Miracles

“I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” - John 11:25

Faith makes miracles. Miracles do not make faith. You have heard it said that if you have the faith as small as a mustard seed you could move mountains. Faith can cure the sick. Faith can also raise someone from the dead. This is why Jesus could not work many miracles in his home town of Nazareth. The people there could not see him as anything greater than just a carpenter, the son of a carpenter. But in Bethany, Martha and Mary’s faith was able to bring their brother back from the dead. Miracles are the manifestation of God’s glory working through the faith of the believer.

There is another word you can use in place of faith and that is trust. Faith is what you put your trust in. I can say that I have faith that a rickety old chair will support my weight. I show my trust when I actually sit in the chair. Faith is a mere illusion until it is put into action. Faith requires action and not just belief.

We get to participate in the greatest miracle Jesus works on this side of heaven when he transforms simple bread and wine into his body, blood, soul, and divinity right before our eyes. Do you trust him when he says, “This is my body. This is my blood.” through the priest at the words of consecration? Do you believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist? Do you have faith that you hold Jesus in your hands when you receive him at communion? Sadly, almost 70% of Catholics no longer believe that this miracle actually happens. Worse, over 35% of clergy no longer believe it either.

None of these people when asked would say that they have lost their faith in God. But, if faith equals trust and trust requires action, the miracle of the transubstantiation cannot happen for these people because their hearts are not open to it. Like the people of Nazareth, Jesus is unable to work this miracle for them because they cannot see the bread and wine as being anything greater than just bread and wine. Belief begins in the heart when we trust what we are being told is true. The best proof of love is trust and we prove our trust for those we love when we are obedient to what they ask us to do.

Trust that when Jesus says, “This is my body. This is my blood.” it actually is just that. Know that when you hold the Eucharist in your hands you hold the God who set the universe spinning and created everything out of nothing. How humble is our God that he lets his creation hold him? Even greater than that, he lets his creation reject him if they chose to do so. The age of miracles did not end with the death of the Apostles. Miracles are the manifestation of God’s glory. We are surrounded by them. We get to participate in them. But it takes faith for miracles to happen. Have faith in the Lord. Trust Jesus.