Saint Augustan of Hippo once stated that:
“The multiplication of corn in a corn field is just as much a miracle as the multiplication of the loaves in the desert.” He is telling us that in each scenario, the person being fed at the end of it is a miracle in itself.
When Jesus worked miracles, people saw him as a very powerful figure. These people didn’t have to see the miracle first hand to know that Jesus was a special man, just as today, we do not have to know the miracle to believe in its authenticity. This shows that there is power at work in the world that spreads the faith around. When we think of a miracle happening, we see how wonderful everything really is and we learn how to appreciate how the power is being used to benefit us in ways we couldn’t imagine. The power that we see heals something within us and this allows us to realise that there is something great and amazing at work.
To be canonised, a saint must have performed three healing miracles. The church examines all of the miracles; they must be beyond human or medical explanation and are then accepted as long as the cured person does not relapse into their condition again. Catholics believe that there are such things as miracles because they believe in the Gospel stories and have faith in Jesus. As the church have a specific criteria of what exactly a healing miracle is, it is possible for them to define what a healing miracle is, yet in everyday life, people have so many different ideas as to what exactly a healing miracle is that it is very hard to decide for us what is and what is not. This could be why so many people do not actually believe in healing miracles.
Personally, I believe that they do happen. A miracle is divine, violating the laws of nature; God has intervened in this world. God loves us and his miracles are a way of showing us this. God is all powerful and can do anything that he chooses to. Some argue that if God is passionate, loving, so why would he ignore some pleas and simply fix others? They do not believe that God, someone who loves everyone would be capable of simply ignoring some people’s helpless cries. These people may claim that they pray and pray and are left with no answers- no is an answer. People may say, ‘for all the people that go to Lourdes, only so few are cured, Jesus healed anyone when he could, why is god so fussy?’ We do not know the answer to any of this, it is just easier if we realise that we must have faith, even if it is hard to understand why. You mustn’t stop doing something just because you are not gaining something from it.
What we must understand is that the whole thing is so very complicated, there are so many factors involved; it is so difficult to judge as we have never experienced or seen a miracle as the church does.
In 1922, Marie Bigot fell ill, and in 1952, she was cured in Lourdes of a brain hemmerage, in 1954 she could hear again and later that year, she could see clearly. The church is very reluctant to say that a miracle has taken place. The cure must be sudden, unforeseen and permanent. Some believe that lots more miracles do happen, but are unforeseen by the Church. These people could have been spiritually healed.
Miracles are a sign given to few, but addressed to all. Healing does happen today, but not the kind that we necessarily expect. Real miracles are those that heal our relationship with God. Real miracles happen inside each one of us and are just too great, too awesome to truly understand.
