Our pastor this morning, fresh from retreat, put this question to us at Mass: “Is our faith deep enough to expect a miracle in answer to our prayers?” He said God never forces his love on us; we must be open to it in faith. He also said that the only way God can love us is perfectly and completely, and he loves each of us as much as he loved the great saints, including our Blessed Mother, Mary. He asked, “Do you believe that?”
The same Spirit that descended on Jesus in his baptism in the Jordan, the feast we celebrate today, is the Spirit that comes to each of us every day. He is given to us completely. He is completely capable of working miracles in our lives and wants to do so according to his plan. We though, need to be well disposed to his gifts of love. We need to be open, by faith, to the abundance of his love that is most suredly offered to us for the asking.
I must admit, when he asked those questions, I silently thought, “Father, do you really expect the sick person you anoint to rise from his or her sick bed perfectly restored to health? Don’t you think you may be setting some of these people up for disappointment? What if someone goes home today as a result of your homily and prays that their relative sick from terminal cancer be cured, and discovers their loved one dies?”
Yet, our faith does teach that God’s love is infinite. Grace is poured out on us without limit in each sacrament. It is poured out for us in every moment of our lives. It keeps us alive. Infinite love, infinite grace can only be miraculous. The only limit is the capacity of the recipient of that grace, i.e., ourselves. Our hearts, minds, wills and spirits need be open for God’s miraculous Spirit to do his work in us.
