Can God Do Miracles Through Christians Today?
Yes! Throughout history, God has worked miracles through His people. God made us as humans with senses such as sight, hearing, and touch, and He is willing to meet us on the physical level to help open our eyes to believe and follow Him in faith. St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, taught that miracles help people in this way to believe in God.
"Now just as the knowledge which a man receives from God needs to be brought to the knowledge of others through the gift of tongues and the grace of the word, so too the word uttered needs to be confirmed in order that it be rendered credible. This is done by the working of miracles, according to Mark 16:20, "And confirming the word with signs that followed": and reasonably so. For it is natural to man to arrive at the intelligible truth through its sensible effects." - Summa Theologica
St. John Chrysostom, a bishop who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries, wrote that faith is, "the mother of miracles" (Homily 29 on 1st Corinthians).
Examples of how miracles have lead people to faith over the centuries are the following.
In the 3rd century, saints Cosmas and Damian were persecuted for being Christians. They were sentenced to death by torture, but suffered no injury from being thrown into the sea bound hand and foot, from burning as they were set on fire, nor did they suffer injury while being crucified. Although they ultimately died by beheading, the greatest miracle - conversion - resulted as people were moved to faith and became Christians by their witness of the powerful and true God.
In the 5th century, God converted the Irish after showing by miracles through St. that He is the true and loving God. In the year 433, the pagan ruler of Ireland decreed that no fires could be lit until a pagan assembly. On Easter, St. Patrick lit a candle. The druids attempted to extinguish it and threatened to kill St. Patrick, but God protected Patrick and the blessed candle, showing that Jesus is the true light of the world and more powerful than darkness. The pagans responded by turning to their incantations and caused a cloud to cover the land, but as St. Patrick approached carrying a crozier - symbol of authority and jurisdiction - and his fellow missionaries carried the Book of the Gospels, the sun broke through, showing the authority of Christ over all, and how the Gospel brings freedom from darkness. As a final demonstration of the power of Jesus over darkness, the Arch-Druid was lifted high in the air, and dashed upon a rock, defeated. The Irish people came to St. Patrick requesting baptism, and Christianity flourished as the nation turned to Jesus Christ, the true light of the world.
In the 13th century, St. Anthony of Padua was an instrument for God to work numerous miracles, including reattaching a severed foot, preserving people from rain while preaching, safely eating food poisoned by heretics after blessing it, and assisting a sick monk suffering from temptations.
Also in the 13th century, St. Clare of Assisi prayed for the sick and they recovered. One Christmas Eve, she was unable to attend Mass due to illness, yet she saw in a vision the Mass that was a mile away. She saw it so clearly that she could name the people who were in attendance.
In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, St. Vincent Ferrer ministered all over Western Europe. During his ministry, God did many miracles, including healing a lame woman, and raising a child and a woman from the dead. St. Vincent Ferrer preached to thousands, even though he did not know the languages, God enabled him to speak languages he had not studied.
In the 20th century, a bean crop in Italy was infested with lice in 1913, which would ruin the plants. A young 26-year-old priest, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, prayed over the fields, and the lice fell from the plants. After he prayed and blessed the fields, the infestation was gone, and the beans yielded an abundant harvest that year. Over the course of his life, he also prayed for the sick and they recovered, bilocated, and in his body he had the stigmata in which the wounds of Christ appeared and bled profusely. The greatest result of the miracles is how they helped people believe, and many people were converted to Jesus Christ.
Additional Information
Yes! Throughout history, God has worked miracles through His people. God made us as humans with senses such as sight, hearing, and touch, and He is willing to meet us on the physical level to help open our eyes to believe and follow Him in faith. St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, taught that miracles help people in this way to believe in God.
"Now just as the knowledge which a man receives from God needs to be brought to the knowledge of others through the gift of tongues and the grace of the word, so too the word uttered needs to be confirmed in order that it be rendered credible. This is done by the working of miracles, according to Mark 16:20, "And confirming the word with signs that followed": and reasonably so. For it is natural to man to arrive at the intelligible truth through its sensible effects." - Summa Theologica
St. John Chrysostom, a bishop who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries, wrote that faith is, "the mother of miracles" (Homily 29 on 1st Corinthians).
Examples of how miracles have lead people to faith over the centuries are the following.
In the 3rd century, saints Cosmas and Damian were persecuted for being Christians. They were sentenced to death by torture, but suffered no injury from being thrown into the sea bound hand and foot, from burning as they were set on fire, nor did they suffer injury while being crucified. Although they ultimately died by beheading, the greatest miracle - conversion - resulted as people were moved to faith and became Christians by their witness of the powerful and true God.
In the 5th century, God converted the Irish after showing by miracles through St. that He is the true and loving God. In the year 433, the pagan ruler of Ireland decreed that no fires could be lit until a pagan assembly. On Easter, St. Patrick lit a candle. The druids attempted to extinguish it and threatened to kill St. Patrick, but God protected Patrick and the blessed candle, showing that Jesus is the true light of the world and more powerful than darkness. The pagans responded by turning to their incantations and caused a cloud to cover the land, but as St. Patrick approached carrying a crozier - symbol of authority and jurisdiction - and his fellow missionaries carried the Book of the Gospels, the sun broke through, showing the authority of Christ over all, and how the Gospel brings freedom from darkness. As a final demonstration of the power of Jesus over darkness, the Arch-Druid was lifted high in the air, and dashed upon a rock, defeated. The Irish people came to St. Patrick requesting baptism, and Christianity flourished as the nation turned to Jesus Christ, the true light of the world.
In the 13th century, St. Anthony of Padua was an instrument for God to work numerous miracles, including reattaching a severed foot, preserving people from rain while preaching, safely eating food poisoned by heretics after blessing it, and assisting a sick monk suffering from temptations.
Also in the 13th century, St. Clare of Assisi prayed for the sick and they recovered. One Christmas Eve, she was unable to attend Mass due to illness, yet she saw in a vision the Mass that was a mile away. She saw it so clearly that she could name the people who were in attendance.
In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, St. Vincent Ferrer ministered all over Western Europe. During his ministry, God did many miracles, including healing a lame woman, and raising a child and a woman from the dead. St. Vincent Ferrer preached to thousands, even though he did not know the languages, God enabled him to speak languages he had not studied.
In the 20th century, a bean crop in Italy was infested with lice in 1913, which would ruin the plants. A young 26-year-old priest, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, prayed over the fields, and the lice fell from the plants. After he prayed and blessed the fields, the infestation was gone, and the beans yielded an abundant harvest that year. Over the course of his life, he also prayed for the sick and they recovered, bilocated, and in his body he had the stigmata in which the wounds of Christ appeared and bled profusely. The greatest result of the miracles is how they helped people believe, and many people were converted to Jesus Christ.
Additional Information
- Gift of Miracles
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10350a.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia explains this gift in greater detail.
- I Believe in Miracles. Do You?
http://www.cityofthelord.org/cmsD/node/58 Explains the relationship between miracles and faith.