EASTER – THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF ALL TIME

    
BY ANTOINETTE RAINONE

    The question posed to me from Guideposts editor, Diana Aydin, was an intriguing one. Diana, who edits my stories at Guideposts, told me she was launching a new blog called "Lunch-Time Miracles" on Guideposts.org. She asked me if I'd be willing to participate.

    “How would you define a miracle, and has a miracle (big or small) ever happened to you?”

    Have I ever experienced a miracle! This question was right up my alley. I believe LIFE itself is one, great-big miracle! 

    So, sure. I've experienced a miracle. And I experience a miracle everyday I wake up, breathing, ready to face a new day!

    Life – from the very earliest stages of life to the last – are miracles. 

    A fetus sucking her thumb in utero… 
    A newborn’s first cries… 
    Children’s laughter in a playground... 
    Two people falling in love… 
    A grown child helping to feed an elderly parent… 
    Entering into eternal life...

    All the seemingly simple events that make up every day life are miracles that God has bestowed upon humanity. And we should embrace each one of them with gratitude.

    And there's another miracle. 

    Easter.

    Diana asked me, “How do you explain miracles to your son?”

      I told her that I teach Catechism to second-graders and am preparing my son and his class for the sacrament of First Holy Communion. Holy Communion is a miracle! What happens at the altar when the Divine meets the Host at every Mass is a miracle because this is when we receive Jesus Himself.

     The resurrection of Christ from the dead is the biggest supernatural act to ever happen in the history of humanity – and it happened for everyone of us. 

     We can celebrate this miracle, open to us all, every Easter, at every Mass, during every Holy Communion. What’s most amazing is that this is a miracle every one of us can experience every minute – in our hearts.

     The great miracle of Christ’s resurrection from the dead begets another great miracle – the miracle of eternal life. “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” Jesus said. “Whoever believes in Me shall not see death.”

    There is no miracle, ever, more awesome than that!

    And we need to remember something very important. The Easter miracle would never have happened without sacrifice.

    The sacrifice of God our Father to send His only Son down to earth. 

    The sacrifice of Mary to say 'yes' to God in giving birth to His Son. 

    The sacrifice of Joseph to trust God to marry Mary when she was pregnant with Child. 

     The sacrifice of Jesus to shed His blood on a wooden cross.

     The greatest miracles in our lives, too, stem from sacrifice. Check out "Miracles in Disguise" to read my story on how a very special sacrifice brought about a deep and abiding love in my family.

    As (very-soon-to-be Saint) Pope John Paul II once said:

   “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song!”
   

    Find Your Wings ... at any age!