"What Size a Miracle?"

JMJ. What do YOU think of when you hear the word "miracle?" Usually I think of big, splashy extravaganzas, a la Cecil B. DeMille. You know the kind--Moses sticks up his two arms and the sea flees from him and ultimately ends up drowning the Egyptians following behind in their chariots. Or the miracle of October, 1917 when the sun came down out of the heavens over the small village of Fatima, Portugal presaging the arrival of the Blessed Mother of God. Or even the time this poor man got hung up on a cross beam of a tree and appeared again alive, three days after His documented death. You know, big, in-your-face type events.

Sometimes, though, they come to us in small, bite-size, out-of-the-corner-of-your-eye happenings, kind of like the caress of the wind on your cheek. The birth of a child is of this kind although a good bit noisier. This latter type is what happened just recently in my home-town, Berea. I've mentioned before the religous goods store, Tilma, where the Blessed Mother whispered that Her Son was knocking at the door to my heart. I owe my faith to this store and its proprietess who staffs Tilma, taking no salary. She is paid in the small kisses on the cheek our Lord gives her occasionally to let her, and all of us Tilma groupies, know that He's alive and well, working in our community.

Well, to make a long story even longer, the economy has not been kind to the religious goods sector. Tilma was in imminent danger of closing its doors completely at the end of this last month and there was no discernible answer to the economic dilemma. Jan Marie was confiding this to me one day and the only answer we could see was to pray as we've never prayed before. A lady who was shopping (and over-heard the conversation) agreed with us and also was distressed at the bleak imminence of Tilma's closing. Once she left she drafted a letter with all pertinent information, circulated it to all her friends, and suggested that if they loved Tilma they would do the same thing--pray, shop, contribute, and pass the word.

I took the problem to all the saints I'm particularly attached to and Jan Marie took her prayers to the Infant of Prague. Or rather, to His antique porcelain statue. The figure needed, in the high four-figure range, was written on a small piece of paper and placed under the statue. Shoot, you've already guessed the outcome. Sales increased dramatically, folks were becoming militant, and we even received a donation from a professional person in a small, rural town in Ohio that no one knew anything of. Both person and town! Within three weeks Tilma was out of the woods and out of debt! A small miracle, but an important one, we think. Tilma (Our Lady's Store in Berea) will continue with its out-reach apostolates and will continue, through the grace of God, to evangelise to all. Deo gratias!

"A Must-Read"

JMJ. I should have posted this a few weeks ago but then, I put the "pro" in procrastination. If nothing else you'd have a great idea for a Christmas gift made to keep giving and giving. (Sounds like the flu, doesn't it?) Actually, I'm writing about the book by Archbishop Chas. Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver, entitled Render Unto Caesar. I finished it about a month ago and managed to do so, reading sporadically, in less than a week.

Although it's a call to arms to the laity, bidding them vote carefully, it is even more a call to militancy on behalf of the things that are God's. We need to hear this and need to hear it forcefully. Christ told the Pharisees to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's. Americans in particular and most Christians around the world in general have the first part down pat. It's the second part that's the stickler. That's the tough part.

I think the reason for the difficulty is two-fold. Either we don't know what is actually God's and how to render it unto Him, or we do but have convinced ourselves that we don't need to do it or that we can render it as suits us. Americans are justly proud of our democracy but in religous matters we automatically assume that that same democracy ought to apply there, too. It doesn't. Our Church is a monarchy with Jesus Christ as our King and the Holy Father, the Pope, as His regent or prime minister.

God managed to create the heavens and earth without our help and I seriously doubt that He needs our suggestions as to how best to run it. We poor humans just can't help kibitzing, though. If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me (or in times past, I said to myself), "I don't think" or "I think that" or "It's my opinion", I'd never have to work another day in my life. That's a sign that we think that we know better than the Almighty. We don't. Archbishop Chaput disabuses us of this notion, does it well and charitably, and then shows us how to be Catholics obedient to the will of God. PLEASE pick up and read his book. Then e-mail him at his archiocesan web-site. He really does answer his own e-mail.

"Politics NOT As Usual"

JMJ. If the last election did one thing, it pointed out the growing polarisation between the Republicrat and Democan parties. Ok, poor joke, but if one thing has become glaringly evident in American politics, it is that veniality is non-partisan. Folks get up on their soap boxes and accuse each other of accepting bribes or not working hard enough for the poor or debate the best way to fleece the middle class (who ultimately pay for everything anyway.)

American politics consists of one party achieving power and instituting its ruinous schemes while the losers rail and chastise that only they can reverse those boners. When the time comes and the electorate throws the bums out, the new in's leave things just the way they were and pass their OWN ruinous schemes that just make the whole mess worse.

Why vote for one party rather than the other then? Simple. The only program that makes a hill of beans'-worth of difference is the Culture of Life. The only person worth electing is the one who will protect the unborn, work to reverse Roe vs. Wade, vote against gay marriage and fetal stem cell research, and in short, do his or her best to serve our God. We are in His hands and we will be judged by how well we listen to Him and do His will. Nothing else matters. Once we are all on the same page, THEN we can worry about those pesky illegal aliens or the obscenely wealthy rich folks. I have a feeling we'll be waiting a long, long time.