The idea of miracles is no stranger to the Catholic faith. We have read and heard of miracles associated with Fatima,Lourdes as well as Christ and Padre Pio just to mention a few. There are some miracles we see everyday the change of the seasons, the rising of the sun and the birth of a new life. But there are others we may overlook.
If anybody asks me if I believe in Miracles I would answer with a resounding yes! I have lived through a time that I was in the deepest sin (up to and including murder) but although I never got a chance to carry out my plans I was a wreck both mentally and Physically. I was seeking a way out of all this mess while going through treatments for depression,anxiety as well as PTSD. These conditions were from different areas the first being a old injury from prior military service. The second was due to my job. While I won't go into details I was at the point of suicide.
One day I kept being bothered by a thought from a catechism class some 38 years prior. The thought was over and over coming to me "Thou shalt not kill". Now I resisted this thought at first because I wanted those who did me harm gone I was full of hate and rage. The thought kept coming stronger until I had no choice but to say "ok so I will not kill them. I still hated but their lives were safe and they continue to be although I have yet to see one of them, this will be the true test.
So I had agreed not to kill (although) the temptation was still there. Then one day talking to my counsellor she asked " How are you getting along?" Almost without thinking I told her I had to go home. She inquired as to why I had to go home but I explained it was not a physical place. I just had a voice telling me over and over to go home. Yet I knew the first time I heard go home what was meant. I was being told to go back to the Catholic faith and step on it!
So I went to a local Catholic Church (St, Raphael's) and inquired as to how to rejoin the faith. I had never been confirmed so I entered the RCIA class and began the climb back. It did not take as long as I thought it would but through my time of this class I learned to forgive them as well as not to hate them but to pray for them. These were large steps for me. But being home made all the difference!
Now here I am a die hard re found Catholic and feel blessed beyond measure to be so.
The second example of a miracle in my life will seem to be just coincidence. However I have learned there are no coincidences. I was 27 in Berlin Germany with my wife when we both climbed up on a overlook that gave us the ability to see over into East Germany. Seeing the death strip and the sniper position on the Brandenburg gate was the saddest thing I had ever seen. My wife and I prayed that before we left Berlin we would see the Berlin Wall come down. We prayed this in Aug of 1988 needless to see our prayers were answered in just over two years. I was so over come I openly and unashamedly cried openly before millions at the wall that day as we were witnesses to history. There is still one more miracle I must speak of before I leave this time of my life.
In June of 1999 I got the news most dread. My Grandmother was dying. Dying too was the only Mother I knew as my biological Mother dropped me on my Grandmothers doorstep when I was 11/2. I knew her as Mom and she was the one who raised me for over seven years of my life. I thought her immortal because as a Young man we don;t often think about death. I arrived back in the states in June and was assigned by family to watch my Grandmother as she was bed ridden and needed help with bed pans etc... I was with her for about 3 weeks when she was transferred to a hospice. Some 10 days later she died of bone cancer. I actually was glad to see pass as it ended her pain and suffering. During her pre-burial Mass my mind went many places back to my childhood with her and covered everything from hot homemade biscuits to kool-aide freezer pops amongst many other things. I quietly to myself ask "God just give me a sign she is ok. Just one sign". as we exited the church I was walking towards our car when I looked back to see where my Father was. And my jaw hit the ground! There as I looked back at the church a rainbow had made half halo around the church it started on one side of the church and went up and came down on the other side of the church. It was not a big rainbow but appeared to just hug the church as if it was made to fit the church. I accepted on faith that this was God's way of saying "Lee she's with me and everything is ok and she is fine".
The final miracle was very recent but perhaps the most stunning of all. My church was blessed to be visited by the Travelling Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The statue was perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen. After the mass the statue was left for a time of adoration and prayer. I can say this these attendants to this statue are dedicated to their job. When it came my turn I knelt before the statue and prayed a simple prayer of thanks for the many intercessions she had made for me and the blessings in my wife. The attendant took my cane I use to walk with and touched it to the statue, I went home that day feeling peaceful. However our situation was anything but peaceful 3 months behind on the house and no milk or bread to feed our kids with our meals for the next 13 days looked like they were going to be beans as we had allot of those. Now I know you can say "there are others far worse off in the world and still today I cannot tell you why what happened. We had our beans and were basically figuring what to do when we lost our home. We had been on disability pay but they had cut off my wife's some months earlier. It looked hopeless. I was awaken by a ear shattering scream from my wife. For deposited in our account was some 15,000 dollars and back pay to my wife that we had no Idea was coming.
We immediately thanked God for this blessing and were in such a state of relief that we didn't know what to do first. I told my wife of my prayer to The Lady of Fatima and she agreed that it must have been a answer to a unasked question. It is really neat that God knows what we need even if we don't ask. Later that day as to confirm our conclusions my shipment of CD Lighthouse Cd's came in. which is a great service to me as monthly I get a cd from everybody from FR. Jason Brooks to DR. Scott Hahn. The cd title for this month on the same day we discovered this deposit that saved our home and so much more was Fatima: Living the Message.
For those who believe there is no explanation necessary
For those who do not no explanation will be believed.
So I close this rather long post with a blessing to all my Catholic Brothers and Sisters and pray that you too can see the little miracles as well as the large ones.
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