Miracles/Private Revelation
Especially considering the topic of the last lesson segment, I’d like to begin this section with a quick disclaimer regarding private revelations. According to Church teaching:
Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.
Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such “revelations” (CCC 67).
With that said, so there I was, minding my own business and reading a book while waiting to catch my flight at the airport. I was reading a book by Drs. Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker, Dismantling Dawkins’ Case Against God. This book served as an unintentional conversation starter. A man sitting across from me politely interrupted me, “Excuse me. The title of the book you’re reading seems really interesting. May I ask what it’s about?” I returned his politeness by handing him the book so he could read the back cover and briefly summarized what I had read up to that point.
As the conversation continued, he explained that he was at a crossroads in his life. He had just abandoned his atheistic lifestyle and was in search of something greater than himself, something that made sense.
This declaration piqued my interest, and I asked what led him to his newfound theistic worldview. He replied that his sister had recently started to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and that, “For lack of better terms, the change in her was nothing short of a miracle.”
I don’t remember the man’s name and can barely remember what he looked like, but this next part really stood out to me. As tears began to well up in his eyes, and coughs and “umms” disrupted his speech to keep him from completely breaking down in public, this complete stranger said that after years of worry for his sister’s life, she seemed to have recovered. The man went on to share that during one particular conversation with his sister, she recited the “Serenity Prayer.”
For those who don’t know what that is, it goes, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
The man then continued to explain that he and his sister never believed in God or had any sort of faith background growing up, but that while looking into his sister’s eyes, the joy and excitement in her voice and the complete turnaround in her life struck such a chord with him, that he began to completely change his outlook on life.
When he saw the book I was reading, he was hoping perhaps I was in a similar situation where I, too, was leaving atheism in favor of something that “made sense.” I shared with him a quote from Saint Augustine: “If you understood him, it would not be God.”
I told the man what resonated with me in all he said was his uncertainty and wonder. It takes a lot of humility for a person to realize that he doesn’t have all the answers and at the same time to believe that there exists something (or in this case Someone) greater than himself. Not only is this a great first step towards embracing the Catholic faith, but even after someone’s conversion, having humility and a sense of awe should accompany his or her every step.
The conversation turned to the subject of miracles, where things make just enough sense to feel comfortable but leave much more to be understood. Here, it is imperative to listen, befriend, proclaim, and invite.
Below is a recreation of a dialogue that I had some time later with the man I met at the airport. I took the time to ask a lot of questions and really get to know him and where he was on his journey from atheism to searching for God. It seemed that he was beginning to doubt.
[Example of the Argument from Miracles/Private Revelation in a conversation]
After all is said and done, the point we’re trying to send home is that our faith in Jesus Christ is about family relationships, and no matter where we are in life, no matter how lonely life gets, we are family—in this life and the next. No other religion can make as true a claim to this tenet of our faith. When you can communicate this, you engage their humanity – their desire for love and meaning – rather than engage them in an argument.