"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!