[from Michael Brown's The God of Miracles]

As a priest pointed out the other day, we can envision the Holy Spirit as all around us like radio waves. He is invisible. He is pervasive. He is there even if we can't see Him. He is detectable only if you have a radio. In the case of the Holy Spirit, the "radio" is prayer.

Pray and fast and you will enjoy the symphony of His love that plays around you.

Fasting is the fine tuning, and whatever the case, it's important to hear Him. When we listen close enough, we better understand what happens to us in life. He will let you know it with His whispers, with His love, and with His "coincidences."

When we are tuned in, God communicates with us in many ways.

Most often, He is subtle. When His grace flows, we have a good day. Things go our way. If we are heading to shop in another city, the sky is clear, the air is fresh, it's busy downtown, but we spot a parking space on the street right near the store so we don't have to pay at a garage and don't have far to walk. We get what we need; the price is reasonable; they can ship it for us; the sales clerk is friendly; the drive home is a breeze.

Don't slough that off. It is the touch of "grace."

Our mistake is that we think of good things as luck. "It's my lucky day." The world is so big, many figure, that certain events are bound to occur, positive or negative. They are simply a matter time. They call it the "law of truly large numbers," which states that with a large enough sample, with a big enough array of people, coincidences are bound to happen.

Don't believe it. God is in charge and while we can't see Him, when we are in tune with Him we hear His whisper enough to know that for the most part there are no such things as "coincidences.

In the news last year was the story of a man named Dr. Stewart Petrie who lost his wedding ring while clamming in Long Island Sound.

A retired physician, Petrie described the area as half the size of a football field, with four feet of water and muck and sand at the bottom.

Hopeless, correct? He lost the ring -- an emblem of his forty years of marriage -- in 2003, and he was devastated.

Two years later, Dr. Petrie returned to the same area for some clamming, something he only does a couple of times a year -- and along with some clams, he brought home an encrusted, almost copper-looking ring that got caught in his rake.

"Wouldn't it be funny if it was your ring?" his wife said, as she went into the bathroom to wash it off.

With a little bit of scrubbing and jewelry cleaner, she could see her inscription: "MPS to SJP 9-10-67." It was his ring!

Coincidence?

The same was true of a woman from Momence, Illinois, named Mary Zink, who said, 'My sister was murdered in 1986. While saying the Rosary in front of a picture of the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary, as I was crying and missing my sister, I said, "Lord in my spiritual strength I know my sister is in Heaven, but in my human weakness I am asking you for a sign." As I said those words I felt a peaceful presence and heard an audible voice. 'I am an angel of God. The Lord wishes to grant your request for a sign that your sister is in Heaven. You will become pregnant and your child will be born on your sister's birthday. This is the sign not only that your sister is in Heaven but a sign of the love that the Lord has for you and for her.' My youngest child was born on her birthday in 1990."

This was orchestrated by God and when we die we'll be amazed at how many things were not "luck" and at the organization of God's tapestry.

Perhaps I should say "needlepoint." With needlepoint one side looks like just a bunch of ugly knotted threads, which don't make sense, while the reverse side is a piece of art.  

That's how our lives are. The physical is a shadow of the spiritual. On earth, we see the knotted threads. In Heaven, we'll see with new eyes (at death our perception will become far clearer, not just with a radio, but now with a "television"!) and we'll find that every minute of our lives, every event, and every person we encountered was there for a purpose.

We all have a plan, we all have a unique purpose, and we weave in and out of each other's lives in a large miraculous plan.  

Before we were knitted in the womb, God knew us, Psalms 139:13 tells us, and our interactions are extremely important. Only when we die will we understand why everything and everyone have happened onto our paths. Thus, don't treat anything or anyone as minor.

No person is put in our way by accident. In every case, those we meet, even for the briefest time, have crossed our paths for a reason.

Think of the people in your life, those who are relatives, who tended to you as a baby in the hospital, who taught you, who were friends or schoolmates or acquaintances (don't neglect to recall strangers). Think of everyone with whom you have worked or worshipped or passed at the checkout -- every person you have encountered.

In a way that's mysterious, all were put there for a reason.

We meet people to help each other develop, and when we react positively, when we listen to God, it builds toward the miraculous. Just about every challenge in life, every problem, every hurdle, is a test of love, and God keeps sending us opportunities as He nudges us and sharpens us against hard surfaces.

And when we respond to difficulty with love, all of Heaven cheers. Every person has an equal role in God's plan of love and endless opportunities to express that love.

Just remember to tune in and remember what He especially want to broadcast, what He especially wants to communicate:

If we want miracles, we have to love; we have to be a miracle to others.  

No matter how dark or confused things may be, be sure that God is watching. Be sure that He is close. In fact, He is closer to you than your shadow.

[June 3 Michael Brown retreat]

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