I grew up in a Catholic family. One of my uncles is a priest, and I was brought up in the faith from the start. I went to a Benedictine secondary school, and after that I studied theology at a theological college, where I qualified as a teacher of religion. I'm a believer, and I know what prayer can carry.
I also see how many people can't pray. They want to, and they don't know how. Many of them can still say the Our Father. What they can't do is talk to God about this: the scan on Thursday, the husband who won't eat, the fear at three in the morning. And it's hardest at the moments that matter most.
Why I write
My books aren't theology lessons. They're prayers, written out, each for a particular moment, so that someone whose words have run out can borrow mine until their own come back. A prayer read from a page is still your prayer when you mean it. The Church has always known this. The psalms are borrowed words. So is the Our Father.
I'm not a priest and I'm not a doctor. Nothing I write replaces the sacraments, or the people treating you. What I can offer is a few honest sentences to say to God on the days when you can't think of any.
The books
The first, Let Go into Love, is for people with cancer and for the people who care for them. Others will follow, each for a different stretch of life.
If one of these prayers helped you, or didn't, I'd like to hear about it. You can write to me here.