My Descent into Death, A Second Chance at Life, DVD, follow-up interview and update on the incredible story of Dr. Howard Storm -- an atheistic professor who 'died' and was on his way to the netherworld when Christ saved him (he is now a minister). In this update, Storm discusses his urgent feeling about current times and a brush with the evil one. CLICK HERE

Miracles, miracles. We get so many reports that we can have no doubt about them -- some of them, many of them. A special time this is, with graces that, likewise, are special. Some of what is claimed goes beyond even usual use of the word extraordinary.

The problem, of course, is deciding which are authentic.

Can objects fall from the sky? Can supernatural forms appear in the flames of a fire? Can "glitter" appear out of nowhere?

We are in a "season of wonders" and God definitely deals in signs and wonders -- at the same time that we are also called to discernment.

No easy task! For example: in Courteline, Iowa, a rural couple has been on television claiming with all sincerity that on a couple of occasions gems have dropped in their yard -- from nowhere, brought there by an "angel" they say they spotted on at least two occasions. On other occasions, the stones just materialize. The gemstones have baffled metallurgical researchers like Rick Hurt who says the dozen or so brought to him and gemologists by the couple do not have the feathering or cracks of natural gems and also not the bubbles and aluminum residue of artificial ones.

In other words, they do not fit a category.

Said the husband: "We came home from work and I was getting out of the truck and my wife came out and saw it fall. I turned around, took two steps, and picked it up, and I said, 'Look at this!' My wife said, 'Well, didn't you throw it?' And I said, 'How can I afford to afford to throw something like this?'" That was the first gem. In all, there would be about a dozen. White gems. Blue gems. Purple ones. Red like ruby -- and unusually clear.

When they called the church, says the husband, they found that folks there had been praying there and waiting for a confirmation -- which they now felt they had received in the form of this unusual blessing.

Two nights later, claims the Iowa couple, they glimpsed an angel sweeping across their porch, and once more a a sparkling jewel was left in their yard. You can view the testimony. The angel? "She's not old, but she's ancient -- she's wearing white, it's not blue, it's pink but not it's not pink, it's white, it's like holding up a pearl glistening in sunrise and changing colors from blue to orange to yellow," said the Iowan of the alleged angelic figure he witnessed dropping a stone and smiling. "Her hair is blonde but it's not brown. It's not white, it's almost golden. It is magnificent."

He also encountered inexplicable "powderings" with what resembled gold dust, which also has been reported in the Miami area. Elsewhere, Catholics claim to have received "glitter" at places such as the apparition site (approved by the Church) of Betania (in Venezuela).

Real stuff? And if so, from which side of the fence -- a grace? Or a deception?

What about signs? Can we ask for them?

The Lord states that we can expect wonders below here on earth and signs above as indications of the times. (See Acts.) In Isaiah 7:10-11 the Lord tells a reluctant Ahaz, "Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as Heaven." .

In another passage of Scripture, however, it tells us that an "evil generation" seeks after a sign, and the only signs given will be the "sign of Jonah."

The devil too can grant wonders. Perhaps the safe route is to let God grant them spontaneously -- and to view them as hints of where we should go and confirmations of our direction. "These gems and gold (in my opinion) are things that satan (can't capitalize his name) uses to entice us," fretted one viewer.

Is that what is occurring; is it a mix; or are all the signs pointing to the Lord?

A few weeks ago, we heard from a viewer who detailed the similar account of a mysterious customer who looked strangely attractive and allegedly handed her a gem at the counter of a supermarket some years back -- gave it to her, then disappeared faster than seemed possible.

Most recently, there has been a great hullabaloo over a bonfire in Poland from which jumped flames reminding us of a famous pose by the great John Paul II. The story was posted by the London Daily Mail.

This came to us the day we received a relic of his robe from the Vatican! Does that bear meaning? The "Pope's" figure was in a bonfire lit during a service at Beskid Zywiecki, close to John Paul's birthplace at Katowice, in southern Poland, on April 2 -- the second anniversary of his death. Caution is in order because such forms do not usually appear in fire, which seems so associated with regions that are infernal. As the saying goes, fire is the devil's only friend. But can not God use anything that is natural -- and can there not be good and bad in flames just as there are angelic and demonic images in clouds and other objects?

"I'm not so comfortable with things like this," said a viewer named Mary Illicete of Florida. "It's like those wet spots in cement or in wood grain doors that vaguely look like a woman in a robe... I don't see the blessed mother, I see a spot.

"I can't take them seriously. The implications of our beloved John Paul II waving from the 'flames' is disturbing to say the least. I don't see 'John Paul'... I see a 'vague humanesque shape'... That's it. I dislike how the article [see here] implies the Vatican endorsement when it's really only someone who works for the Vatican and is not an official spokesman in such matters at all."

During 9/11, some saw Jesus in the flames from the Trade Center (above, right), while other photos showed what seemed like demonic images. In still other cases [below, left] angels have been seen in the glow of camp fires or the Crucified Jesus in the flames and smoke from a nuclear bomb.

In a photo from NASA was once the rather clear silhouette of an angel with a trumpet formed in a flare from the sun.

Perhaps for now we'll stay with those more "conventional" graces.

We hear so many healings. And simple events that fall together in a way that is miraculous.

A novena is prayed and there are special results. Nurses tend to a man bitten by an alligator and "miraculously" keep finding things -- like a towel where it seemed there was no towel -- as they try to rescue him (and as they pray to Mary). We hear a lot of results from "The Holy Cloak" novena to St. Joseph, and also "Our Lady Undoer of Knots."

'Tis the season of the saints!

Tis the season of "little" miracles.

When they string together, they are big ones.

[resources: The Holy Cloak Novena, Our Lady Lady Undoer of Knots, and The God of Miracles]

[Ask Linette Robertson, who was ardently praying that her she and her husband -- he had to remain at work in Winnipeg, Canada, while she was in Irving, Texas (a 36-hour bus trip) -- and they wanted the family united, against what seemed like improbable odds.

"We knew we needed to be together as a unit," says Linette. "I had a job and my children were going to a Catholic school. I had to go to work each day. So, I needed that miracle. I am poor. I didn't have funds to move. We had to find a possible tenant. My children's father [from a first marriage] had to agree to the children moving to another country. My husband had to find a home to lease. We had to find a proper school. Then, there was actually crossing the border without passports. There are immigration fees, many of them. Our needs were so many and also in a short time. 

"Then, we needed a possible tenant and much more money that I did not have. I needed a tenant by a certain day. We had put our ad on the internet for our area. But he had to be a really strong one. St. Joseph found one for us right before the last day that we needed one! And his name is Joe!

"Meanwhile, my husband was still in Canada. He had been searching for a home to lease, but the homes were very costly. The monthly payments had soared in the area recently. So, John searched each day for several possibilities. Then he came to a home that was in a nice area. He knew the prices were high, but he thought he would inquire anyway for this particular home. 

"This woman is a Catholic also and was so generous that she lowered her monthly lease amount and also provided furniture for the house as well as a washer and dryer (which I had to sell mine in Texas... it was too large to move). 

"Each request from St. Joseph was met... We had just enough money for gas, the hotels, food and also for some fees that we were surprised with at the border. Then, the day before we reached the border, we decided to go to a beautiful church in Fargo. 

"Later when we got to the border, there was a man there that just got on shift. He had a serious disposition at first. He asked me what my purpose was for going to Canada. I told him for us to be a family as a unit. 

"He said that Canada was very supportive of families. So, he seemed to relax a bit. Then, we went through the series of questions. Then came our dilemma. There were other costs and fees that we were not expecting. We barely had enough to pay for these. If we had not paid for these, they would have turned us away. 

"But this man was very kind. He worked things out with customs so that we did not have to pay some other fees that were required. Then, yet another miracle....they did not make us empty the U-Haul!!! We made a list of what was inside. But the custom's agent said that it was clear that we were telling the truth.  We had everything prepared to answer all questions and prove our intentions. So, he said we could go through!! 

"Needless to say, St. Joseph had answered every single one of our miracles that were needed to accomplish God's Holy Will in our lives."

She provided this testimony as a thanks. There were some other "little" miracles. The dog's papers got lost. They found them miraculously. You get the point.

Miracles are in the confluence of life -- glittering as brightly, if we take time to contemplate them -- if we look at the entirety -- as the largest gem.]

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