The source of all miracles is love. All true love comes from God, for God is love.
“We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16
One of the biggest challenges in life is opening our hearts to God’s love. In speaking to people, I have found that they find it easier to believe that God loves other people unconditionally, passionately and without condemnation. However, they struggle to accept that God loves them. I am one of those people.
To open the door for miracles, we can meditate on how much God truly loves us. Chapters in the Bible such as Romans 8, John 15 and Ephesians 1 are especially helpful for this mediation.
God is real! He wants to intervene in our lives through miracles, big and small, because He loves us passionately. Love is His greatest gift! He loves us unconditionally, completely and without compromise or reservation. We cannot earn this love or make it go away.
When we begin to understand we are loved completely and unconditionally, we begin to trust God. When we trust God, we can expect Him to intervene in our lives directly or through other people.
Healing comes through intense love, a love that leads to a greater faith in God’s desire to heal us and give us miracles. Every single day of our lives, I believe God is saying to each of us, “Because you are precious in my eyes / and glorious, and because I love you.” Isaiah 43:4
This call to believe and trust in God’s love can be challenging for those whose relationships with their earthly fathers have lacked unconditional love or have been ruptured by the sin of abuse—mental, physical, emotional or sexual.
But we cannot compare human actions to those of our heavenly Father, who is agape love: merciful, forgiving, encouraging and protecting. Through contemplative prayer, we can experience the love of a Father we could not imagine possible.
It is impossible for us to receive love unless we make the decision to open our hearts to God. To receive the miracles God has in store for us, we must learn to receive God’s love and give it to others.
“Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8
God’s love is vast and wise—He gives us what we need when we need it.
“My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
Our Father in heaven gives us supernatural strength to endure our trials. When we draw upon this strength, we can expect and experience miracles. The following is an amazing miracle that was experienced by Fr. Victor Gonzaga of the Augustinian order in the Philippines.
“The most surprising experience we had in relation to the many healing activities and evangelization was the miracle I witnessed in the Basilica del Santo Niño. I was the celebrant of the Holy Mass and Deacon Steve Greco gave the homily. In his homily, he focused on the power of God to heal all types of sickness. If we believe in God and His mercy, healing is certainly possible in every aspect of our lives. Then he mentioned that tonight someone was so confused and overwhelmed by his problems, he was considering ending his own life. Deacon Steve said, ‘God has forgiven you, forgive yourself, you are a child of God and you are blessed and loved by our Heavenly Father.’
Immediately after the Mass, it has been part of the ritual that the priest blesses the people including their rosary beads and images of Señor Santo Niño with holy water. One man approached me but he was very silent. He just stared at me showing his obvious hesitation. I asked him if he had been blessed already with the holy water, and he told me, ‘Yes, Father.’ At this moment, he got the courage to continue talking to me with little tears in his eyes, saying: ‘ako to Father.’ This is a Cebuano statement which means: ‘I am the one, Father, being referred to in the homily.’
Unsure of what to say, I asked him, ‘What do you mean’? He told me with tears flowing in his eyes, ‘I am the one who is thinking of ending my life tonight. I am so confused and so down with what is happening regarding my life. In fact, I did not have the intention of attending the Mass but there was just something leading my way up to the Basilica. Now I understand God is telling me so clearly that my life is precious and important to Him who is my Creator and Savior, and he allowed people to serve as instruments to directly deliver God’s message of mercy and compassion into my life.’
I was speechless and I did not know how to react. However, because of the steel barrier and the security guards, people were gradually vacating the area. I did not have a chance to minister as a pastor. Then I rushed to the sacristy and told Deacon Steve and the others about what had happened. We prayed and praised God for the marvelous act of kindness toward His believing people. Then I tried to go out and look for the man but I could not find him due to the pressing crowd. I returned to Deacon Steve with a grateful heart to the Holy Child Señor Santo Niño. The Patron of Cebu and the Philippines had given me and the others a unique chance to witness how a compassionate God used humble ministers to effect healing and restore faith and hope so that the salvation of souls will become possible to many sinners. Amen.”
To read more of Deacon Steve Greco’s thoughts related to “Love of the Father,” get a copy of his 2017 book Expect and Experience Miracles through the Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry website (www.spiritfilledhearts.org).