ASKING FOR A MIRACLE…Believing in the ever animating, rejuvenating, and transforming love of God

We’ve just celebrated the greatest miracle of the Christian faith—Christ’s Resurrection. Christ began his earthly ministry with a miracle—changing water into wine at a wedding feast —and ended his time here on earth with an even greater miracle. So, as Christians, we do believe in miracles. We allow mystery to seep into our everyday living.

Easter and springtime are filled with miracles—THE NEW.  So many signs of new life. What has appeared dead during the winter months is now coming alive. I recently read something from a message that Pope Francis gave in 2019. It spoke to me throughout the Lenten season—a time meant to draw us closer to God—as I looked forward to Easter and its message to us all.

Each moment is filled with the Glory of God, bursting with new, with transformation! Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life…Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!
 Pope Francis

I believe that God is constantly communicating with us in so many ways and extending invitations to us—to grow, to transform, to experience THE NEW.  The Eternally new.

Behold, I am making all things new. —Jesus (Revelation 21:5)

 What is truly new always has its origins and inspiration in God who is ever the same and ever new. This new takes us ever deeper into the bottomless unknown of ourselves, of others, and of reality. *  We can cast into the deep by simply staying open to receive and praying:

May all that God is giving me seep into me!

Asking for a miracle means we never underestimate the power of God’s love and mercy. He invites us:

Come now let us set things right says the Lord.

Easter season is meant to be a time of joy—an invitation to be open to life’s possibilities. Springtime teaches us:

to wait for the unfolding,

to live in the unfolding with faith and trust,

to believe in and ask for miracles,

to look for the seeds that God planted in us during the Lenten season, and

to tend to those seeds as they grow.

I would encourage each of us to pray for this grace of looking and believing. Just as the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, we too can ask Jesus how He would have us pray at this time in our life. We can take comfort knowing that He hears and answers all prayer, and that prayers offered in a state of dryness are those which please God most. God wants to show us what might be blocking new growth in our life, and what will cultivate new growth. Prayer is our “yes” to God.

One of the reasons that I’m so drawn to Benedictine spirituality is that it encourages us to live a life that is simple, centered on God, and in search of the higher things.

Easter reminds us that death, despair, violence, and sadness will not have the last word: joy does. ** Every day our hearts can be made new, our relationships can be made new, our work can be made new, and our daily activities can be made new.

A simple way to live out that Easter joy and expect the day’s miracles is to take a phrase such as “Our God is a God of wonders” and live with it during your day—asking the Holy Spirit to bring it to your mind throughout the day, and ponder the depth of its meaning for you in your “right now.”

Let’s be bold enough to ask for miracles, wise and attentive enough to look for them daily, and confident enough to expect to be surprised by joy.

*PERSONAL PRAYER: A Guide for Receiving the Father’s Love by Fr. Thomas Acklin, OSB and
 Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB

** THE IGNATIAN ADVENTURE by Kevin O’Brien, SJ

Photo credit: Cathy Raney, Hot Springs Village Arkansas