Miracle?
Friday, April 27, 2007
One Sunday night in the summer of 2006, my friend Joe Pepe calls me and tells me he is coming by in five minutes and we're going to the bar (Trinity's). Right away he gets on about his faith, his deep belief in the Catholic Church. Normally I would be the one debating this with him, throwing in some counter points, but on this night I really didn't feel like arguing with him, as it's taxing on my mental state and undoubtedly takes a few days off my life every time i do it.
So as soon as he stops by and we're walking up to Jericho Turnpike, he tries to prove to me that evolution did not really happen. Pepe was a biology major. Again, I put up no resistance and am intent on simply listening. We get to the bar, where we start playing darts and having a few beers. There weren't many people there, so Pepe continues to talk loudly about his religious beliefs to Johnny and I. Johnny's a patient guy, he's another good friend, and also the bartender.
I think I was about to close 16s when Joe, to illustrate his point and provide me with proof of the divine, tells the story of the Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima. This is a story that takes place in Portugal in 1917, where three shepherd children claim to have seen the Virgin Mary on the thirteenth day of six consecutive months. They say that Mary told them three secrets and provided a date on which She would show Herself so that all could witness the miracle and believe. People at this point were flocking to Fatima, as word had spread quickly of the upcoming miracle. It became disruptive, so the three shepherd children were jailed by the politicians in power then. The politicians did everything they could to get the secrets from the children, but it was in vain.
They were released, and on the day of the last reported apparition (the one that would prove to everyone that this was, in fact, a miracle), a crowd sometimes estimated at 70,000 gathered in the spot where the vision was to occur. Reporters, newspaper men, people from all over were there to witness this next vision. From all accounts it was raining very heavily that day, and everyone's clothes were soaked. But then, in an instant, the skies parted, the rain stopped, and the Sun began to move closer to the Earth, whirling, zig zagging, moving with incredible speed and grace. The light turned blue and it started to radiate extraordinary amounts of heat. Everyone of the 70,000 people's clothes were dry in a flash, and visions of Jesus, Joseph and the Virgin Mary were all reported as well.
I listened intently as Joe was telling the story, impressed by his conviction and faith. We finished our game, and paid Johnny for the pints. Johnny was with us the entire time, and keep in mind he wasn't behind the bar once during this whole conversation. So he takes the twenty that Joe gave him, and generously as always, gives us five dollars back (when we probably owed him twenty more). On top of the five dollar bill, in worn, big, bold, and black writing, is the name FATIMA. Pepe turns to me and says: "You gotta go to church."
1 Comments:
whooooaa.. pretty crazy!! but really cool
yes, go to church now
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