This stained glass piece is of St. Ignatius at the River Cardoner in Manresa, as he encounters the Holy.  Having watched Miracles from Heaven yesterday, my mind had been a bit on miracles. A lot has happened in the past 24 hours. I am a bit tired and somewhat emotional as I end this day. I am looking forward to my own encounter with the Holy in just over two weeks when I arrive at Manresa, Spain.

Today is the Feast Day of St. Joseph who experienced his own miracles in his life when he agreed to stay with Mary, his betrothed who was pregnant with a child he did not father. Life takes on a meandering that we do not always comprehend. As in the movie, the Beams too had to walk through a dark valley, trusting that all would be well.  As with St. Ignatius, spending time going within and listening to the Holy is crucial in this time.

I am soon to embark on another pilgrimage to bookend the one I took in 2014 to France and Italy. I am looking forward to walking in the footsteps of St. Ignatius and many others from the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. I want to breathe in beauty and exhale expectations. I pray that I may  walk through doors of mercy not just in Loyola and Santiago but in all that I experience.

I was thinking about the movie on and off today. One day, life is normal, and suddenly, it’s a good life shatters apart. The family is thrown into crisis. Then the impossible suddenly becomes possible. Miracles happen throughout the film and cleverly, the director hides this from our eyes. Only once did I have a sense that we were not seeing the whole story. The ordinary miracles are shown at the end of the film. These are the daily blessings that occur that we can so easily miss.

I was reminded of these blessings today when I attended the annual general meeting of my professional organization. I had had this idea that rather than donate my interpreting clothes to a charity that I should give them to students who will graduate from the training program in the next few weeks. That idea then blossomed into why not have an annual event whereby we could support new interpreters in this way. The concept was not only embraced by colleagues, someone also decided it should be named in my honour so Suzanne’s Closet was created today. I was called up at the beginning of the meeting and blessed with a surprise interview about my career and the announcement that this project was being named for my wee idea. This seemed like a grand miracle to me.

If we keep our eyes and hearts open, we will encounter the Divine. As in the movie, people will question the validity of a miracle. Do not let those people dictate your joy. Hang on to the gift you are given. They can embrace it or reject it, but that should not dissuade you from believing that miracles are all around us. Sometimes these mysteries look different than we expect but they do exist. In fact, miracles abound! Believe it.

Peace,

Suzanne

Reflection Questions

What miracle happened to you today?

What miracle did you help happen today?

Prayer

God of miracles, you bless us with each breath we take. Thank you for your generosity and love. Use our minds and hands to bring joy and peace to our world. Show us how to serve you better so that we may bring about the kingdom here and now. Amen.