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'SIGNS' ARE OFTEN FRUIT OF FAITH AND THUS INDEED IN EYE AND HEART OF THE BEHOLDER

Many "miracles" are indeed miraculous, but hard -- often impossible -- to capture. It is that sense of the supernatural:

When a "sign" occurs -- when there is a manifestation -- the feeling attendant to the sign is what inspires the soul (and authenticates it).

Often, manifestations are simply too subtle or poorly lit to capture on camera. None of that detracts from the potency.

Back a year and a half ago, a great stir -- and grace -- were present in Castroville, Texas, when men on a religious retreat saw images like that of the Shroud in the Blessed Sacrament chapel (at what is known as the Moye Center). 

"I looked to the Host and as I did I saw the Face of Jesus there," said one attendee, Tim Scotch. "Immediately I became entranced by it! At one point, I saw the image cry; then I saw the face of my deceased brother Joey; then the image of my step dad; and then the image of Christ returned to the Host. I became overwhelmed with excitement and joy; like a child, I was trembling and sobbing at the sight of my Lord Jesus Christ."

It did not seem to be a case of hysteria. Others too saw it. These were sober, serious, and professional men. Yet photos do it no justice. "Nothing can compare to seeing the image in person, in the setting of the Rock Chapel, and surrounded by my brothers in Christ," added Scotch -- who was so touched that he typed a ten-page testimony!

St. Augustine once said that "faith is to believe what we do not see and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe."

When a flower damaged at the stem was placed on the altar there at that Texas chapel, it was able, suddenly, somehow, to stand straight. 

"The deeper our conversion, the more we will understand our times," noted the deacon who organizes the retreat.

A while back, Dennis and Theresa McKarney sent us a different type of what they  saw as a subtle manifestation. It occurred in 2003 in Arkansas. Their grandson, Matthew, was ready to receive his first Holy Communion and asked to come with them to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Before the photo was taken, says Theresa, "I asked Jesus to watch over him, like I always do. I didn't notice it last year, and this year while I was throwing out old pictures and trying to condense the volume, I ran across this picture, again. Jesus gave us this special gift! How wonderful to have this blessing in our own Adoration Chapel [right]."

It does look at if the monstrance and Host are bending to look over the boy. But...

Tricks of the camera?

Such can be asked too of the photo just above [to the left]. It was taken just to right of Our Lady at a church in Siroki Brijeg, Bosnia-Hercegovina during a Medjugorje pilgrimage. "When we got the photo we felt it was God showing us where real beauty is. We're so grateful," noted a couple named the Wigells.

"I'm assuming that a wet bird with white residue hit my daughter's window and dried, leaving this imprint," wrote a woman from Holliston, Massachusetts, of the photo to the left. "Amazingly it was over Pentecost Sunday weekend.

And so it goes!

"I'm not sure what all this means," said Tim Scotch. "I don't know if God used me in this way and I don't know where it goes from here. I do know that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. I think He is calling us to Him."

[resources: The God of Miracles]