I Believe in Miracles—If You Don’t—You’re Not a Christian!
One of the important tasks of my apostolate is to communicate the unvarnished truths of Christianity—however unpalatable or intellectually contemptible these may seem to our many cultured despisers. And one of these truths is that miracles happen. The supernatural is real even if it is difficult to prove or demonstrate by reason alone. Although our faith is certainly compatible with reason, reason alone can never bring one to a full acceptance of Church teaching or discipleship with Christ. Sooner or later—there is just no getting around it—your faith will be tested. And when faith is truly tested, reason will not be able to carry you.
All throughout the Church’s history prophets have seen the future and miracle workers have healed the sick. And while much of this stuff belongs to the realm of private revelation, it is nevertheless the case that one must accept such realities in order to be called Christian. While it is not necessary to believe every visionary or supernatural occurrence, to categorically reject the supernatural is to cross over into heresy.
Some people believe that these subjects discredit our religion in the eyes of many people. And this is true. But the avoidance of these subjects is also a discredit to the faith. Christ warned us that if we would be ashamed of him, he would be ashamed of us.
So do not be ashamed to admit what the Church has always taught—miracles happen. And lots of smart people have believed in them. Take me for instance! I have written and spoken about my own miraculous experiences that started with my spiritual conversion in 2000 and which reached a climax in Medjugorje. Eric Metaxas is another one of those “Christian crazies.” He’s written a whole book on the subject of miracles—called, appropriately enough, Miracles. He even includes a personal miracle story of his own. And then there’s John Paul II. He believed that the Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously intervened to save his life.
So don’t be surprised if, from time to time, I share one of my own encounters with the supernatural.
Then one night in 2006, on a trip to Taiwan, I woke up in what felt like a strange cross between a dream and reality. Jesus came to me and said, “Here I am.” It felt so real. I didn’t know what to make of it. I called my boyfriend, but before I had time to tell him about it, he told me he had been praying the night before and felt we were supposed to break up. So we did. Honestly, while I was upset, I was more traumatized by Jesus visiting me.
All Christians must reject the claim of Ms. Powers to have seen Jesus. How the…HELICOPTER…would SHE know what the Creator of the universe looks like? Or that it was not in fact, a trick of the devil whom Scripture says has the power to go about looking like an “angel of light”? It is therefore precisely BECAUSE we do not know what the Lord looks like and precisely BECAUSE he has given Satan limited power to deceive… (most likely to see if we will obey him) that he lays down the general principle to DENOUNCE any future claims of his bodily presence by saying, “if they shall say to you, Behold he is in the desert; go not forth [and] believe it NOT” (Matt 24:26; Mk 13:21).
Thus, we BELIEVE NOT the delusions of Ms. Powers, and will certainly not waste one cent on her lunatic ravings she has put on paper.