How much time did you spend glued to your television or computer screens yesterday? How many of you were moved as you watched person after grateful person brought into the light and reunited with family and loved ones?
I will admit to spending my fair share of time watching the news story of the Chilean miners, and wiping away a tear or two.
I especially loved Deacon Greg Kandra’s brief reflection on the miners’ story yesterday.
For over two months, they lived in a tomb, among rocks and rosaries. They prayed in darkness, waiting for light they could only remember, fleetingly, from last summer. And yet, they dared to believe. They sent a flag to the pope, and letters to loved ones, and petitions, endless prayerful petitions, heavenward. People called it “Operation San Lorenzo,” for the patron saint of miners—a saint who knew something about buried treasure and prayer. Thirty-three men persevered. They struggled. They hoped.
And, in the end, God won.
God won. That’s what makes this story such a compelling (and mesmerizing) one for all of us.
Not many of us have ever been trapped in a mine, but every human being can relate to the idea of being trapped in darkness and despair, without hope. And having only God to turn to.
The kinds of news stories that usually make international headlines and captivate the attention of millions of people worldwide tend to be ones where God does not seem to be winning: war, poverty, disaster, crime, and scandal.
But God alone can penetrate the darkness. God alone is the light. And this time, God did indeed win. While the world was watching.
Thanks be to God.
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Also, yesterday was the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima! A co-incidence, I think not!
Thanks be to God! Alleluia!
With God there is hope.
It would take a hard hearted person to watch that, and not shed a few tears of joy!
Praise God!
They are a living testament to the a merciful God. Prayers, many prayers from around the world, make a difference. Give Glory to God. Hallelujah!!
I loved when the one miner fell to his knees in quiet prayer for a short period of time and the news camera never left him nor did they make a comment one way or the other on him praying.
This has been a true testament of God’s work. Prayers do work! If you love him he can bring you out of the darkness, despair and hopelessness. I remember when they told them they wouldn’t get out till Christmas. What a blessing!
Also did you see how many miners had “gratias Señor” (Thank you Lord) on their jackets and “Jesus” on their sleve? They are not afraid to praise God in public before the whole world. Would that we all had that courage!
I saw no ‘miracles’ on my TV.
I did see a huge team of techincal specialists, engineers, medical experts, and experienced rock miners using modern science based equipment and techniques to dig a passage several hundred meters. Then they used a clever device they invented to lift them up.
What did God do exactly?
No magic here, none required.
A true blessing, we couldn’t even imagine what God’s plans are at times. We know when he delivers, he delivers!
dch, some people never will see what is right there before them.
I am glad to see that the miners themselves were grateful to God!
Actually I did not see what was not there.
When did god step in?
What specifically did God do here?
How is that ‘right before’ me? Explain that.
It was the rock of the earth vs a steel hammer-bit drill from a company in CT in the hands of masterful enginners using science. It was men and woman with skills for the material world and not anything else.
Why did God let 12,000 other miners die in the dark in the last year and save this group?
The miners are free to thank who they want. I’m very happy for them and proud of all the people who came together to get them out with such skill.
If they had died would that mean god just ignored them?
Sarah,
Thank you for remembering the Miracle of the Sun. I, for one, do not think this is just a coincidence; it’s a God-incidence. And for those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible; for believers, no explanation is necessary.
To dch, God loves you whether or not you want Him to.
For the miners love and faith helped them cope, while the men and machines got them out.
There was another mine accident today in South America with more trapped miners at 150 meters. Coincidence, or god’s will….?
I’d go with gravity collapsing the structure and coincidence.
So lets do a study! Can leave them down there and see if God will get them out with magic? Or do we go with the humans again just in case?
I’ve been so busy lately, I have paid zero attention to any news. I haven’t a clue what’s going on right now. I mean the world could end tomorrow and I wouldn’t know it. THAT’S how busy I am.
The fact that these men are still ALIVE, is a miracle in of itself. That’s where God came in.
dch, I believe that God is who gave the gift of intelligence and skill to the people who worked together to construct a plan and put it into action to rescue those miners. It wasn’t some “magic” trick. God doesn’t make bad things happen, they just do, but He is there to get us through them whether it be by working through us to help things come together to fix the bad, or to be there for those left behind during times of loss. People of faith take great comfort in knowing God never abandons us. He ALWAYS answers our prayers. Part of being faithful is knowing it may not be the answer we were hoping for, but in the long run His answer is always the right answer. Getting through such times with faith makes us stronger.
along with oct. 13 being the fatima miracle day ...the mine is called the san jose mine…san jose means St. Joseph…wednesdays are set aside in the Catholic Church to honor St. Joseph…thank you MOST HOLY FAMILY for your help for the miners
to dch:you seem to not to believe in GOD…ask me this then…when the first baby was born in creation, it had to have a mother and father,go back before the baby and you had a mother and father..where did they come from?..it goes back then to the mother and father both being a baby, and being born by a mother and father…THIS COULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED..who took care of the first baby???..no one around to feed it, clothe it, etc..the answer is that GOD created the first person as stated in scripture…if you dont believe dch…keep thinking about the mother and father, one came before the other, but how can that be???..it takes 2 to create a baby..they weren’t born, they were created by GOD..hope this helps you
God is Love himself. Most of the people who don’t believe in God, had not experienced Love or had gone through humiliation and intense pain…they feel as if they were all alone and probably no one had ever introduced God in their lives and have not shown any sort of love at all. May these comments help dch.
It is so interesting that those that don’t believe in God always think he supposed to show up like Superman and do this impossible task with an S on his chest. God is within us all and he helps us make the bleak seem bright, the worthless seem worthy and the unhappy seem happy. It’s really hard for the non-believer to see even with all the tragedies that science can’t get you through everything. God bless everyone!
dch,
Here is a fictious story, that while not true, represents the Christian viewpoint. I hope it will help you understand “where we are coming from.” I’m not asking you to agree, just ponder the other viewpoint for a moment.
Here’s the story.
There was a huge flood, and a man was trapped on his roof top, waiting to be rescued. He prayed to God to save him. The clouds parted, and God’s voice said to the man “fear not, for I will save you.”
Soon thereafter, and man came along in a boat, and said “I have come to rescue you, get into my boat.” The stranded man said to him, “no, God just spoke to me, and said HE’S going to rescue me, so go help someone else, and I’ll wait here for God. The water level got higher.
A second rescuer came, and the conversation was the same. The water level got higher.
A third rescuer came, and the conversation was the same. He refused to get in the boat, and instead waited for God. The water level got higher.
While he waited, the water rose above his roof, and he drowned. He died, went to heaven, and asked God why he did not rescue him like He promised He would?
God looked at him, shook His head and said “THREE times I sent someone in a boat, and THREE times you refused to get in!”
So, dch, like the story above, God orchestrated the rescue. The miners prayed. Their families prayed, and the world prayed. You can read for yourself what the miners say happened. Here’s just one quote “I was with God and I was with the Devil, they fought me, but God won. He took me by my best hand, the hand of God and I held on to him I never thought for one minute that God wouldn’t get me out of there,” said Mario Sepulveda when he emerged from the mine this morning, according to USA Today.
Sepulveda wasn’t the only miner who felt God there. Another wrote that it was actually 34 of them trapped in the mine “because God has never left.”
You mentioned the men and machines that actually got them out. What do they say about it? Greg Hall was the main engineer. Here is a quote from him:
“The path we had to follow came perilously close to old mine shafts,” Hall explained, while “the ground conditions and the size of the diameter we were going to be drilling” made for technical dangers. “The miners were trapped in the first place due to a landslide. There was a very, very real possibility that … we could cause another slide.”
The 17 days of drilling took steel nerves, and strong faith. Hall highlighted “one particular time when we were stuck, and really, I had no more answers. I was standing on the drill rig, and there really wasn’t anything, technically, we were able to do. So I just started praying.”
Explaining how his faith continually “shaped this job,” Hall recalled the day he left his parish in Houston, Texas to travel to the mine. “Our priest called me up on the altar ... we had probably over a thousand people. He told them that I was leaving right after Mass to go to Chile, and what we were going, and had them pray for us.
“And I can guarantee you, I could feel that prayer while I was on the drill site.”
Experts and colleagues called the project “impossible”—both before and after its completion. One told him, when the operation was over: “There is no way you could have drilled that hole. God drilled that hole!”
Hall, an acolyte at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church who hopes to be ordained a deacon next February, said the rescue operation’s success was not simply improbable, but miraculous. “I had a real experience of seeing God’s work among his people,” he reflected. “I know there are miracles. But you know what? Now everybody knows.”
33 lives in a tomb, one life representing each year of Our Lord’s life. “A battle between God and the Devil” as described by one of the rescued miners (who ought to know, would’t you think?), and God did win. Every one of the miners praised God after emerging from the pit. For God saw them as believers and cast upon them Great Mercy. Such faith used to be the same in this country. No more. Many don’t acknowledge God at all because they have faith only in their own arrogance. And, are left to it. Yet, He still gives us all time to repent.
So, based on this logic, He just took a day off on December 26, 2004, I suppose?
There are miracles given every day from God, if one chooses to look for the good once in awhile. Even on the date you cite.
How can God “Lose” if he is a all powerful and the only god in the universe. He owns the house and holds all the cards.
If he can control events and break the laws of chemistry and physics he always get the outcome he wants. What is his point in saving some innocents on one occasion and lettings thousands other perish the next week (12,000 miners died in the last year)? Why so picky?
If a few people survive it is a “miracle” if thousands perish in the sme event its a what? A “tragical”?
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