Last night I went with my family to the open session of Franciscan University's Charismatic Conference. The open session is always the Saturday night gathering, and as the phrase implies, it means that anyone from the community (or from anywhere) is welcome to attend. A friend of my husband's had put a bug in his ear that he would want to be there, so there we were. It was a miracle service. What is a miracle service, you may ask? Well, from what I witnessed, I'd say it is a gathering of people where miracles are prayed for and received.
There were scores of people healed. We saw people who had been unable to walk without crutches or canes running, a woman with scoliosis who had been unable to do more than stoop her shoulders bend to touch her toes, a man who with severed nerves in his arms feel fingertip touches, dozens of people able to hear better without hearing aides, including one man who had ear drum damage for 59 years and a woman who had lost most of her hearing 46 years ago. There were far more people ready to give testimony to Jesus' healing than there was time to hear.
My son, who for years has prayed to see a miracle, watched what was happening in awe. One of the women who got out of a wheelchair and walked was seated just a few feet in front of us. After the healing service there was an hour of Eucharistic adoration where the priest asked us simply to remember the leper who returned to Jesus to say thank you, and to thank the Lord, even if we did not experience the healing we desired, but to thank Him for His presence, His salvation, His redemption, and for His gifts outpoured to the community. My son was intent in prayer during this time, and it was clear from his conversation later that night that he was aware that Jesus' presence there that night was for him, too. Even my 4-year-old daughter, who napped through almost the entire evening, stated on the way home with great intensity, "We may not know everything, but this we know for sure: God IS Jesus!"
Miracles are a part of my life, so I was not shocked or flabbergasted by seeing dramatic miracles like this. I was, however, deeply moved with the realization of Jesus present. My thought was "oh, how much You love us!" and also "because You are with us now, I am reminded that everything for the future is also in Your hand." Being in a place where I could witness this dramatic power happening in front of me was very satisfying, like a special date with my husband, only with a very intense desire factored in.
And I have to say that this was nothing like some other healing services I have witnessed, either in person or on film. There was no emphasis on "the healer," meaning the human being who was leading the service. The speaker did not lay hands on anyone nor individually pray over anyone (except for a couple of seconds while interviewing a few people who had experienced partial hearing restoration); that was all done by whomever happened to be standing around the person with the need in the congregation. There was no hype or sensationalism or speaking in a scolding manor (to those who had not been healed). The constant focus of the evening was on Jesus, and the teaching came from Scripture and the Catechism.
At the conclusion of the service, the speaker addressed those who had not been healed that night, and shared that his own wife (there present) had three benign brain tumors which he had been completely unable to heal. And of course, for he is not the healer, Jesus is. And Jesus was teaching them that by faith some overcome obstacles, and by faith some persevere through obstacles. But the point is to live in relationship with Christ by faith.
Miracles absolutely have a purpose both in the life of the one who receives them, and through that person's life as a testimony to others of the power and presence and love of God. He testified to some healings that happened in India among Hindus who went back to their villages, witnessed to what Christ had done, and through them, the Church was planted in that place that had not one believer beforehand. The speaker witnessed that this is how God was moving more and more visibly all over the world, and urged us to faith that through us He also wants to do the same. Amen!
The speaker is the founder of the Cor et Lumen Christi community in London, England.
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