11th Sunday after Pentecost 12.8.07 How to work a miracle
There is a certain stand-off between Almighty God and a sizeable part of the human race.
Many people challenge God, as to His existence, His will, His reliability in a crisis. They will say that they prayed for something at a certain time and God did not hear them. So they cut ties with Him. If He comes back on track and works a miracle for me, fine, I will reconsider. Otherwise not.
Today: How to work a miracle. The answer can be put in just two words: Obey God.
The human race says to God: You work me a miracle and I will obey You from now on.
God, for His part, says: You obey Me first and then I will work you any number of miracles.
This is the dilemma. Unless one of us gives way we will continue to be at odds, and the world will continue to limp along in all sorts of disease and disorder.
God can and wants to do all sorts of good things for us. The Gospel story of the healing of the deaf and dumb man is, like the many other miracles of healing, a symbol of the complete work of salvation that Our Lord came to achieve.
Yes, He delighted to cure sickness, to restore order, just as we like to repair something damaged or broken.
But He wanted to do much more for us than just to get our hearing back to full volume.
He wants to heal us in such a way that we regain all that Adam lost, and share in all that He, the second Adam, has won for us. No less than full union with God in our souls.
He came that we might have life, and have it to the full.
In His determination to give us this fullest blessing He will sometimes withhold lesser blessings, by way of forcing us to look further.
So, for instance, when He worked the miracle of the loaves and fed the multitude, the people thought this was great, and pursued Him because they wanted more food and wanted to see signs and wonders. He, however, wanted them to look further than just bread for the stomach, physical comfort, and to look at their lives and the way they were living – loving neighbour, forgiving enemies etc.
Why does God not grant every prayer? Because if we could have everything we wanted we would be asking for the wrong things. We would just have free food, free beer, no work, all sport, and so on. We would all be like Samantha in Bewitched and just conjure up whatever we felt like.
God knows better. He does not want us all to be magicians. He wants us to be faithful children, trusting in Him, submitting all our needs to Him, accepting His decisions as to what is good for us, what is necessary for the greater good.
In a word: obey Him. If we only do that the whole world opens up before us. We cannot tell Him what to give us, but He will bless us beyond our expectations. We will see miracles. Healing, transforming, above all conversion of life. We will be like the charcoals in the thurible, red-hot with the love of God and able to send off sparks in all directions.
This is the ultimate blessing from Him, when we are living in union with Him. He will withhold other things until we realize and accept this fact. Let us end the stand-off and come to Him readily.
