Do you believe in miracles? I did when I was a kid. Then I got more sophisticated. Actually I got hurt and spent time weaving theories around my pain. That was called "education." When I became "learned and clever," so many things, including miracles, were hidden from me and revealed to the "merest children" (Lk 10:21). I was now secularized. I reasoned that miracles happened rarely, if ever. This reasoning caused miracles to happen rarely.

I finally repented of a life devoid of faith and therefore of miracles. I repented of stifling the Spirit (1 Thes 5:19). I let the Bible speak for itself. I no longer insisted on screening God's works through my human intellect. At that point, the miracles of the Bible began to happen in my life. Children in intensive care were miraculously healed (Jn 4:47ff). "The blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have the Good News preached to them" (Mt 11:5).

Now I believe in miracles. I believe in healings and deliverance. Most of all, I believe in Easter, the resurrection, the miracle of miracles. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb 13:8).

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 16, 2005

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