On the Raising of the Dead

"All of us have eyes with which we can see the dead rise in the way the son of the widow rose. Not all, however, have the wherewithal to see those who are dead in the heart rise again.  To see that, you need to have already risen in the heart yourself. There is more to raising up someone to live forever than to raising up someone who will only die again."  St. Augustine, Sermon 98,1.

  Over the years, this, most of all, has caused my faith to grow and solidify. My own healing from smoking and subsequent transformation, all those whose witnesses and testimonies I have heard personally, and all those I have read about or seen on videos have convinced me of the reality of the Risen Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
  Yes, we need the gift of faith to believe. And God wants us to use reason and logic as well. It's not enough to just have blind faith; we need to be able to explain why what we believe is the truth. But when Jesus lived on earth physically, He didn't just teach and preach the Gospel. He performed miraculous deeds to prove the validity of His words. His own resurrection from the dead only three days after having suffered such a horrible death was the ultimate proof.
  It was the changed lives of the Apostles and early disciples and the signs and wonders that were done through the power of the Holy Spirit within them that caused so many to come to faith in Jesus Christ (see the "Acts of the Apostles" in the Bible).
  And so it is today, in our time. It's the changed lives of those who have faith in Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit; the present day miracles; the Saints, that bring people to faith in Jesus Christ or strengthen the faith of those who already believe.

An Easter Mini-Miracle

During the Corona virus epidemic, I was sheltering at home. I prepared to watch the Facebook live presentation of Easter Sunday Mass on my computer, which I found a poor substitute for the real thing. I tried to make it more realistic by putting out a small glass of wine and some unleavened bread, and lighting a small tea light candle.

  As I sat down at my computer I noticed that the light on the candle I had lit was very tiny, almost ready to go out. I looked at the time and saw Mass was just about to begin; I wouldn’t have time to get another candle. About halfway through Mass I happened to glance at the candle, only to see it was burning normally. It continued to burn throughout Mass and went out by itself, just as the Mass ended.

  It was a message from God that even though the churches were closed, God’s power is not bound by our circumstances.