JOHN GRIFFIN'S TESTIMONY
I had been told and believed that I needed to do my very best and then MAYBE I might get to heaven…
My name is John Griffin. I grew up in the small town of Newcastlewest
Co.Limerick Ireland. Like most in those days, I came from a very poor
family. The house we lived in was made of a mud substance, and we lived
down near the river. Our family was very devoted to the Roman Catholic
Church, which we believed was the ONLY true Church. We attended mass on
a weekly basis and never missed any of the Holy days or Lent etc.
When I was 23, because there was no work in Ireland I set out for
England where lots of work was promised. After working for a while I
got homesick and saved up my money and went back home for while. I did
the same routine for several years living half the time in England the
other half in Ireland. When I arrived in England I would immediately go
to mass and also go daily to pray in the Church. My friends said to me
"John you aren’t in Ireland now! You don’t have to keep
going to Mass !" My response to them was that I really believed in it
and that is why I went, not because I had too. Yet even while I said
this, I knew it was only half true as I longed to really know God.
However, I just couldn’t seem to get close although I tried as
hard as I could. I always felt lonely. My friends introduced me to what
I thought was the high life. So I partied away with the lads, all the
while still feeling empty inside. The drink and women and such only
again showed me my emptiness.
I then took one of my pilgrimages to a place called Lough Derg in
Donegal. As a good Catholic, I decided to do penance by walking in my
bare feet over the sharp stone. Although my feet got cut up, I felt
good for a while believing that I suffered for God. My own pride
continued like this as I made frequent trips there and also to the
Marian shrine at Knock. I had been told and believed that I needed to
do my very best and then MAYBE I might get to heaven. First, of course,
I would go to a place called Purgatory, and then after many prayers and
suffering finally into heaven. I recognise now that God’s Holy
Spirit at this time was striving with me, because I was getting even
more depressed now as I found myself daily going to mass, or at least
saying my prayers at Church, and also weekly going to confession. At
this time my depression got so bad I started to contemplate suicide.
My thoughts continued to think about ending it all, but I kept going to
Mass. One day at Westminster Cathedral, after confession, I asked the
Canon this question: "My depression is so bad. I feel I am going to
commit suicide. What can I do ?" His response was "What can I ?" Then
he said, "Just keep coming to mass and saying your prayers and you will
be alright." Even when he said this, I knew that I wasn’t
alright. Shortly after this, I went back home to Ireland. Upon arriving
back in Newcastlewest, my depression got to me. One day it was so bad
that I got down on my hands and knees and looked up to God and I
remember saying to God, "What is the Truth? All my life I have followed
my religion and I still feel empty." I even remember saying even if it
is the Jehovah Witnesses or the Protestants who have the Truth, then I
would be willing to follow them. You must understand living in Southern
Ireland to be anything but a Catholic would be a disgrace to my family
and friends.
Nothing happened immediately, but within a week, I came home one day
and my brother Dave said someone dropped a leaflet in the letter box.
He gave me a leaflet and I immediately thought that it was from the
Jehovah Witnesses. I thought about using it to start the fire, but I
was intrigued by a picture of a black heart on the cover so I decide to
read it. The first thing I saw was a verse from Jeremiah's prophecy:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it? Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the
reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to
the fruit of his doings." (17:9-10)
When I saw that verse I knew it was God speaking to me. Immediately my
thoughts ran back to my prayer " What is the Truth?" I then realised
right there that God said my heart was deceitful and desperately
wicked. The next verse I read from the leaflet was Revelation 3:20
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he
with me." I realised right then that ALL I had to do was to take God
(Jesus) at His word and I immediately got down on my knees and cried
out to Him to save my soul. At that very moment when I cried to Him, I
became a child of God. I am no longer trusting in what I could do for
God but just taking His remedy for my sins by believing in the FINISHED
work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
John Griffin
Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick, Ireland.