hope that they may benefit you in your own journey on the mountain of the Lord. Click here.

Breaking Free. Living Free.
It is the intention of this blog to look at the ministry of healing and deliverance along with case studies and testimonies (medically attested, whenever possible), to get a better understanding of the various issues related to the subject. We will be looking at the subject of deliverance largely from a Catholic perspective, and although there are some learned men in the Church who teach that the devil doesn't exist, we will go by the assertions of those that do. One them was Pope Paul VI who said that "one of [the Church's] greatest needs is defence from that evil which is called the Devil" (L'Osservatore Romano, 23/11/72). We will also try to teach you how to effectively heal and deliver people. It is, after all, a commission that Jesus gave his disciples (see Mark 16:15-18). Click here.

Multi National HSI Community in Jebel Ali

I was delighted to see over 125 people of at least six different nationalities present for the first meeting of the year in the HSI Community in Jebel Ali. I am sure our Father in heaven too was happy to see his children coming together as one family to pray, because the blessings and the anointing that flowed was tremendous. I have little doubt that the numbers will increase in the weeks to come and the community will gather in people from even more nations. A brief summary of the talk for the evening—The Power of the Blood of Christ—can be found on my new blog: Christianity and the Art of Mountain Climbing.

3rd Quarter Commences in HSI School, Bombay

The third quarter of the HSI School of Discipleship began today in Don Bosco Church, Borivili, Bombay. While there hasn't been too much of a drop in numbers from the second quarter to now, I expect a fall by the end of this quarter as the going starts to get tough with increased demands on prayer, study and sacrifice. I could, however, be mistaken because the breed of people attending this School is very different from any I have come across in the past. A committed, enthusiastic lot, they seem to take everything that is thrown at them in their stride and, as their testimonies will show (to be put up shortly), relish it as well. Well, God bless them all!

Lalith Pereira and the 4 Step Retreat

Over the past five years we have been blessed to have some very anointed people ministering to our communities and joining their number this week was internationally acclaimed preacher Lalith Pereira who came down to the UAE to conduct his popular—and powerful—4 Step Retreat. As I listened to him, I found myself fascinated, not for the first time, at how God uses different people to deliver his messages in different ways and in different styles. There were over 250 people in attendance in St. Francis of Assisi Church to listen to him and be blessed by what he had to share.

Notes on the "4 Steps" will be found in my blog Christianity and the Art of Mountain Climbing shortly.

Interview with Paul Wilbur

Dr. Dominic Dixon, Director of Holy Spirit Interactive media ministries VeritasTV and HSI MoreLove Radio, interviewed Paul Wilbur on the sidelines of a workshop on worship conducted by the singer and his team. The full interview will be available soon on HSI MoreLove Radio. Here is an excerpt from that interview where Paul urges Christians to be united as one. Please click on the play button.



Paul Wilbur pleads for Christian unity

The conference, itself, was wonderful, and although I enjoyed all of it, it was the last talk by Paul Wilbur on worship that sent me in a tailspin. You can read about what happened in my new blog: Christianity and the Art of Mountain Climbing.

Making History in Dubai, UAE

Dubai hosted the first ever Christian gospel concert in a public auditorium as messianic singer Paul Wilbur and his team led the people of the city in soul stirring worship. This wasn't our project, but we were delighted to be involved in it, albeit in a small way, especially as it made history for yet another reason: the concert brought together Christians of all denominations under one roof in the city for the very first time. HSI represented the Catholics.

We pray that the Voice team of Sabu George, Gladson Ronad and Pastor Allan Paul, who helped make it all happen, be immensely blessed. Christian unity won't become a reality just by talking about it. It will take the combined efforts of people of vision, courage and character from all sides of the divide to come together and act. Click here for an article that I wrote about Christian Unity.

Mumbai Community Completes First Quarter

The HSI School of Discipleship in Don Bosco Church, Borivili completed its first quarter today, and from all indications has proven to be a far greater success than anybody — including us — expected. A total of 101 confirmed members in the Community that include men, women and children of ages ranging from 7 to 70, testifed to the wonderful impact this program has made on their lives. Click here for their testimonies. While those who are opposed to this ministry continue to malign it, these testimonies are all that HSI offers in its defence. A ministry, like a prophet, can be recognized by the fruit that it bears.

Discipleship Program, Ramnagar, Hyderabad

St. Francis of Assisi, Hyderabad July 24-26

L-R: Fr. Tony, Fr. Arun, Fr. Varghese, Fr. Sleeva, me, and Rajeshri

God had been letting us know in several different ways that the mission to Hyderabad would be extremely successful, and going by the number of people who registered for the post-session School of Discipleship — a phenomenal 120! — it surely was. The church was packed to capacity on all three days and included six Franciscan priests, among the nicest I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. They included resident priests Fr. Sleeva, Fr. Varghese, Fr. Tony and Fr. Arun, whose love, warmth and hospitality touched my heart to the core. Theirs was true Christian witness and I could only pray that more priests and lay leaders had hearts like theirs. I had a translator for the program, an anointed lady named Rajeshri who matched me in word and action, much like my translators in Africa.

New Community Begins in Borivili, Bombay

HSI's newest community commenced today in John Bosco Church, Borivili with over 40 people in attendance. The community has the blessings of the Church authorities in the Archdiocese of Mumbai, who will be closely monitoring the community to see the fruit it bears. Having witnessed the enormous success of the first community in Dubai and successive communities in other parts of the world, I have little doubt that this will be everything we expect it to be — and more!

Talk to the Youth

A brief talk to the youth of Don Bosco parish

I concluded my mission in Borivili with a briefing to a few people who seemed eager to walk the straight and narrow path, and help others travel on it as well. God willing, we will have another HSI Community started here in a couple of weeks.

Earlier in the day I had given a talk to the youth. 180 young men and women had registered, but nearly 300 showed up and as none of them seemed to regret they had come I was very happy. It was the first time in five years I was giving a talk in public wearing something other than my traditional black and white.

Lenten Mission, Borivili

Love one another ....

A section of the huge crowd

Discipleship Program March 19-21, 2009

Whenever there are obstacles, I know I can expect great things, and seeing as how there were more hurdles than usual to get this mission going, I knew it would be terrific. I wasn't wrong. The three day mission in Don Bosco Church in Borivili, Bombay from March 19-22 kept getting more and more anointed and over 1,500 people felt the power of God on the final day. Because of the crowds expected, the sessions were held in the open.

I was blessed to be with some of the loveliest priests I have encountered in Fr. Ronald, the parish priest of Don Bosco and Fr. Allwyn, who was instrumental in arranging the program. They - and the other priests - all went out of their way to make me feel welcome and comfortable. I will be ever grateful, especially to Fr. Allwyn who has the energy of a ten year old boy and the zeal to match it.

New HSI Community in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania

HSI launched its fifth Community (after Dubai, Fujairah, Chembur and Jebel Ali) in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania today. Fr. Siffredius Rwechungura will be supervising the community which has the blessings of Cardinal Pengo. Local resident Cajetan (Jerry) Misquita is heading the Community along with Pravina Rodrigues.

Lenten Mission, Pune

Immaculate Conception Church, Pune (March 10-12)

Fr. George, parish priest of Immaculate Conception Church, more popularly known as City Church among the populace, invited me to conduct a Lenten Mission in his parish. Knowing him to be a wonderful pastor, I didn't hesitate accepting his invitation and found myself blessed for it. The Church overfilled its capacity, but those standing didn't seem to mind the effort in the least. I spoke once again on the Seven Deadly Sins. My hosts - Michael and Maria Rebello - were the wonderful couple who had hosted me in the past - and probably will in the future as well, as I have been invited to do the Discipleship Program in two parishes in July. During the visit I paid my respects to Bishop Valerian D'Souza, another extremely blessed shepherd of God's flock.

Lenten Mission, Thane

St. John the Baptist Church, Thane (March 6-8)

After a hiatus of four months, I was back on the missionary trail with a Lenten Mission in St. John the Baptist Church in Thane, India. The subject was the Seven Deadly Sins and though it was the first time I was doing this series of talks it went down very well. Fr. Milton invited me to start a community in the parish beginning July 29, which pleased me immensely, because there were several people who expressed the desire to be part of something that would help them grow. This was one of the rare times when I have returned to a parish to preach, preferring to reach out to new people in new parishes.

HSI Celebrates 5 Years!

Little kids put on a show as part of the celebrations

HSI completed five years on December 30, 2008, and despite its relative youth has become one of the most successful Catholic lay apostolates in the world currently reaching well over a million people each week through twelve ministries. We had a little party to celebrate the occasion on January 30 and over 250 people attended. We thank God for His blessings and protection over us through the years.

Discipleship Program, Vashi, New Bombay

Final overseas mission for the year at Vashi, New Bombay

I had planned on taking a three month long break from missionary travel after my trip to the United States, but I had committed to doing a Discipleship Program in Vashi whenever it could be arranged, so when I was told that dates were fixed for October 24-26, I didn't back out. I was glad I didn't, because it was a wonderful mission that ended with yet another invitation to start an HSI Community.

The enemy, of course, promptly went into action with whispers emanating from certain leaders about how I was a divisive force in the Catholic Church and other such rubbish, but then he has to do what he has to do and we have to do what we have to do—which is continue our work in the vineyard—though I believe at some point I may have to take steps to stop the slander.

With this mission—which was made possible largely due to the efforts of Blazie Shetty—completed, my travels come to an end until the Lenten season, though I plan on using the time to write about the many things I have learned over the past couple of years and also build up the existing Communities we have running.

HSI Sharjah is 2 Years Old

Happy Birthday HSI Sharjah

Our prayer family in Sharjah completed two years this week and they celebrated it by throwing a party, with the kids and youth putting up skits, mimes and other assorted entertainment. Members from other families, even some as far away as Fujairah, came for the celebration and it so great to see the love flowing.

Holy Spirit Interactive, itself, completes five years this December. May the Lord continue to bless us and grow us.

New HSI Community in Jebel Ali

We launched our fourth Community (after Dubai, Fujairah and Chembur) in Jebel Ali today. We had Fr. Eugene Matioli, parish priest of St Francis of Assisi Church, bless us. The HSI Communities are our success story with new ones to begin in Dar es Salam, Tanzania and Houston, Texas shortly. All the communities have the blessings of the local bishop and are under the supervision of priests. For more information please visit the School of Discipleship website.

Silent Retreat

Mother Nadine and Yours Truly

Fr Pasquale, the Ninja Healer, my Retreat Director

The Intercessors of the Lamb are a group based in Omaha, Nebraska comprising a group of contemplatives - brothers, sisters and priests. I decided to spend a week with them before I returned home. I had visited 9 countries in 9 months and estimate I spoke to over 20,000 people in nearly a hundred different places. I was pretty much exhausted and believed I needed a full recharge of my spiritual batteries. Hence the retreat. It turned out to be the best thing that I did all year long! Not only did I get rejuvenated in body, mind and soul; I also learned (and relearned) a lot of things during the time I was there.

It was a silent retreat, but guided. Fr. Pasquale was my retreat director. Originally from Surinam, he was affectionately referred to as the Spiritual Ninja Warrior by the Community members and by the third day I could see why. Before I left, I spent a few minutes chatting with a few of the brothers in the Community (I lived with them but because the retreat was silent didn't do much by way of communication except nod!) and a litle time with the founder of the Community—Mother Nadine. She is a wonderfully blessed person and shared a beautiful vision she had of me before she said bye.

Discipleship Program, Durham, North Carolina

My final mission in the United States was in Durham, North Carolina and though it was a wonderful mission—Discipleship Program, Prayer Meeting, Counselling—I was glad when it was over. Though people may not have realized it, I was close to exhausting my reserves of energy and if I had one more such mission I believe I would have collapsed through it. My hosts/organizers—Charles and Stella, Melvin and Preeti, Josy and Maria—were warm and wonderful and will always be fondly remembered.

Discipleship Program, Vancouver, Canada

Immaculate Conception Church, Vancouver, British Columbia

The Discipleship Program in Immaculate Conception Church held from September 15-18, 2008, Vancouver was one of the best ever, attended by nearly 500 people of assorted races, all of whom seemed struck by a bolt of lightning. I was very tired, but very happy by the end of it, and only wish I could have started off the School of Discipleship here but I had to leave for North Carolina the following morning. There is a good chance that I will set up a second base of operations in Canada, though, so that might happen some time soon.

Discipleship Program, Seattle, Washington

A new family in Seattle, Washington

Invitations kept coming my way at the very last minute, which meant I couldn't plan my trip very well. Consequently I found myself criss-crossing back and forth across the continent! Fortunately, I could plot in Seattle immediately before Vancouver (they couldn't arrange a program in the Church for me last month), so for a change I could take a bus rather than a plane.

My host here was another Matthew, who had also organized my mission for September 12 and 13 in his prayer group. Predominantly Indian Malayalees, they were a warm wonderful bunch of people who took me into their hearts, and I them. Matthew's wife Maria, who showed me some of Seattle's sights on the free day that I had, is on the bottom left of the picture.

Discipleship Program, Houston, Texas

Discipleship Program in St Thomas Aquinas Prayer Hall, Houston

A short session in Dallas, Texas

My first mission in the United States began with the Discipleship Program in Houston, Texas at St. Aquinas Church. It was a terrific start to the mission, and though the crowd wasn't too large, the parish priest was in attendance and he invited me back to Houston to do the Program on a parish level some time next year. He also said he would like to start an HSI Community in Houston. Matthew, my host, who had arranged my program, said that he would arrange missions in other parishes in the region the next time I was down. He and his wife are wonderful people, totally on fire for God, and I was blessed to be with them.

I flew the following morning to Dallas where I gave a talk to a small group of people, some of whom I knew in my younger days, including host Percy Pinto and his lovely wife Charmaine. There were also a couple of protestant ministers present, as well as some who were non-Christian, and I figure God knew better than I did why they were there.

I flew back to Houston from Dallas, slept for four hours, then retraced my journey back to Canada with three separate flights to Phoenix, Portland and finally Vancouver. I made a little calculation and estimated if all the hours I spent travelling was put together I spent a total of between two two to three weeks either at an airport or in an airplane this year!!!

Discipleship Program, Toronto, Canada

Precious Blood Parish

Talk in St Paschal Baylon Church

My second visit to Toronto didn't see as many engagements as my first visit three years ago, but the numbers of people to listen to me were more. I conducted HSI's Discipleship Program in Precious Blood Church and gave a few talks to prayer groups around the city, including one to Toronto's largest—Gethsemane Ministries.

I moved on to Vancouver from there, and though the Discipleship Program wouldn't be conducted until the middle of September, I had enough on my plate to keep me busy. Gave talks to prayer groups in St. Joseph the Worker Church, St. Paul's Church, and Sacred Heart Church, among others. I also gave a talk to residents of Luke 15 House, a half way house for ex-prisoners and recovering addicts.

World Youth Day, Australia

Inaugural Mass at the Telstra Dome, Melbourne

A young(er) pilgrim at Sydney

A wonderful enactment of the Passion

I accompanied Diana Mascarenhas of the ICPE School of Mission to Australia for the World Youth Day as one of their speakers during the first leg of the tour in Melbourne, though I really didn't have to do much by way of preaching. I was glad to have gone, nonetheless, because the experiences I had in Melbourne for the Days of the Diocese program and then, later on in Sydney, for the World Youth Day, would trigger off a desire to work with youth again and put together an HSI team for the next WYD to be held in Madrid, Spain in 2011.

Crusade in Dar es Salam, Tanzania

Crusade in Africa: June 26-June 29, 2008

A section of the crowd numbering 10,000

A small teaching on the sidelines

If a good preacher wants large crowds, India is usually a safe bet. But even so, India is nothing compared to Africa where people throng by the thousands to a religious event. There were about 10,000 to this one in Dar Es Salam! Though the event took place for an entire fortnight, I could be there only for five days due to prior commitments, but they were five days to remember.

An African crowd stirred up is a crowd to behold, but what I will never forget is the deliverance that took place after the talks were over. As we prayed over the people, many would be thrown to the ground and roll, frothing at the mouth, while stretcher bearers would quickly come and take them away. The entire thing was organized on a war footing, but then I realized that this was war!

And, as always, in Tanzania the organizers always make sure that I am kept busy, so I'd take up a small class in the morning, preach at the crusade in the afternoon, and go and give a few more talks in the evenings. All in a day's work! :) By the end of it I had lost my voice completely, but I had finished by then so I didn't really care!

Discipleship Program, Ruwi, Oman

Sts Peter and Paul Church, Ruwi, Oman
For the first time in three years I was accompanied by members of the HSI Community for a mission outside the country. Brothers Denzil, Rajan, Manjula, Joel and young sister Jovita drove/flew down to Oman to assist me with the Discipleship Program in Sts Peter and Paul Church, Ruwi, Oman and it was a delight to have them around. The team were quite thrilled by the warmth and the love they received and I knew they couldn't wait for more.

The mission, itself, held from May 4-May 7, was wonderful. Like other missions, it got off to a relatively slow start, but by the end of it, people just wanted more. The local prayer group—a wonderfully Spirit led group that went by the name of Mary Immaculate Prayer Community headed by brothers Eugene, Philip, Roman, Freddy and Marion—had made the program possible and their hospitality and graciousness was marvellous to behold.

I got a few more insights into why people don't come for missions like this even though it was held in a parish level. One woman said her husband didn't think much of lay preachers; another said he believed I was a "Charismatic" preacher and didn't think too much of Charismatics; and a third said he didn't come because it was organized by the local prayer group and he didn't like them. C'est la vie.

Fr. Elias Vella

Fr. Elias Vella from Malta conducts Set Free

Fr. Elias Vella and Diana Mascarenhas ministered to HSI Community members through the Set Free program, a powerful module designed to bring wholeness and healing in the power of the Holy Spirit to broken people. Through my missionary travels I am blessed to meet many anointed men and women of God. With a wealth of knowledge and experience they have much to teach and even while I learn from them, I try to ensure that others do too by inviting them to be with us.

Our Lady of Perpetual Succor Church, Bombay

Our Lady of Perpetual Succor Church, Chembur
The Church building was under construction so masses and everything else, including the Discipleship Program, was moved to the hall of an adjacent building. The Program, held between April 10-12, was one of the best I have ever conducted, and an invitation to join HSI's School of Discipleship very well received. The School, which is targeted to begin on May 18th will be the third School of Discipleship - and the first in India.

God Bless Africa!

Exhuberance marks local praise and worship; the people in the foreground are dancing

Africa provided a fantastic conclusion to a four nation tour, even though it involved a grueling schedule that began the day I arrived. Barely hours after reaching (February 29), I found myself giving a short retreat to a group of African youth, which was followed by a talk to local parishioners.

The session with the African youth was really alive, but it didn't exactly prepare me for the vibrancy of worship I witnessed the following day (March 1) at the Emmaus Center prior to my talk. The locals sang and danced with an abandon I have never seen elsewhere.

The hunger in the people was also amazing to see. There were 300 people when I started. By the time I was half way through there were over a thousand people in attendance. My talk was supposed to have been for two hours, but the translator (Br Sebastian) suggested that I continue, and I ended up speaking for another two.

Before and after the other programs that followed, there were talks to local communities, visits to the sick and a miscellaneous assortment of things including a visit to Cardinal Polycarp Pengo to pay my respects. While I had met nearly two dozen bishops over the past few years, this was the first Cardinal that I was meeting. I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last

All the sessions were organized by Cajetan Misquitta, who was also my host for the length of my stay in Tanzania along with his Hindu friend Milan. God is going to use both these men in the days to come, even though one of them doesn't quite know it yet.

On Air on Radio Tumaimi

Mama Chilambo and me on air on Radio Tumaimi

An hour long recording session on Radio Tumaimi two days after I reached Dar es Salam led to an invitation to record three more talks. Though my schedule was extremely tight, I could hardly refuse, especially given that I had the chance to reach over ten million people, which was the listenership the station had. I recorded the fourth and final talk the day before I was to leave. The Director of the station, Mrs Esther Chilambo, respectfully called Mama Chilambo, did a simultaneous translation of my talks.

Discipleship Program, Don Bosco, Dar es Salam

Don Bosco, Upanga, Dar es Salam

A full day Discipleship Program at the open air Don Bosco Church in Upanga brought to an end a very long mission in four countries and, though I was happy to have had the opportunity to reach so many people, I was also glad that it was over and I could go home. I hadn't seen my family for longer than a few hours during the past one month and I really missed them.

I travel next in April to Bombay, India.

Discipleship Program, St. Joseph's, Dar es Salam

St. Joseph's Church, Dar es Salam

With Br Roman and Fr. Rewchungura

While the program in Emmaus Center had a rough start, the one that followed at St. Joseph's Cathedral had a terrific beginning -- and it stayed terrific until the end. The church, which was built by German missionaries five hundred years ago, was quite lovely and I enjoyed preaching in it despite the strong echo it carried. I had a different translator for this program: Roman, the deputy director of Agape, one of the Emmaus ministries. Roman, like Sebastian, became a good friend by the end of the program as did the parish priest, Fr. Rewchungura, who attended all the four sessions and seemed quite delighted with it. He told me I was welcome to preach in the parish any time that I wanted.

Discipleship Program, Emmaus Center, Dar Es Salam

Emmaus Center, Dar Es Salam, with Bro Sebastian translating

Two Discipleship Programs began simultaneously on March 3: one in the morning at Emmaus Center, a Charismatic organization, for a totally local audience; the other in the afternoon at St. Joseph's Parish. The first one got off to a disastrous start. The instant I began two goats walked into the prayer area and distracted everybody, including me. Somebody eventually chased them off, but it was uphill from that point onwards. The next day, however, was great and by the time the program closed, I had received an invitation to return in June as one of the key speakers for a national convention that attracts nearly 10,000 people. Needless to say, I was pretty pleased.

Discipleship Program, OLPH, Fujeirah

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Fujairah

I preached a Lenten mission in Fujairah from February 25-27, making it possibly the first mission being preached in a church in the UAE by a lay person. Hopefully this will create a precedent because there are a lot of lay preachers who can conduct missions just as well as priests can, and with the shortage of mission preachers among the clergy this might help to fill in a vast gap.

Fr. Michael, the parish priest of the Church in Fujairah, was present on all the days, and like others who have attended in the past, had only good things to say about the Program. So did the others who came for it, though as usual, it was word of mouth about the preacher that brought them in.

I got a fascinating insight into how people choose to attend retreats during one of the counseling sessions I had in the morning. A gentleman who came on the second day told me that he hadn't come on the first day because he thought I belonged to another nationality!!!

Discipleship Program, St. Mary's, Croydon

St. Mary's Church, Croydon

Lalini Nazareth, who was also my host for most of the time I was in London, arranged to have the Discipleship Program in St. Mary's Church in Croydon over three evenings from February 19 to February 21. Though it had a slow start (as usual!) the church was pretty full by the final day and it was a delight to see normally stiff people loosen up to hold hands and sing together! If I had a few more days with them, I'd have them dancing!!

Discipleship Program, St. Stephen's, Enfield

The wonderful Fr. Rodney, parish priest of St. Stephen's

Back at St. Stephen's

Fr. Rodney, the Anglican pastor of St. Stephen's Church in Enfield, and his dear wife Vicky gave me yet another warm welcome as I returned to preach at their parish, this time to give the Discipleship Program. The last time I was here I had given a short talk on love, which had resulted in an open invitation to return. As I had only four hours to conduct the program, I condensed it as best I could. Earlier in the day he had invited me to give the homily during the Mass.

A truly Spirit filled man, Fr. Rodney could give a few lessons to his Catholic counterparts in largeness of heart and graciousness of hospitality, though I am pretty sure that his desire for Christian unity and his willingness to take risks must not endear him to members of his own order. It is a real pity that such men are such a rarity.

Discipleship Program, St. Joseph's, Hendon

A few of the people who attended the Program in Hendon

My first program during my second visit to London was a day long Discipleship Program in St. Joseph's Church, Hendon. There were just 32 people present, but given that it is considered a minor miracle if ten show up for a Christian program in London, I figured I should consider myself fortunate. The people were a smogasbord of nationalities but the language didn't seem to be a problem for any of them, so I quite enjoyed it. I also enjoyed my stay with Millie Fernandes, a lady of Kenyan origin, who had arranged this program and the one to follow in Enfield.

Discipleship Program, Abu Dhabi

St Joseph's Cathedral, Abu Dhabi, UAE

The saying by Jesus, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown," came sharply to mind yet again as I saw a relatively empty church on the first day of the three day Discipleship Program in Abu Dhabi on December 20. It didn't help my general mood to have the sound act up badly on me as well, but by the time the Program was over, all was well with the world again. The church had filled up, the sound was great, and there were enough people who were touched to have made the effort all worthwhile. We had the sessions videotaped for the first time and hopefully will be able to offer them on the site some time in the near future.