Citizen Columns
Question
Do miracles really happen? If so, what do they mean?
Answer
The word miracle comes from the Latin mirus meaning to wonder. Whatever we define as a miracle begins with a sense of wonder and amazement. Albert Einstein was not a religious man, but he was captivated by this mystery of wonder. "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.''
Do you still have a capacity for wonder? Then you don't need anyone to tell you that miracles really happen. You have experienced it yourself. Of course the Bible and the lives of saints are filled with extraordinary miracles, but if we have lost the capacity to see miracles today, then it's best to put aside the ancient miracles until we recover our sense of wonder about the world around us here and now.
Wonder is a gift, but it can be lost, often through no fault of our own. A daily grind of demands and difficulties can turn off the tap. So can years of abuse at the hands of others. In children, the gift of seeing miracles can be crushed when it is met by adult indifference or incredulity. But sometimes we can only blame ourselves. We cut off wonder by repeatedly hardening our hearts over the course of a lifetime. Or through holding on to resentments. Or by being too busy. Or being to proud to ask God for this gift. "For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:8).
Miracles are out there for everyone to see. But the believer recognizes where they come from and where they lead. The believer sees God everywhere, in everything and in everyone. And gives thanks.
Father John Jillions
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