Are You Listening? The Miracle Hunter
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July 22, 2021" I have been listening to "The Miracle Hunter ", an EWTN program, broadcast Saturdays at 6 PM on OKCR, and it has led me to this question: Do you consider answers to your prayers miraculous? I cannot answer that question without thinking of Bartimeus, the blind man Jesus encountered when he was leaving Jericho. In Mark's Gospel, Bartimeus hears that Jesus is passing by, and he calls out to him. Continuously. Everyone around him tries to shut him up, but he persists, and Jesus comes to him. Nothing deters this man from believing Jesus can help him. Jesus's response astounds me. He says, "What do you want me to do for you?" Think about it. Jesus is disposed to give this marginalized man his heart's desire, anything. Because he believes, everything changes for Bartimeus. He is physically healed. He acquires status in society. Transformed, he follows Jesus.
Physical healings is only one type of miracle discussed in the lively, half-hour of "The Miracle Hunter ". Much of the program is devoted to enhancing our understanding of the role miracles play in our Catholic faith. There are miracles recorded in Scripture, but program creator and host, Michael O'Neill explores miracles and their agents from around the world, reaching into the past and reviewing contemporary supernatural phenomena. The program is divided into different segments such as "Catholic Pub Trivia", interviews with guest experts and authors, and a segment I particularly enjoy, "365 Days of Mary Project". Mr. O'Neill, a member of the Marilogical Society, honors Mary, spotlighting her titles, intercession granted through her, and her feast days celebrated world wide, usually connected to a miraculous event.
Improbably, but not miraculously, a degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford has equipped Michael O"Neill as a data-centric authority in explaining the Church's relationship to miracles. Executive director of Relevant Radio, Rev. Francis Hoffman characterized O'Neill as having "...the heart of a believer and the mind of a skeptic..." Secular, respected organizations such as "National Geographic" have depended upon his expertise and research to qualify their own productions.
The portion of the program termed, "They Might Be Saints" presents people, many from the 20th century, who are being examined by the Catholic Church according to rigorous standards on the path to sainthood from "servant of God" to "venerable" to "blessed". Miracles are an integral part of this process, signs that God is working through these people of "heroic virtue". The miracles must always point back to God, ultimately measured by how they manifest God's glory as catalysts for conversion and deepening faith. Miracles have to be in harmony with Church doctrine and teaching. Furthermore, they are not sources of sensationalism or personal gratification. Note that Bartimeus did not ask Jesus to make him the most eligible bachelor in Jericho. He wanted to see. When Jesus cured him, Bartimeus followed Him.
Listening to "The Miracle Hunter ", I marvel at how many ways God goes beyond conventional norms to display His glory and His command of everything, even in my plain, ordinary life. My expectations have changed when I pray for something or someone.The miracle occurs when I refrain from telling God how to operate and pray with faith, as we pray at Mass, concluding "The Our Father", "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, now and forever, amen."
