Abbey-Roads2

Or why the Lord wouldn’t waste his time.

You just can’t make this stuff up - every other week it seems someone is seeing Christ’s face in a potato chip, or hearing heavenly voices coming from their radiators or something.  Today I came across a story on New Oxford about a woodsman from New Jersey or Pennsylvania, who discovered an image of Jesus in the core of a pine tree.  (See photo.)

“Furniture maker Craig O’Connor said he was chopping down pine trees last year at a friend’s house in Burlington County when he discovered the image. 

“We had to cut down these three trees and immediately we saw it,” O’Connor said of the image. “It was such an adrenaline rush to look on it. It was a feeling of awe.”

As beautiful as it is, O’Connor said he’s already tried to sell the log. “I tried to sell it on eBay, but the best offer I got was $500,” he said. “That cheese sandwich sold for $28,000. I think this log is worth as much.” -  Bucks County Courier Times

“As beautiful as it is…” 

One of the first thoughts that came into this devout man’s head is making money off the find.  How holy is that.  Over the centuries, when ‘real’ miraculous images were found; by woodsmen, plowmen, and other poor peasants, they were immediately shown to the local  priest  with veneration and awe.  Many times miraculous springs accompanied the find, or numerous miracles were associated with the image, as well as apparitions of angels or other heavenly signs.  The faithful normally responded with fervent devotion and amendment of life.

Yet today - if indeed these things were supernatural - the first thought on everyone’s mind is winning a jackpot auction on eBay, accompanied by tons of publicity - super-stardom for a couple of minutes.  If Moses were here today, he’d crack the commandments over these idolater’s heads.

When an image is miraculous, as in the case of the Shroud of Turin, the Tilma of Guadalupe, the image of Our Lady of Good Counsel at Genazzano, the Miraculous Crucifix of Esquilpulas, or the many statues of the Blessed Virgin throughout the Hispanic world, they ALL are clearly  identifiable as to whom the image represents.  They are not eidolons of nature. 

“Father, I will that where I am they also whom you have given me may be, in order that they may behold my glory…”

“In order to understand this very mysterious saying, we must not, so to speak, stop at the surface, but enter ever deeper into the divine Being through recollection.  “Abyss calls to abyss.”  It is there in the very depths that the divine impact takes place, where the abyss of our nothingness encounters the abyss of mercy…”  - Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

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I dare say, even if we fall into serious sin, we must remember to look up slightly, while we are face down in the dirt and slime of sin and remorse.  We will see his face very close to our own.  We will understand that he fell just as low as ourselves, to be there for us, to be there with us.  He who knew no sin is always waiting for us, no matter how low we may fall… he waits for our repentance, longing to show us his mercy. 

“Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’” - Matthew 17