Miracles of the Sacred Heart

Miracles, according to David Hume, would be a violation of the laws of nature. The Scottish Enlightenment philosopher in his 1748 work (An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding) thus claimed that miracles are impossible, or no amount of testimony is sufficient to establish a probability, much less proof, of the existence of miracles. Hume’s definition evoked a lot of discussions. If that is the case even the idea of God is a contradiction since God will be going against himself who established the immutable laws of nature. In turn, a miracle is perceived as without an objective value.

 Thus in the movie “Himala”, you’d hear Elsa, delivering that passionate speech, “ Walang himala! Ang himala ay nasa pusong tao! Nasa puso nating lahat! Tayo ang gumagawa ng himala!”

How are we to understand miracles then? In the Bible, the word “miracle” does not exist. 

What we say as a miracle, the Bible calls it “sign” (OT in Hebrew or SEMEION in Greek) or “wonder” (“MIRARE” in Latin from where the English “miracle” came from). 

A miracle does not have to be defined as a violation of nature but as a SIGN of a deeper reality. We can even think of a polyvalence of miracles (having more than meaning) as the great Jesuit theologian, Fr. Rene Latourelle said (Theology of Revelation). 

A miracle can simultaneously be a --sign of God's agape, -- sign of the coming of the kingdom of redemption, -- sign of divine mission, -- sign of Christ's glory, --a revelation of the mystery of the Trinity, --a symbol of the Sacramentary economy. --sign of the transformations of the end-time.

Last year, three of our church’s lectors, led by a medical doctor, thought of collecting stories of “miracles” connected with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. We needed such stories in the post-pandemic world, to inspire and nourish our faith and share these “signs and wonders” with the faith-seekers to be also the power of this devotion.

The result is the book, Miracles of the Sacred Heart: Twelve Promises Fulfilled (Ben-Lor, 2022) authored by Dr. Benjamin Orosa Goguingco, Jr. M.D., Maria Perpetua Imelda Ho, and Florenda C. Sy-Changco.

In this book which has an excellent layout (of international quality I should say), I recounted my own story of a miracle of the Sacred Heart with a cousin who miraculously survived the onslaught of Covid-19. Basahin nyo lang po. Miracles of the Sacred Heart will be launched tomorrow (Saturday, Dec 3, 2022) at the Seda Hotel in Vertis North (QC). 

Copies will be made available in bookstores and online shopping sites. In the meantime, you can order them here – email: shmbookproject@gmail.com or mobile number 09457539168 (Cresta). 

By Fr. Randy Flores, SVD Parish Priest and Rector Sacred Heart Parish-Shrine Diocese of Cubao