The Church's Teaching on Miracles LAY WITNESS

Issue: What is a miracle? What is the purpose of miracles?

Response:

Traditionally understood, a miracle is a

supernatural sign or wonder, brought about by
God, signifying His glory and the salvation of
mankind. As a sign, a miracle is perceived by
the senses and makes present the
supernatural order, God's governance of
nature, and His loving plan of salvation.
Miracles are a call to faith.

Discussion:

The word "miracle" is used broadly in common speech to signify the wondrous, the
improbable, or the newly discovered. When speaking of miracles, people often refer
to natural events such as the sunrise, seasons, birth, and coincidence. People
perform "miracles" in circus acts and magic shows. People refer to the miracle of
modern medicine, science, or technology. People sell miracles: nutritional
supplements, fitness machines, hearing aids, and sundry "miracle drugs." Many of
these items are in some way wondrous. Some even point to God and His plan of
salvation. To apply the term "miracle" to any of these, however, is to omit the most
distinctive feature of a miracle: God's direct intervention in the world.

Nature and Supernature

Nature is the created universe, both corporeal (man, animals, plants, earth) and
incorporeal (spirits). Throughout the ages, man has observed the normal movements
of corporeal nature such as thought, time, cycles, and bodily motion. From these
observations man has learned about the causes of natural events and has derived
laws describing what should always happen.

Sometimes, however, man observes an event that cannot be explained by science

because the normal powers of nature have been exceeded. The occurrence cannot be
attributed to natural causes nor can the laws of nature explain the outcome. Miracles
occur in nature but are also truly supernatural because the normal powers of nature
have been surpassed.

Sometimes miracles surpass natural processes. Miraculous cures, for example, are
effected in harmony with the body's potential for health. While the powers of nature
could not have brought about such a restoration, divine power influenced the natural
forces beyond normal capacity. This is also what happened in the case of Jesus' first
miracle. Water naturally and with man's agency can become wine — from moisture
in the clouds absorbed by grapes, pressed and fermented — but God's power
bypassed that process at Cana.
Sometimes miracles exceed nature's normal capacity. The plagues that befell
Pharaoh and Egypt have been explained according to this supercharging of the
natural with the supernatural. A number of scholars look at the plagues as natural
phenomena, albeit with intensified or new effects, brought about by supernatural
means.1 Simple pestilence, drought, famine, and general hardship were not
unknown to the Egyptians (cf. Gen. 41). The miracle of the plagues was that God
exercised control over nature and the very creatures that the pagan Egyptians
worshipped. At the movement of the rod (known to the Egyptians as an instrument
of magicians) of Moses, God caused these phenomena to occur, demonstrating His
authority. Thus, the purpose of the plagues was not to bring on horrifying,
grotesque, heretofore unthinkable afflictions, but to convince Pharaoh of God's
authority.

Sometimes miracles counter nature. At Fatima, following the miracle of the sun, the
crowd and ground that were soaked by the rain were dried instantaneously. In
Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:15-
23). In both cases God countered the effects of nature much like a protective shelter
might protect its inhabitants.

As supernatural wonders, miracles can be authenticated only by those who have a

grasp of nature and her normal workings. Scientists can verify that a wondrous event
has "no known natural cause." Scientists can also see that miracles do not annul or
abolish the laws of nature, but instead go beyond them.

Most people have a better grasp of gravity than of aerodynamics. They can see
better how a passenger jet might fall from the sky than how it can fly. A physicist
knows that the flight of a passenger jet does not abolish or annul the laws of gravity.
The power of aerodynamics can surpass, as it were, the power of gravity. In a similar
way, the power of the Lord surpasses the powers of nature. Thus, the levitations of
St. Joseph of Cupertino show God's power over His creation.

Mankind survives in this world by countering or

controlling the tendencies of nature. Water
reservoirs counter the natural movement of The Authenticity of Miracles
streams. Agriculture brings a quantity of food that
far surpasses what the earth would otherwise
yield. Shelter counters wind, precipitation, and
temperature. A caesarian section can save two "If anyone says that all
lives where nature may have taken two lives. In miracles are
these efforts we do not say that mankind is impossible,
annulling or abolishing the laws of nature. and that
Miracles are different in that they draw upon therefore all
God's omnipotence, but they are similar in that reports of
they do not annul or abolish the laws of nature. them, even
those
contained in
Seeing Is Believing Sacred
Scripture,
The word "miracle" comes from the Latin word for are to be set aside as fables or
wonder and, literally means "a sight to behold." myths; or that miracles can
never be known with certainty,
nor can the divine origin of the
Christian religion be proved
from them: let him be
anathema" (Vatican Council I,
Dei Filius, no. 3).
Miracles require divine intervention. The merely remarkable, improbable, or in
today's parlance "awesome" is not enough to qualify. A true miracle by definition is a
supernatural phenomenon.

Most miracles are evident to the senses. As signs of God's presence, they must in
some sense be perceptible. In Isaiah 7:14, we hear that God promises a sign to
indicate the birth of the Messiah: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel."
The explicit fulfillment of this prophecy is the miracle of the virgin birth (cf. Mt. 1:18-
25), a singularly clear indication that the "fullness of time" (Gal. 4:4) was upon us.

Conversions and other intensely personal and spiritual miracles are truly wondrous
manifestations of God's power, but they usually are not directly perceptible to
anyone other than their recipients, though the good that comes from such miracles
of grace should be evident and lead others to God (cf. Mt. 5:16). Sometimes,
however, conversions are more overtly miraculous, such as the occurrence
experienced by Saul and his companions on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9:3-9).
There was an observable flash of light, a voice (only Saul saw Jesus), and Saul's
blindness.

The sacraments are signs, but the supernatural part — the occurrence of grace
coming from the sign — is not perceptible by the senses. For this reason, sacraments
are not considered miracles in a strict sense. Transubstantiation of the bread and
wine into the Body and Blood of Christ would be an example. A "Eucharistic miracle,"
on the other hand, would entail, for example, a healing directly related to receiving
the Eucharist or, more famously, the substance of the Body and Blood taking on the
appearance of flesh or blood.

Theologians have identified three categories of divine interactions under the general
heading of miracle: (1) physical (the traditional notion), (2) moral, and (3)
intellectual. Moral and intellectual miracles are no less wondrous, but they do not
occur in a physical way. The fact that they are miracles only becomes known after
people perceive that what has been accomplished is beyond human capability. Moral
miracles occur in the areas of virtue and right conduct, and enable people to
overcome obstacles that would otherwise stunt their moral or spiritual growth.

The Church is an example of a moral miracle. A religious society, convention, or

congregation of like-minded people is a natural, human occurrence. However, the
Bride of Christ, the Church, has persevered as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in a
way that goes well beyond human experience and understanding. The ongoing
conduct of the Church according to these four principles indicates to the observer
that only God could have brought about this success — by His intervention.

An intellectual miracle takes place when the mind has received from God knowledge
or foreknowledge. Prophecy is an example of an intellectual miracle, the words being
given to the prophet's intellect prior to being heard by the intended audience.

Christ Is the Center

 Signs of the Kingdom of God

—from the Catechism of the Catholic

Church, nos. 547-50.

Miracles are learning experiences for us.

Jesus accompanies His words with many
They point to something that God wants
"mighty works and wonders and signs,"
us to know or believe about Himself and
which manifest that the kingdom is
His loving plan of salvation. Jesus Christ,
present in Him and attest that he was
the Word made flesh, is Himself God's
the promised Messiah (Acts 2:22).
revelation. The most fundamental
miracle is the Incarnation. It is the
fundamental example of God's love for us The signs worked by Jesus attest that
and His glory (cf. Jn. 1:14, 3:16). the Father has sent Him. They invite
Further, as the Holy Father teaches, all of belief in Him. To those who turn to Him
salvation is rooted in the Incarnation, in faith, He grants what they ask. So
and so it is with miracles: miracles strengthen faith in the One
who does His Father's works; they bear
witness that He is the Son of God. But
This reality-mystery embraces
His miracles can also be occasions for
and surpasses all the miraculous
"offense" (Mt.11:6); they are not
happenings connected with
intended to satisfy people's curiosity or
Christ's messianic mission. It may
desire for magic. Despite His evident
be said that the Incarnation is the
miracles some people reject Jesus; He
"miracle of miracles," the radical
is even accused of acting by the power
and permanent "miracle" of the
of demons.
new order of creation. God's
entrance into the dimension of
creation1 is effected in the reality By freeing some individuals from the
of the Incarnation in a unique earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness,
way. To the eyes of faith it and death, Jesus performed messianic
becomes a sign incomparably signs. Nevertheless He did not come to
superior to all the other abolish all evils here below, but to free
miraculous signs of the divine men from the gravest slavery, sin,
presence and action in the world . which thwarts them in their vocation as
..2 God's sons and causes all forms of
human bondage.
Signs of Faith
The coming of God's kingdom means
the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the
While the Incarnation is the root miracle
Spirit of God that I cast out demons,
of salvation, the Resurrection is the
then the kingdom of God has come
definitive and ultimate sign. "The empty
upon you" (Mt. 12:26, 28). Jesus'
tomb and the linen cloths lying there
exorcisms free some individuals from
signify in themselves that by God's
the domination of demons. They
power Christ's body had escaped the
anticipate Jesus' great victory over "the
bonds of death and corruption"
ruler of this world" (Jn. 12:31). The
(Catechism, no. 657). The Resurrection
Kingdom of God will be definitively
is "the definitive proof" of Christ's divine
established through Christ's Cross: "God
authority (ibid., no. 651).
reigned from the wood" (Liturgy of the
Hours, Holy Week, Hymn Vexilla Regis).
However, as with all signs, some people
are able to understand and some are not. Christ used the three years of His public
ministry to teach people of His kingship and prepare them for the Resurrection. He
used miracles to teach and to touch people with the gift of faith. Through His
miracles Jesus called people to faith, bringing before their eyes a meeting of nature
and supernature. St. Augustine wrote, "The miracles worked by our Lord Jesus Christ
are divine works which raise the human mind above visible things to understand
what is divine."3 The people who experienced these miracles understood that there is
more to truth than what is found in the natural order:

This "power from on high" (Lk. 24:49), namely, God Himself, is above
the entire natural order. It directs this order and at the same time it
makes known that — through this order and superior to it — human
destiny is the kingdom of God. Christ's miracles are signs of this
kingdom.4

Miracles will always have as their primary purpose the glorification of God and the
calling of people to salvation. The signs worked by Jesus attest to His divine
authority and invite belief in Him (cf. Catechism, no. 548). After His Ascension and
Pentecost, Christ's disciples worked miracles in the name of Christ, thus giving the
people signs of His divinity and proofs that He is who they said He is. In the same
way later saints worked miracles to testify to a higher authority and that people are
called to His kingdom.

Miracles can also have secondary purposes. They can attest to the divine authority of
a mission. The miracles Moses performed not only showed that God wanted Pharaoh
to release His people; they also showed that Moses was from God. Further, these
miracles, indelibly inscribed in the memory of the Jews, prepared them to
understand the signs given to show them that Jesus was sent by the Father. The
miracle of the sun at Fatima was a sign to the people that the messages given
through the children were of divine origin.

Miracles submitted in the process of canonization are an excellent example of

primary and secondary ends of miracles. A miracle of healing associated with the
intercession of one of God's servants gives glory to God and manifests His saving
mercy. These are primary ends. The beneficiary is given a temporal grace
(secondary to eternal salvation) of better health. The miracle testifies to the sanctity
of the intercessor and provides a clear sign of God's intercession.

Miracles are supernatural signs that occur in the natural world. God's miracles teach
us about what is beyond creation. Some people invoke science in opposition to
miracles. Yet, science allows us to know what is natural so that we can also know
what is supernatural. While miracles communicate a specific message, they are
essentially a sign of God's glory and His loving plan of salvation. Finally, miracles are
a call to faith — they appeal to our reason so that our faith may grow:

Their essential purpose is to indicate that the human person is

destined and called to the kingdom of God. These signs therefore
confirm in different ages and in the most varied circumstances the
truth of the Gospel, and demonstrate the saving power of Christ who
does not cease to call people (through the Church) on the path of
faith.5

Endnotes:
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm0032.html