Isn’t it extraordinary how so many Catholics believe or profess to accept the miracles in the Bible but seem to think such miracles stopped with the death of Christ, with the Ascension; miracles yesteryear—2,000 years ago—but not today?
That’s perplexing because, upon departure, Jesus told those who followed Him that they would do what He did and said He would send the Holy Spirit to empower wonders. (Which occurred: Didn’t the Apostles live lives of miracles?)
The extraordinary truth is that the same miracles you see in the Bible have all been reported, in some proportion, at some level, in some fashion, in our own time–which not only authenticates Scripture but brings the true Faith alive.
Walking on water? They say a monk under St. Benedict ran on water (to save a drowning man), as also did Saint Paola traverse a strait in 1464, while saints like Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) were famous for rising from the ground; more recently, witnesses claimed there were times when Venezuelan mystic Maria Esperanza elevated several inches from the floor during Consecration or while saying the Stations. (Her head would suddenly be above those surrounding her, though she was short in stature.)
Multiplication of loaves?
No one will ever repeat what Christ accomplished along the shores of Galilee.
We will never attain His level.
No.
But at a border town in Texas was a Catholic charismatic mission with dozens of very well-documented instances whereby food they were dispensing to the “poorest of the poor” (Mexicans who lived off the dumps) seemed to multiply.
There is healing: Jesus was famous for that, and since His time there have been so many well-documented supernatural healings that they defy count or synopsis.
It isn’t just at Lourdes (though you can start there). There’s not a major disease that has not been reportedly cured in inexplicable fashion (including grapefruit-sized, inoperable tumors; never lose hope).
There are swevens: Jesus and two of His Apostles encountered Elijah and Moses on Mount Tabor, as in our time there have been those who have encountered the Blessed Mother (and perhaps Jesus) or have heard His Voice in some cases in an auricular way (through the ears, not just the mind) as the Voice of God was heard in an auditory fashion on Tabor and at the River Jordan.
There were and are angels. There were and are precognitive dreams. There were and are materializations (as in manna and as in oil exuding from a statue). Smoke coming from sacred mountains? That has been reported at sites of apparitions. The burning bush? There have been fires—witnessed even by Communists, again at an apparition site (Medjugorje)—but burned nothing. There was the dove seen at the Baptism of Jesus; large luminous doves have been witnessed at apparition sites from Cairo to, again, Bosnia-Hercegovina. The flames of Pentecost? These have been photographed at Catholic Masses and during charismatic healing services. There was speaking in tongues—again, prevalent in our own time. There was the gift of languages. The list goes on! There was seeing at a distance (or clairvoyance, and not in the occult sense). Again, we have modern reports. They call it “remote viewing.” There was the expulsion of evil spirits: This is perhaps the most frequent New Testament miracle we see today, especially with the recent prominence of exorcists.
No one could do it as Jesus did. But we have our deliverance ministries. We have exorcism. This has occurred during the past twenty centuries in a way that is far beyond reckoning. Do we have saints who, like Jesus, have appeared here and there, without normal transport (bilocated)? As Thomas touched the side of Jesus, are there not cases (rare, but extant) whereby people have touched the Blessed Mother and felt her as if she were physical (or been touched by an angel)?
The Bible lives and still speaks to us (or should, often in a different way each time). What we need to do is read it. What we need to do is let it soak in.
How about the spectacular miracle of raising the dead?
There has never been a duplication of Lazarus, but there certainly are reports of Catholics and other Christians who have prayed loved ones back from clinical death, even when rigor mortis was setting in; one of these was documented by a Florida cardiologist named Dr. Chauncey Crandall, who made headlines several years ago for “raising” a man who had been declared dead at Palm Beach Garden Hospital (through prayer) and wrote a book about amazing such happenings and other miracles.
[resources: healing books and The God of Miracles]
[Feedback from Phil Walker in the United Kingdom: I came across a video on BBC News that just made me think of how deceptive yet proud evil can be. This British magician who names himself Dynamo walked on water across the River Thames (it is about halfway through on the video). People keep saying ‘wow what an amazing trick’ — but it struck me how this was almost evil’s mockery of Christ walking on the water. A deception like this draws people to the fascination of magic. It reminded me of David Blane’s Vertigo that seemed to be a similar mimic of St. Simeon of Stylites. These magicians are diverting the attention of a society hungry for something supernatural. What is worse is that their ‘tricks’ do not appear to be the simple sleight of hand, hide-it-up-your-sleeve approach that many of the on stage ‘magician’ entertainers have used for years. These more modern magicians clearly have a darker art that people (general society) are confusing as age old clever hide and show tricks.”]