Miracle!
After praying for the intercession of Cardinal Newman, Jack Sullivan — left nearly paralyzed and racked with pain after undergoing surgery on his back — was healed. Eight years later, the Church has deemed his healing a miracle:
Lying in a hospital bed in Boston, Massachusetts, barely able to lift his head, Jack Sullivan was in such pain he was struggling to breathe.
There had been complications with the operation on his back. Doctors had warned that he would be left paralysed unless he underwent surgery, but on opening him up they discovered his spine had been so severely ruptured that protective fluids had leaked out.
Devastated and desperate, his hopes and plans for the future fading, Sullivan prayed to Cardinal Newman. He had turned to Newman after once watching a documentary about the Anglican cleric who had converted to Roman Catholicism in the 19th century, finding his life inspiring.
Almost immediately, the pain disappeared and he felt a surge of strength in his body. Pulling back the sheets, he tentatively felt for the floor with his toes – and then walked upright for the first time in months.
…
It was his healing from this operation, in 2001, which surgeons had told him would take months of recovery, that was this year confirmed by the Catholic Church as a miracle.
Sullivan says there can be no other explanation. “I had been in agony for days. The expectation was that I’d be unable to walk for a long time, if at all, but after I prayed to Newman I immediately felt an intense heat. I felt joy and confidence.
“I said to the nurse that the pain had gone. I then walked up and down the corridors, with the nurse struggling to keep up with me.”
Discharged from hospital the same day, he returned home where he sat down to write to the Birmingham Oratory. His letter set in motion a long and complicated process that only finished this summer, when Pope Benedict XVI decreed that what had happened could only be explained as a miracle. The announcement was made in a formal proclamation by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Vatican department responsible for examining claims of a cure.
Now, before we get to materialist objections, let’s note a crucial point here: the Church doesn’t go about declaring miracles willy-nilly. Contrary to the fanfare one sees from evangelical groups, the Church considers each alleged miracle carefully, examining the events and the evidence surrounding it, in an attempt to ensure that no purely natural cause can be found to explain the occurrence:
Such claims are rare and precious in the Catholic Church, which requires a thorough investigation including interviews with any witnesses and all relevant medical documents.
There is then a series of tests that the case must pass, beginning with analysis by the Congregation’s panel of medical experts, the consulta medica, before rounds of voting on the validity of the miracle.
If it is passed by the consulta medica, the case goes to the Theological Consultors, who consider the spiritual dimension of the claim. A verdict that concludes there has been a direct link between healing and the invocation of a “servant of God” is passed to cardinals and bishops for another vote, before the case finally reaches the Pope.
Sullivan’s case certainly merits its designation: the damage in his back was severe, and his recovery more than just rapid — it has baffled his doctors to this day.
And so Cardinal Newman now has at least one miracle to his name, which will no doubt serve to speed his canonization. Meanwhile, another Catholic has had his faith in God completely affirmed, and the power of intercession has again been demonstrated. Such things have happened before, many times throughout history, and will happen again in due time.
I say that not to downplay the significance of the event, however; I say it as a prelude to a remark about the responses from non-believers in the comments to the article. The usual boilerplate is all there: people claim that a natural explanation will come along (as though the Church had not investigated this matter already), people wonder why only one man was healed (as though the quantity of people healed somehow argues away the fact that a wondrous healing actually occurred), people wonder why amputees are not healed (ignorant of the fact, it seems, that there have been miraculous healings of amputees which have been recorded), and people wonder why God allowed the suffering in the first place (as though the reality of suffering somehow argues against the idea of God or His benevolence; far too many people see suffering as only an evil, which is an irrational viewpoint). The would-be champions of reason flock to such stories in full force, and show themselves up as fools.
Because really, such silly objections miss the point. The quantity of people healed, the kind of injury healed, the fact that an injury occurred…these are all irrelevant. What is relevant is that a healing — inexplicable and wondrous — occurred. That is a testament, and those with eyes of faith take it in and find the enrichment of their faith in it. Those who do not wish to believe, meanwhile, find any objection they can against it.
‘Twas ever thus. Don’t believe me? Read the Book of Wisdom some time.
I started blogging back in 2004 -- in May, if the Wayback Machine is to be believed. Not that I remember the exact day. To be honest, I didn't take it that seriously then; it was a fun distraction, but nothing more.
That all changed, I think, once the Danish cartoons were published, and the assault on the right to freedom of expression became very visible. With the recent issues in Canada concerning the "human rights" commissions, the gravity of the matter has only increased, and my interest in blogging has increased right along with it.
I used to blog at a domain called Time Immortal, but it seemed to be the right time for a change -- there's been a lot of that in my life of late. Hence this blog: a fresh start, and proof positive that I won't shut up even if I get shut down once in a while.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
No doubt many more miralces to come from this great thinker and saint. As grateful as I am for the Deacon’s miracle, the greater miracle I would say, is the new Apostolic Constitution. Newman’s dream has come true, no doubt in part to his faithful prayers.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
There is that. Let’s perhaps agree then that this has been a very good year for the good Cardinal.