Accepting Miracles: Embracing Mystery

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The modern world heaps scorn on those who have experienced the inexplicable This cynical attitude simply serves to coerce most legitimate eyewitnesses into silence; only quacks speak out. As a result, of course, society’s prejudice is simply reinforced.
At least Catholics believe in miracles, although sometimes more in theory than in their day-to-day lives.The word “miracle” comes from the Latin word for wonder and, literally means “a sight to behold.” In fact Jesus promised us that His followers would perform even greater miracles than He did because in fact it is because we live in Christ and Christ lives in us that miracles occur. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 547-50 tells that,
Jesus accompanies His words with many “mighty works and wonders and signs,” which manifest that the kingdom is present in Him and attest that he was the promised Messiah,
Thus encouraged, courageously or perhaps foolishly, I have already written about two of the many miracles which are an intricate part of my life, a physical healing, where my spine was straightened instantaneously and a single tank of heating oil which simply never ran out all winter. However this particular incident was even more unnerving because we observed the inexplicable with 20/20 vision. When my 17-year old daughter, who questions and argues about everything, grudgingly admitted that only a miracle could explain what happened, I cannot keep silent.   continue reading>

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