HOW SMALL PRAYERS BUILD INTO BIG MIRACLES

St. Padre Pio Statue
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

FORGIVENESS AND CONFESSION BRINGS 'BLESSINGS' THAT CAN THEN TURN INTO 'MIRACLES'

The following excerpt is from SpiritDaily.com:

When coupled with forgiveness, the sacrament of Reconciliation brings tremendous healing.

First, however, ask God to reveal any sins you need to confess or anything you need to forgive -- then watch the blessings flow!

The holy practices we have been taught – in whatever aspect of the Church – have real benefit. During the Eucharist, the stream is channeled through the Host in the same way that light streams from the sun. Perhaps this is why so many see "sun miracles" with a Host in front of it.

From such practices come blessings you didn't even know were there: happiness, security, contentment among them.

He may well be ready to give you what you have sought for so long but may be waiting for you to see His goodness in every aspect of life and to completely turn over your life to Him.

Know that there are blessings around the corner. Have faith! That potent combination will loose many gifts and lift you in a way that will exceed your best Christmas. See every problem as an opportunity, for thankfulness in all situations unlocks grace. When that is kept in mind, it brings the realization that there's never the need for desperation.

It is mindful of a remarkably well-documented case in San Giovanni Rotundo, Italy, in which the missing eye of a construction worker was said to have rematerialized after St. Padre Pio prayed for him. When the bandage was taken off, there was the eye despite detailed medical descriptions of how it had been obliterated in a blasting accident.

Doctors had seen the empty socket.

Miracles are all around, if we would only notice.

Read more: How Prayers build into Miracles

Medjugorje: 30 Years of a Phenomenon

NEW BOOK CLAIMS MORE THAN 600 HEALINGS AT MEDJUGORJE

The following excerpt is posted on SpiritDaily.com:

Recently, two new books have been issued outlining fascinating information about Medjugorje, which is the most famous apparition in nearly a century (since Fatima in 1917).

One of the books, written by two news reporters, Marijan Sivrić and Ivo Šćepanović (Medjugorje: 30 Years of a Phenomenon), says at least six hundred healings have been credibly reported at Medjugorje.

"The Holy See observes with caution but the documentation only increases the observer's curiosity of the Medjugorian happenings," they report. "Recorded cases of the healings of people from all over the world are kept in the information center, along with all the given documentation which is then forwarded to medical and theological examiners." The two journalists cite an especially impressive cure of multiple sclerosis -- wherein a woman who had been unable to walk suddenly was able to hike more than seven miles to the shrine from the hotel she was staying at in Ljubuški. They report that the case was studied by twenty-five experts. So far, they say, "there are 143 similar documents of healings that can't be medically explained."

As at Lourdes (where the official tally of "miraculous" cures is just 68 out of the approximately 7,000 people who sought to have their cases confirmed), hundreds and perhaps thousands of other cases have gone unreported. The accounts we have directly heard themselves number in the dozens -- although they are far outnumbered by dramatic spiritual healings (and conversions).

Read more: SpiritDaily.com