There are really a lot of people, allegedly hateful trolls, who allegedly feign to be allegedly “traditional”, who are allegedly terribly hateful of Carlo, allegedly accusing of him of not having heroic virtue and not being close to Jesus. As proof that he’s a demon from hell, they insist that the second miracle approved by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints is fraudulent, as there had also been a medical operation.
- “Since when is that some sort of damn miracle? A medical operation!? Explain it to me, now, because, as a prodigal internet-karen, I’m the judge and jury of God Himself and everyone has to run everything by me!”
That’s just my paraphrase of a comment against dearest Carlo that came in on this blog but which I didn’t publish lest I get tied up in all sorts of court battles with indefatigable karen-lawfare-trolls.
Firstly, let’s go ahead and read what Vatican News has on this miracle:
“Miracle attributed to Blessed Carlo Acutis
“The miracle recognized on Thursday is related to a woman from Costa Rica.
“On July 8, 2022, Liliana prayed at Blessed Carlo’s tomb in Assisi, leaving a letter describing her plea. Six days earlier, on July 2, her daughter Valeria had fallen from her bicycle in Florence, where she was attending university.
“She had suffered severe head trauma, and required craniotomy surgery and the removal of the right occipital bone to reduce pressure on her brain, with what her doctors said was a very low chance of survival.
“Liliana’s secretary began praying immediately to Blessed Carlo Acutis, and on July 8, Liliana made her pilgrimage to his tomb in Assisi.
“That same day, the hospital informed her that Valeria had begun to breath spontaneously. The next day, she began to move and partially regain her speech.
On July 18, a CAT scan proved that her hemorrhage had disappeared, and on August 11, Valeria was moved to rehabilitation therapy. She made quick progress, and on September 2, Valeria and Liliana made another pilgrimage to Assisi to thank Blessed Carlo for his intercession.”
Let’s review: “She had suffered severe head trauma, and required craniotomy surgery and the removal of the right occipital bone to reduce pressure on her brain, with what her doctors said was a very low chance of survival.” That’s what’s shown in green here.
Pretty devastating. But still nothing compared to the power of God in regard to any miracle to be wrought, right? God oughta be able to do it up in one shot, right? Right. Sigh.
You have heard that it was said by even famous ultra-tradition-al-ism-ists that – damn it all – if it’s a true miracle then it has to be done all at once, once and done. No trying, failing, trying again, no stages of healing allowed, and it’s definitely not allowed to permit any surgery while you’re praying to some blessed Blessed for intercession for a miracle.
But that, my friends, speaks to three things:
- Such a cynic has zero understanding of the purpose of miracles.
- Such a cynic has zero understanding of the spiritual life.
- Such a cynic is blasphemous over against our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The purpose of miracles isn’t to save us from mere effects of bad stuff happening to us in this world whilst were still not in heaven (please God we make it there). Miracles are meant to confirm us in the faith.
Have we never read that Jesus did not do many miracles in that place because their wasn’t much faith among the people? Jesus doesn’t do miracles for cynics, does He? No, He doesn’t. That‘s what they’re so angry about: they can’t hate God and get a miracle to boot.
Have we never had to be absolved of sin more than once, or are we all perfect saints since baptism, damning God Himself for daring to forgive any sin of ours, like cynicism, like hypocrisy, more than once? He completely forgives, but might not completely receive that in all aspects of our assent.
Have we never read in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 8, about the the two-stage healing of the blind man, you know, with Jesus Himself doing “a medical operation” on the blind guy, you know, with spittle and the laying on of hands, twice? It’s not that Jesus couldn’t do it all at once, but rather that the guy would benefit by learning where he was at during both stages, and maybe learn a bit of humility in submitting to healing again, and then again. It takes a little humility to go to Confession, again, and then again, right?
Could it be that God is not interested in doing any miracle of niceness for us in this world, but is interested in doing such things to elicit the deepening of our faith, our thanksgiving, our desire to “not sin again”? Who among us is so perfectly prompt to every grace that comes our way? Does God patiently work with us in all our ineptitude? Yes, He does. Thanks to God for that.
Carlo was constantly with street people to help them out. Was he not cognizant of the fact that some people have horrific PTSD beyond their control and need patience and goodness and kindness, repeatedly, in multiple stages?
As a priest, I’ve spent a lifetime in emergency rooms, pre- and post-op rooms, hospital rooms, hospices, rehabs and nursing homes, going to people on home-visitation, with innumerable Last-Rites provided, also on the street in the midst of horrific traffic accidents, and I can tell you that even with people of great, great faith, staged healing is a help to them, to those doctors and nurses around them, to relatives, to friends, to townspeople, giving people hope, encouraging them to grow in hope – Hey! – maybe to say a prayer in hope as well!
I’ve seen people be miraculously healed, immediately, because of Last Rites. That’s awesome. That’s Jesus. Sometimes incredible healing takes place over hours or days as that person or those who know that person are transformed (even more) in the faith. If people learn to pray, to do that act of charity – Hey! – maybe they will be on their way to heaven as well. That’s what this is all about.
I apologize, but my first thought when I hear of ultra-tradition-al-ism-ists (fake, self-congratulating people who use religion to aggrandize themselves, and not actually of Tradition) speaking of damned Post-Vatican-II miracles that can’t happen in a post-Vatican-II world because, you know, damn it all anyway… well, I reject such cynical trolling and blasphemy and instead thank God for the miracle worked. The Lord doesn’t stop working with us just because of a get together in the 1960s or in the 2020s for that matter.
As far as the healing in stages of this girl, I’m no doctor. I haven’t seen the reports, neither of the doctors nor of the those in the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. I’m guessing that all the doctors said, at each “stage” of continuous and immediate and awesome healing, that they have zero explanation for what was happening to this girl for her betterment. They can’t officially say it was a miracle. That’s not their competence. But I’m guessing that they were mumbling, despite their own medical interventions, that each stage of this healing was a miracle that had nothing whatsoever to do with what they themselves did during that operation.
Meanwhile, in that short time period, people were learning to pray, to turn, helpfully, to those also in the mystical Body of Christ, in this case, to Carlo. Is that a bad thing? Are we to be angry about this? Are we to damn Carlo, damn the girl, damn her relatives and damn her friends? Are we to damn God Himself for a healing in stages? Should we ask Jesus about what the Holy Spirit had recounted of the staged healing in Mark 8?
- I bet the guy who was healed of his blindness in Bethsaida has something to say about this.
- I bet those who know this girl healed by the intercession of Carlo have something to say about this.
Stepping back for a second… Wow… How is it that we’ve arrived at a place in society where we absolutely hate the good that God and His good, gentle saints do for us?
I bet this has much to do with the purity and piety of Carlo, his sincere devotion and friendship with Jesus and Mary. People take that as an incrimination of themselves instead of as an invitation to have that same purity and piety, that same devotion and friendship with Jesus and Mary. Instead, they want to hate themselves, hate God, hate neighbor, and defend all that which is impure, impious, irreligious and hateful of Jesus and Mary. They’re entitled to be karens!
I, for one, having been forgiven so very many times by our Lord at the intercession of dearest, dear Mary, I only want that all know the joy and peace that I have in having been subject to the patience of God, with my being dealt with, and dealt with still, in many stages of growth. I myself am no Carlo, but he occasions an assent to God-given hope in my black and beady soul: this miracle of his with this girl gives me hope.
Thanks, Carlo. I know you don’t need any defense from me. It’s just that I’m shocked (stupid me) that so many have taken to condemning you and taken to blaspheming God. I am saddened by that, and I’m hoping for other miracles of conversion. I don’t know if my words, rather bold, help or hurt…. I’m guessing you wouldn’t talk this way… but – Hey! – I’m trying. Help me, too, dearest dear Carlo.
Mark 8:22-26:
- “They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, ‘Do you see anything?’ He looked up and said, ‘I see people; they look like trees walking around.’ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Don’t even go into the village.'”
Why not send him back to the village? Because people would shriek like karens:
- “It was a two-stager! Damn that Imposter! Damn Him! Crucify Him! A two-stager!”
I better stop…
Nope. One more thing. Exorcism. You have heard that it was said that if a person is a client in a psychiatric hospital, that means that they cannot be bothered in any way by Satan, ever, because Satan is nice and loving and would never hide behind a psychiatric illness so as to mock God all the more… Never! Satan is nice! I have to wonder if karens are themselves possessed.
In my time as a chaplain to what was at one time called the New York State Insane Asylum, I came across one old gal who was possessed. Sadly, at the time, decades ago, exorcisms weren’t much permitted in New York or anywhere else for that matter.
ARISE! LET US BE GOING! 