Daily Reading & Meditation: Tuesday (September 19)
September 19, 2017Worried About the State of the World? Here Are 5 Bible Verses You Should Know!
September 19, 2017
“A dark mass that half fills a hermetically sealed four-inch glass container, and is preserved in a double reliquary in the Naples cathedral as the blood of St. Januarius, liquefies 18 times during the year…Various experiments have been applied, but the phenomenon eludes natural explanation….” [From the Catholic Encyclopedia]
Reflection
It is defined Catholic doctrine that miracles can happen and are recognizable. Problems arise, however, when we must decide whether an occurrence is unexplainable in natural terms, or merely unexplained. We do well to avoid an excessive credulity but, on the other hand, when even scientists speak about “probabilities” rather than “laws” of nature, it is something less than imaginative for Christians to think that God is too “scientific” to work extraordinary miracles to wake us up to the everyday miracles of sparrows and dandelions, raindrops and snowflakes.
Saint Januarius is the Patron Saint of:
Blood Banks
Naples
Image: The Martyrdom of Saint Januarius | Neri di Bicci