The Truth About Miracles

The canonization of Popes John 23rd and John Paul 2nd caught my attention
while writing and thinking about Truth lately.
So, I spent some time reading on the process of beatification and canonization.

To be made a saint by the Catholic Church requires an involved process and a five-year wait. But, there exceptions to every rule. Especially for popes.

The Saint-to-be must be known

• As a Servant of God: S/he has to be proved to be one
through a life review made by the Church.

• For a Life of Heroic Virtue: The process has to show the candidate lived one.

• For Miracles: Beatification (becoming a Blessed One) requires that,
“a miracle be attributed to prayers made to the holy one after his/her death.”

• For More Miracles: Canonization requires proof of two miracles.

John 23rd only managed one Miracle, but popular sentiment supported a waiver.

The obvious question comes down to - What is a miracle?

Usually the miracles are healings,
which must be instantaneous, permanent, and complete,
in addition to scientifically inexplicable.
Catholics see the miracle as God’s seal of approval,
a way of verifying that the saint really is in heaven.

~~~~~

Before sharing some quick thoughts and quotes on Miracles ...

I ask -

• What YOU think about Miracles?

• Have YOU experienced what you considered a Miracle?

• How do YOU define a Miracle?

• What does the "scientifically inexplicable" of the Catholic Church say to YOU?

~~~~~

Here follow three brief takes on Miracles.
Compare with your own thoughts and ideas.

• A Miracle, according to A Course in Miracles, is a change in perception.

• “It is not more miraculous to be born twice than once;
everything in nature is resurrection.”
Voltaire said centuries ago

• “We believe in no Magic which transcends
the scope and capacity of the human mind, nor in ‘miracle,’
whether divine or diabolical,
if such imply a transgression of the laws of nature
instituted from all eternity.”
HP Blavatsky

• There seem to be Miracles all around us.
And then, from another angle, there are no Miracles.
Like the Sun shining endlessly, the Earth spinning round the Sun,
the land being reborn every spring,
and you and I getting out of bed every morning.

Again, what say you on The Truth About Miracles?

The Catholic Church needed a saint within their ranks in order to validate their position.

The Order of the Arrow in Scouts, and I received a Paul Harris Fellowship from my Rotary Club.

Each one gave me something cool to wear around my neck and looked good on my resume.

So why not award a pope saint hood? They need something to look good on their resumes as well.

You and I would both qualify under these guidelines (except the one of being dead for 5 years).

I know you are out there working miracles every moment.

They were both good men, but there was a lot of criticism of John-Paul II attitude toward women and their ability to hold responsible positions in running the church,

not taking strong action to stop sexual abuse by priests although it was beginning to be acknowledged, and the use of the Vatican Bank to launder Mafia money.

I like the medical profession's term for miracle - spontaneous remission.

Since you can attribute that remission to anyone, it is OK to assign it to a Pope;

or Robert McNary or even Porky Pig.

The best book I ever read about it is Ernest L Rossi's Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing,

Has the classic story of Mr. Wright's remissions and others.
And the research that said a$$holes have as many remissions as nice people. I wonder how they got that data.

Another great book is by doctor John Sarno's, The Divided Mind.
He has lots of data and other doctors using his technique to diagnose Tension Myositis,

where Fear, Stress, or Anger causes your mind to shut off the blood flow to parts of your body.

The book emphasizes that the diseases like Lupus, Fibromyalgia, MS, Arthritis, etc.

that have physical symptoms but can be treated only by suppressing the immune system can be cured

by identifying the cause of the fear, stress, or anger and the body goes in remission. I have personal experience with this regarding lower back pain.

Keep them miracles coming and sainthood will be yours,

Interesting topic. Lets leave political and other issues that are around the canonisation and miracle consideration that often taint the topic.
For the Catholic Church a definition of miracle is an action that suspends the course of natural laws by divine intervention. Often the Saint or miracle worker is channelling Gods grace by his invocation (the Saint or miracle worker) to perform such an action that suspends natural laws.

I have a broader view of miracles. If they are Gods grace in action, then almost anything is a miracle: sunsets and you and I getting up every morning as you say in your web page.
If for a miracle to occur natural laws have to be “suspended” or avoid, then they are hard to come by and in a sense a nonsense.
I do believe miracles happen and they do when Gods grace is in action. God acting is a higher action than any natural law. SO, miracles do happen often, if we are aware of them, attuned with Gods grace, or open to it. (I could of been burn at the stake a few Centuries ago for this).

Now, one of the problems we face is of perception or understanding, for what is a “natural law”? How do we know it has been suspended? How do we know it has been Gods grace in action what created the outcome or situation?. Hard to answer an to know. The problem when intellect tries to deal with issues of faith. Does faith needs prove? Is there only one approach and method to grasp the Truth?

The fact that we can discuss all this may be considered in itself a miracle! In summary, I would define a miracle as the perceived love of God in action.
Then are miracles frequent or a rare phenomenon? It would depend on our ability to perceived Gods love in action, would it not.

As said, an interesting topic and not an easy one, but that is what I can comment on the issue.

If you have read the book, “The Disappearance of the Universe”, by Gary Renard you will find answers
as to why Nothing in the Universe is real Scientests today know this but are wary about telling it to the public, as they would probably lose their jobs.

From Dorothy in Kansas