Spirit Daily
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There Is The Supernatural In Your Life, And Often It Comes As Little Whispers
All of us experience the supernatural in our lives -- probably every single person, although often we don't realize it.
The
touches of God come in ways that are most often subtle, but they are there --
and sometimes visibly so. You are at St. Peter's Basilica visiting the tombs of
the popes and when you return home and develop your photos, at least one has
unusual looking men who you are sure were not actually there -- priestly,
apostolic-looking men, with a quality that is a bit ghostly. Which are tricks of
the camera? What are we to believe?
We actually get such cases on a daily basis. Some are extraordinary. There is Father Donald Calloway. This American priest who is now in Ohio was visiting a reputed site of apparitions last September when he summoned other pilgrims to look to the sky above a mountain and see if they witnessed what he was witnessing. He didn't say what it was.
"I looked, and I gasped, 'Oh my gosh, Father, there’s angels!'" recalled one of those pilgrims, Cathy Karem, of Louisville. "They were going around in a circle in the sky. It looked like they were playing chase! All of a sudden a huge bolt of lightening and a big thunder boom struck the sky and everyone who had started gathering for this heavenly spectacle gasped with awe.
"The angels kept chasing one another in a circular motion and we then noticed inside the big circle of angels was a smaller circle of baby angels chasing one another. After what seemed about ten minutes or so, another huge bolt of lightening lit up the sky and a huge boom of thunder clapped. That was number two. We all screamed with excitement again! Priests and pilgrims were running out of their rooms and were gathering to see this beautiful heavenly display."
Can we accept such accounts? You discern. Often, there are far less visible manifestations -- little miracles.
Little whispers.
"I am also in the health care
profession," writes a woman from Dallas, who due to patient confidentiality
asked for anonymity. "I was investigating a problem that occurred with one of
our recently deceased patients, a newborn infant. I had waited almost a week for
my turn to review this baby's chart related to the problem I was
investigating. Finally, my turn came to have the medical chart and I took it to
my private office.
"I read page after page of this baby's short and painful life of a few hours. I
read heroic stories of how doctors and nurses took extraordinary means to try to
save her, but could not. Perhaps the most heart-wrenching page in the record was
the 'death checklist.' It had items like: Baby baptized? (yes), Footprints
Given to Parents (yes), Lock of Hair given to Parents? (yes)...
"After I finished my investigation, I was completely undone by this case. I sat
at my desk and sobbed. I felt moved to pray, and the only thing I could think of
was the Hail, Mary....
"I prayed one Hail Mary aloud, and began the second. As the second prayer began, another voice joined me in my office all alone. It was a child's voice, a female voice. Hail, Mary, full of grace.... We prayed together. At the end of the second Hail Mary, the child's voice said to me, 'Please don't worry. I am so happy. I am not in pain anymore. I am just fine!' I did not hear this voice with my ears, but with my soul.
I have never experienced anything like this, and had absolutely no connection to this person. It was unforgettable, and crystal clear."
Of course, it would be easy for a scientist to rationalize this. Stress. Emotional fatigue. Wanting to be consoled. We think there is merit to many of them.
Miracles are often subjective, and come so
naturally that often they don't even seem miraculous!
Yet, think about it: any answer to prayer is supernatural.
We don't even realize the many accidents that our prayers may have been averted.
"Last night we had one of the worst thunderstorms I can remember," writes a viewer from Connecticut. "Lightning and thunder like I've never seen or heard before. I actually got scared and went in the house. I was on the porch with my husband, children, and our next-door neighbors.
"Our neighbors across the street lost their above ground pool. A large pine tree branch had fallen on the pool. Just hours before several children had been in that pool. Thank God they were safe and the only loss was the pool.
"The reason I am writing is several summers ago my two boys, who are now 10 and 12, were in the same neighbor's driveway with other kids playing and drawing with chalk on the driveway. They had come home for supper and were going back out to play as they were walking down the driveway and at the mailbox at the end of the driveway, two speeding cars came around the corner and the first car lost control and flipped over on the front lawn and driveway where the children had been playing. Luckily only minor injuries to those in the car (two very scared teenage girls that were playing games with the two boys in the other car).
"Just wanted you to know I pray for the protection and safety of my children and all children and there is no doubt in my mind that God hears and answers us."
"Often write to you and I just thought I'd share something I heard in prayer last Sunday at Mass," notes a Michigan woman named Saundra Silverman. "I was feeling agitated and sad about some of the things that go on during our Mass that are not necessarily orthodox and you know all the things in our Church that are not how they should be and I was feeling pretty low. I asked the Lord to please help me with this and during the Consecration I heard these words which were so powerful to me and yet so simple. In my head I heard, 'My ministers are weak, but I am not.' I can't tell you how much this has put me at ease, given me peace! I tear up just thinking about it."
Indeed. Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening!
8/17/06