Great miracles still do happen today

We need to do a little adjustment in our understanding of miracles.

The common idea is that miracles are only those astounding cases of cures and healings performed by Christ in the course of his ministry in the distant past, as recorded in the gospels.

That conception, I believe, is unfairly restrictive as it blinds us to what really is most important that can happen in the life of a person.

And that is none other than the resurrection of a soul moribund or even dead in sin. Plus the fact that within our midst is God and his power to bring us back to him regardless of our miseries.

This kind of miracles takes place every time one approaches Christ in faith, and either in a personal, intimate way or in the sacrament of confession, he expresses his contrition and his resolution to do better.

Remember that episode of Christ curing the man sick of the palsy lying in bed (cfr. Mt 9). He told the sick man that his sins were forgiven.

And when the scribes and the Pharisees were questioning why Christ dared to forgive sins, that was when he proceeded to cure the man of his palsy.

That miracle was made to highlight the event that was greater than just the cure of the palsy. It was made to show that Christ had the power to forgive sins and that the forgiveness of sins is of a higher importance than the cure of the palsy.

We should not lose sight of these fundamental realities as we also long for and enjoy the very amazing physical and external effects of the miracles involved in cases of cures and healing.

We need to learn to see the spiritual and supernatural causes and effects of the miracles that happened in the gospel and may happen even up to now. We need to learn to discipline our feelings and emotions so that they do not hinder us in appreciating the more important aspects of the miracles.

Today, miracles continue to happen, and even big, very dramatic ones, for as long as we have faith in Christ who continues to be with us in a living way in the sacraments, in the doctrine of our faith, in the Church, etc.

Let’s remember that only those with faith in Christ received the miracles. Thus, to the woman sick with hemorrhage who exerted great effort just to touch his clothes, Christ said it was her faith that cured her.

Miracles are a matter of faith, faith that is shown with deeds and that musters all the human powers we have to pursue and live it. That is the problem that we have at the moment. Our faith is wavering and must not even be as big as a mustard seed because it’s a faith that cannot move mountains.

We don’t have that kind of faith of that woman with hemorrhage, nor that of the paralytic brought by friends who had to cut a hole in the roof to bring the paralytic right in front of Christ.

In our days, we have simple people who because of their overflowing faith light candles and dance before sacred images and do many other things just to ask for a favor. Many of them receive what they ask.

They often get ridiculed by the supposedly more “educated” and “enlightened” people. But they actually live out what St. Paul considers as God’s fools and God’s weaklings who actually confound the so-called wise and strong of this world.

Those who did not have faith, Christ withdrew from them. Thus, even to his townspeople who questioned his credibility, Christ did not perform any miracles nor did many good things, giving substance to the claim that God resists the proud but gives grace

We need to work on our faith, but a faith purified of ulterior motives and fringe benefits. It has to be a faith pure and earnest that, while immersed in the flesh and the world, also knows how to transcend them.

One clear occasion where great miracles can happen would be in the sacrament of confession. That’s where we go to Christ to ask for forgiveness for our sins, many times precisely the very sickness and human misery that we need to be cured and relieved of by God’s mercy.

We become a new man every time we emerge from confession. That’s because God’s grace heals us of our sins which truly separate us from our true joy. That’s infinitely better than just being healed of our physical illnesses.

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