Expecting Miracles

 

It has been my experience that most people who lose their Faith do so over emotional issues rather than intellectual ones. When you read the Bible, it is full of miraculous accounts. In the New Testament alone, Our Lord Jesus Christ performs no less than 37 specifically recorded miracles, not including His Resurrection. Jesus Christ:

• Turns Water into Wine at the Wedding in Cana (St. John 2:1-11)

• Cures an Official's Son at Capernaum in Galilee (St. John 4:43-54)

• Drives Out an Evil Spirit From a Man in Capernaum (St. Luke 4:31-36)

• Cures Peter's Mother-in-Law Sick With Fever (St. Mark 1:29-31)

• Cures Many Sick and Oppressed at Evening (St. Matthew 8:16-17)

• Produces The First Miraculous Catch of Fish on the Lake of Gennesaret (St. Luke 5:1-11)

• Cures a Man With Leprosy (St. Luke 5:12-14)

• Cures a Centurion's Paralyzed Servant in Capernaum (St. Matthew 8:5-13)

• Cures a Paralytic Who Was Let Down From the Roof (St. Mark 2:1-12)

• Cures a Man's Withered Hand on the Sabbath (St. Matthew 12:9-14)

• Raises a Widow's Son From the Dead in Nain (St. Luke 7:11-17)

• Calms a Storm on the Sea (St. Mark 4:35-41)

• Casts Demons into a Herd of Pigs (St. Luke 8:26-39)

• Cures a Woman in the Crowd With a Hemorrhage  (St. Mark 5:25-34)

• Raises Jairus' Daughter Back to Life (St. Luke 8:40-42; 49-56) 

• Cures Two Blind Men (St. Matthew 9:27-31)

• Cures a Man Who Was Unable to Speak (St. Matthew 9:32-34)

• Cures an Invalid at Bethesda (St. John 5:1-15)

• Feeds 5,000 Plus Women and Children (St. Luke 9:10-17)

• Walks on Water (St. Mark 6:45-52)

• Cures Many Sick in Gennesaret as They Touch His Garment (St. Matthew 14:34-36)

• Drives the Demon Out of a Gentile Woman's Demon-Possessed Daughter (St Mark 7:24-30)

• Cures a Deaf and Mute Man (St. Mark 7:31-37)

• Feeds 4,000 Plus Women and Children (St. Matthew 15:32-39)

• Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida (St. Mark 8:22-26)

• Cures a Man Born Blind  (St. John 9:1-12)

• Exorcises a Boy With an Unclean Spirit (St. Luke 9:37-43)

• Produces a Miraculous Temple Tax in a Fish's Mouth (St. Matthew 17:24-27)

• Cures and Exorcises a Blind, Mute Demoniac (St. Luke 11:14-23)

• Cures a Woman Who Had Been Crippled for 18 Years (St. Luke 13:10-17)

• Cures a Man With Dropsy on the Sabbath (St. Luke 14:1-6)

• Cures Ten Lepers on the Way to Jerusalem (St. Luke 17:11-19)

• Raises Lazarus from the Dead in Bethany (St. John 11:1-45)

• Restores Sight to Bartimaeus in Jericho (St. Luke 18:35-43)

• Withers the Fig Tree on the Road From Bethany (St. Mark 11:12-14)

• Heals a Servant's Severed Ear While He Is Being Arrested (St. Luke 22:50-51)

• Produces a Second Miraculous Catch of Fish at the Sea of Tiberias (St. John 21:4-11)

(N.B. Some of these miracles are recorded in more than one Gospel. For sake of brevity, I cited only one reference for those miracles.---Introibo). 

Traditionalists will often pray, make novenas, have Masses offered, etc. for some urgent necessity. Many times, they are asking God to prevent a loved one from dying of a disease or prevent a calamity, such as losing their house in a hurricane. When the loved one dies, or the calamity is not averted, they become bitter. "God raised Lazarus from the dead, so why couldn't He stop my (mother/father, wife/husband, sibling, best friend, etc.) from dying?" "Christ calmed the storm and walked on water but couldn't prevent my house from being destroyed?" This will often lead to anger at God, and they will cease to practice the Faith--or what's worse--lose their Faith to become agnostics or atheists.

The atheist publisher of Skeptic magazine, Michael Shermer, was once a devout Protestant. He relates how the paralysis of his college girlfriend lead to his atheism. She was in an automobile accident that broke her back and rendered her paralyzed from the waist down. Shermer declared, "If anyone deserved to be healed it was her, and nothing happened, so I just thought there was probably no God at all."(See wsj.com/articles/michael-shermers-skeptical-eye-1504279779).

When something like this happens, some well-meaning Traditionalist (layman or clergyman) will usually say something unhelpful, such as, "We must accept this as God's Will." The statement is true, but intellectually unsatisfying. "Why was this God's Will? Why is everything some 'mystery'?" To be certain, some people are so overwhelmed with emotion, no amount of reason can reach them. In this post, I will attempt to give some reasons as to why miracles don't always happen, no matter how sincere our prayers and how laudable our intentions. Perhaps by being well-informed prior to an experience of this sort, someone can come to peace and keep the Faith. 

Church Teaching on Miracles in Brief

The definition of a miracle. According to theologian Parente, the word miracle comes from the Latin word miror---I wonder. In the broad sense, it is an extraordinary event which calls attention and excites wonder. Theologians explain it is: (a) done by God as principle cause; (b) done in the world; (c) in a way superior to all forces of nature; and outside or above, but not in violation of the laws of nature, but by an exceptional happening brought about by a divine power that intervenes in created things, producing an effect superior to their natural power. The possibility of the miracle rests chiefly on the absolute dominion of God as the First and Free Cause of the Universe, Whose laws are subordinate to Him and cannot limit either His freedom of action or His power. Only the logically impossible and that which violates His Nature (sin) are impossible to Him. (See Dictionary of Dogmatic Theology, [1951], pg. 188).  

Miracles are an effect wrought in nature by the direct intervention of God. They are proofs of the truth of the Catholic religion.

Proof: From the Oath Against Modernism promulgated by Pope St. Pius X for all clerics on September 1, 1910:

Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time. (Emphasis mine)

From the Vatican Council (1870):

If anyone shall say that miracles are impossible, and therefore that all the accounts regarding them, even those contained in Holy Scripture, are to be dismissed as fables or myths; or that miracles can never be known with certainty, and that the divine origin of Christianity cannot be proved by them; let him be anathema.

While we must believe in miracles (especially those contained in the Holy Bible), we are not bound to believe in every specific event claimed to be miraculous. We should only give credence to those events considered miracles by the authority of the Church. 

The Argument From Evil and Miracles

There are those who claim God cannot exist because of the evil in the world. The free will defense claims that moral evil must be allowed for humans to be moral agents and not automatons. However, what about physical evils, such as diseases, starvation, and natural disasters? Why doesn't God stop them, or stop them more often? Even moral evils can have their consequences vitiated by God's miraculous intervention. For example, if someone tries to murder an innocent person by shooting them, God can hold the would-be murderer accountable for his attempted act and murderous intention while deflecting the bullet or turning it into jelly. The argument is usually formulated thus:

1. The Church says God is all-good (Omnibenevolent) and all-powerful (Omnipotent).

2. If God were Omnibenevolent, He would want to stop evil.

3. If God were Omnipotent, He would be able to stop evil.

4. However, evil exists and has not been stopped.

5. Therefore, there is no Omnibenevolent, Omnipotent God as the Church teaches. 

Those who understand Church doctrine know that evil is the result of the Fall of our First Parents, and evil will be defeated for good at the Parousia (The Second Coming). The argument can be given a defeater by adding the word "yet" at the end of premise number 4. "However, evil exists and has not been stopped yet." Hence, God has reasons for permitting evil, and it will ultimately be defeated. There are still those who wonder why God can't intervene more often to stop evil. Below, I will offer several possible explanations for non-miraculous intervention. It is by no means intended to be exhaustive.

Reasons Why God Does Not Always Miraculously Prevent Evil

1. It is not possible to have constant miracles. 

Since evils occur all the time, God would need to intervene constantly to prevent them. However, the definition of miracles, given above by theologian Parente, makes it clear that miracles are "an exceptional happening." If God constantly intervenes, such intervention would no longer be exceptional, but ordinary--ceasing to be miracles since this constant intervention is the "norm."

2. Constant miracles would hinder the full use of moral freedom.

God is not directly known by our senses, in the way we see, e.g., trees and other physical objects. This is necessary for Faith and morals. If there were constant miracles, no one could doubt the existence of God, and many people would do what is right based on "being watched" rather than love of God. Moral development would be stopped because evils are necessary in our fallen state to become virtuous. We develop courage through facing our fears. We develop patience and trust in God through trials and tribulations.

There was a story (perhaps apocryphal) pre-Vatican II of a young girl involved in an accident that left her in a wheelchair. The people in her parish prayed and had Masses said for her cure. When no cure was forthcoming, one cruel man said to her, "You don't have enough faith to be healed and get out of that wheelchair." The pious girl replied, "It is you who don't have enough faith to be able to get into this wheelchair and accept God's Will." The truth is that God delivers some people from their sickness, and others through their sickness. The infinite wisdom of God knows what is better for us, even when we don't. 

3. Constant miracles would destroy the regularity necessary for rational decisions and intellectual progress.

People made and wear seat belts because they want to be safe in case of a car accident. If God would intervene, why bother? Everything we do depends on constant laws of nature (like gravity) uninterrupted by constant miracles. We could never be certain what would happen next given a set of circumstances if God constantly intervenes. 

4. The problem of contradictory needs and miracles.

What if two people need something altogether different? Two men are in the same geographical region; one needs it to rain tomorrow for his crops, the other needs it to be sunny for his important meeting in the line of work he performs. God cannot do the logically impossible by making it rain and not rain at the same time and place. Someone cannot be saved by a miracle.

5. God cannot give credence to false beliefs via miracles.

What about people who hold false beliefs? Not all miracles will induce conversion and some will think miracles performed for all (regardless of belief or moral disposition) is an endorsement of holding any belief/moral system. Furthermore, if God makes everyone conform to the truth to avoid this result, free will is negated. 

6. Even making miracles more frequent may disrupt the ideal plan for maximum salvation of souls.

God, in His Omniscience, knows all possible future contingencies. He wants all to be saved, yet not all are saved by the choice of their own free will. No one but God can know how miraculous intervention would affect people, perhaps causing more pain, suffering, and even (counterintuitively) more disbelief. "He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." (St. Luke 16:31; Emphasis mine). Only an Infinite Mind knows how much intervention is enough.

Conclusion

It is sad when we believe our prayers have not been answered. Actually, God's answer was, "This I cannot do for you, it is not ultimately for the best." Traditionalists should respond, "God knows better." Easier said than done, I know. Hopefully, this post will equip people with reasons why God does not miraculously intervene all the time, or with greater frequency. God's Will is always directed towards our good, as I hoped I have demonstrated; it's not something haphazard we must just accept. Given our limited knowledge of God's plans we can (and should) pray for miracles, but never demand them. “For My thoughts are not thy thoughts, neither are thy ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than thy ways and My thoughts than thy thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9).