Shout It Loud

A divine intervention, also called a “miracle,” is any inexplicable phenomenon that can’t be explained by science and yields positive results. In some cases, patients are cured, even when a medical intervention fails. In other instances, droughts clear up, lifelong burn scars suddenly heal, Leukemia goes into remission, or previously sterile women have babies. Over the last century, there have been many well-documented cases of divine interventions that continue to amaze and inspire people around the world.

Janice Bender was told she had months to live, as the metastatic lung cancer spread throughout her frail body. A medical intervention like liquid morphine and chemotherapy seemed her only hope, but even those options had doctors shaking their heads, telling Janice’s husband, Frank, that he had better prepare for the worst. So Frank quit his job as a sculptor, yet he did finish one task: resculpting the mask that lay over St. John Neumann’s face at his public shrine in Philadelphia.

Father Kevin Moley came from the Church to see Janice and before leaving he placed a relic of St. John Neumann up to her forehead and said a prayer. Instantly, Janice felt a warm, soft feeling expand inside of her and over the next few weeks, dozens of tests confirmed the inexplicable: the cancer had completely disappeared! While they aren’t particularly religious people, the Benders attribute the miracle to the divine intervention of Saint John Neumann. “Maybe St. John Neumann wanted this intercession as a gift to him,” Moley said, commenting that the new face Frank sculpted was “perfect.”

Today, many Catholics believe in divine intervention, which means that dead saints perform miracles as an act of God. There are many legends surrounding St. Xavier Francis of Assisi (who died in 1552), including one report that he approached a ferocious man-eating wolf that had been terrorizing the town, made the sign of the cross and prayed for the wolf to stop killing and the killings stopped. Francis said the wolf was killing out of hunger and that the town people should leave food for him instead. It’s also said that the birds followed Francis wherever he went, enticed by the sound of his voice. St. Anthony (who died in 1231) saw many fantastic apparitions, including baby Jesus, and performed many astounding miracles. During one sermon, he appeared to be singing and preaching at the same time in a phenomenon known as bilocation. He’s also noted with commanding mules to kneel down before the altar and finding a stolen Psalter he had been using. Whether these ancient stories are legends or actual accounts of divine interventions, they serve as a magical reminder that life is more than meets the eye.

Sports stars frequently request divine intervention and sometimes, they say, it works! Many of us have a hard time believing things we cannot see, hear, touch or experience with our own eyes. Yet many of us want to believe there’s a higher purpose for us, some force that can help us in our darkest moments, a comforting answer that there’s something out there. Whether you’ve seen a miracle or not, the power of positive thinking and the healing power of faith cannot be dismissed.