My friend and fellow Caribbean island volunteer, Fergal Redmond, is back in Ireland facing a couple of very serious health problems. He visited Kentucky a couple of years ago and charmed many of the people he met, making many friends while he was here. Many still ask me about him. Some have stayed in contact via e-mail and texts. Many know him from his "thank you" letters as the recent chief financial officer for the Diocese of Kingstown in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Please prayer for him! I have already asked the local Little Sisters of the Poor and several others. He has a special devotion to Blessed John Sullivan who was known in Ireland for his healing power.
Blessed John Sullivan, a fellow Irishman, we ask you to intercede for the healing of our friend, Fergal!
Blessed John Sullivan SJ (8 May 1861 – 19 February 1933) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Jesuits. Father Sullivan was known for his life of deep spiritual reflection and personal sacrifice; he is recognized for his dedicated work with the poor and afflicted and spent much of his time walking and riding his bike to visit those who were troubled or ill in the villages around Clongowes Wood College school where he taught from 1907 until his death.
From the 1920s onwards there were people who testified to his healing power despite the fact that he never claimed credit or causation for himself from these reported cases. Father Sullivan was known for his friendliness; his amiable nature was coupled with a somewhat shy temperament but one willing to aid those who needed it most. He was noted for his strong faith and for imposing multiple penances on himself such as eating little.
Father Sullivan had long been admired during his life and was known as a man of inspirational holiness which prompted for calls for his beatification; the cause later opened and would culminate on 7 November 2014 after Pope Francis confirmed his heroic virtue and named him as Venerable. The same pope approved a miraculous healing credited to his intercession on 26 April 2016. His beatification, the first ever to take place Ireland, took place in Dublin on 13 May 2017.
OMGosh! I am so very sorry to hear about his medical problems. I wish I had the opportunity to have met him when I was briefly in Ireland. He is a saint whether or not he has that title conferred on him by the Church. I was totally flabergasted when I received a "thank you" letter from him. I even saved the envelope. Thank you, Father, for informing us.
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