Johnny

JOHNNY'S STORY: Johnny McCarthy grew up in Ballintubber, a small village in County Mayo, Ireland. Sickness and injury was a major part of his life for over 40 years. When he was 13, he was badly injured in a car accident and suffered acquired brain injury which had a major impact on his life. Due to concentration and attention problems, he was not able to complete secondary school, his teenage years were a mess and he struggled throughout early adulthood with stable employment, alcohol and relationships.

One night after getting into more trouble while living in New York, he went into a Capuchin Church and prayed to Padre Pio for help with his drinking problem - as from his childhood, he remembered his grandmother telling him about Padre Pio and the wounds in his hands which were like Christ’s. His prayers were answered and Johnny stayed away from alcohol ever since that time. 

On return to Ireland, he returned to mass and the sacraments and went to agricultural college. However, he was not able to work after college as he developed severe arthritis. After a year, he began to improve and had the opportunity to go to university but unfortunately was not able to pass the exams. During these 
times,  he attend a youth prayer group in Galway and his faith in God deepened and he was drawn to prayer for healing. He noticed that the Lord worked powerfully when he prayed for people giving remarkable results. In 2007, Johnny's kidneys stopped working leaving him on dialysis for 8 challenging years which included two near death experiences and a lot of sickness. He was blessed with a new lease of life in 2015 when a wonderful friend donated a kidney to him. Johnny said "I learned that no matter how hard the suffering, there is a light at the end of each tunnel  and Jesus, our Lord is the Healer and can be by our side every moment of our lives".

Faith, prayer and the sacraments made a huge difference to Johnny's life and helped him overcome his sickness. His challenging personal and health issues led him to grow in the Catholic Faith. "I am grateful to the many people, including family and friends that have prayed and supported me over the years", he said.  

Johnny setup Pray For Healing to share this hope with you and to offer to pray for your situation. No matter what you are going through in your life, having someone pray to the Lord for you can help every situation for the better.

Our mission at PrayForHealing is to offer prayers for healing for those who are struggling in different situations in their life, be it physical, mental or spiritual and to help you  grow in faith, hope and charity as in the words of Pope Francis "through faith, hope and charity, the Holy Spirit not only heals us but also makes us healers. 

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