April 13. SEE.  Evelyn posed a question that was bothering her.  “Do we still believe in miracles today, or do we depend on our own powers, knowledge and expertise?  Look at the reality of COVID-19, that raged for more than two years all over the world. Medical science had a field-day working tirelessly to develop vaccines, even in competition with one another, because it is a lucrative business. There has been very good work but also fraud, theft and misinformation. When it comes to prayer, trust and dependence on God’s intervention how much was there? I often think we’ve become too independent of God.” Others added, ”God does work through the scientists, and the hands of those medical staff and carers, who sacrificed much for their patients..” “When people are infected and very sick, many prayers for healing are offered and when there is suffering and death people do turn to God and pray for consolation.” “I’m still not convinced that we recognized God sufficiently, but I accept that miracles can happen.”   “St Francis is known to have healed people through his loving care.”            

JUDGE. Scripture: The disciples prayed, “Now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”   When they had prayed, the place was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:23-31.  Pope Francis: The weakening of faith and religious practice in some societies has had an effect on families, leaving them more isolated amid their difficulties. One symptom of the great poverty of contemporary culture is loneliness arising from the absence of God in a person’s life and the fragility of relationships. AL43.  Pope Leo:  Our love and our deepest convictions need to be continually cultivated and we do so through our concrete actions. Remaining in the realm of ideas and theories will eventually cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away. DT 118.  Reflect, share, pray and act.  How have we grown in our faith through this recent Lent and Easter time?  Pray for willingness and courage to act when called upon.