The Miracle Worker

SAINT ANTHONY, whose feast we are celebrating this June 13, is commonly called the miracle worker, and a host of miracles are, in fact, attributed to his intercession.
During a dispute with a heretic Anthony was able to make a mule kneel in front of a consecrated host. The citizens of Rimini, a costal town in the north of Italy, would not listen to our Saint's inspired words, so the fish of the sea gathered along the coast to hear his heavenly sermons. At the funeral of a miser, Anthony proclaimed that the cruel man was not to be buried in holy ground because he had only loved money in life, and was therefore without a heart. Thereupon a surgeon opened the man's chest and, to his amazement, found that the heart was indeed missing. It was later found inside a casket full of jewels and gold coins. In Lisbon, Anthony's birth-town, a man killed a boy, and buried his body in the garden belonging to the Saint's father. When the body was discovered there, Anthony's father was naturally accused of the crime. At this point Saint Anthony was prodigiously transported in one night from Padua to Lisbon, and there asked the judge that the body be brought to him. The boy resuscitated for a brief moment, and proclaimed the name of the true culprit...
One could go on for hours on end recounting the numerous miracles attributed to our Saint's intercession, both when alive and after; suffice it to say that Anthony is the saint who, in the history of the Church, was canonised in the fastest time ever - a bare eleven months!
The word miracle comes from the Latin mirari, which means to experience wonder, amazement. It indicates a phenomenon which generates astonishment. It is a physically perceivable event (in other words, heard, seen, touched or otherwise experienced) performed by God usually through a saint. It is a phenomenon occurring independently of the laws of nature as these are understood in any age or cultural setting.
Can we still believe in miracles today, in this modern age of science?
Some regard them merely as bed-time stories for children, others - of a more scientific mindset - regard them with suspicion, others still see them happening everywhere and constantly because without them they would be unable to believe.
For the Bible miracles are proof of God's interest in man. The Old Testament describes a few miraculous events, especially those which established and educated the People of God. Thus, through the miracle of the heavenly manna, Israel was to understand and believe that it was the Lord Who had delivered them from the land of bondage.
This fact is well suited to dispel a very common misconception; the one which regards miracles as a sort of individual reward or protection. In reality miracles are always performed for the moral edification of a community of people, and are thus always directed to a group, never to an individual alone. They are not merely astonishing prodigies, they are saving and revealing signs from God.
The Gospels describe Jesus' great thaumaturgical deeds; they show us a Jesus Who dispenses blessings wherever He goes. Paragraph 547 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, 'Jesus accompanies his words with many 'mighty works and wonders and signs', which manifest that the kingdom is present in him, and attest that he was the promised Messiah.'
Miracles tell us that the Son of God came into this world to bring to completion His Father's plan of salvation. They herald a new era of love and peace, in which human beings have not been abandoned to a world of blind randomness and chance. Jesus' miracles reveal a man Who is deeply concerned with our welfare - He is not aloof from and indifferent to our affairs, but He cares about our problems and sufferings.
In the light of the forgoing considerations, the greatest miracle which every true disciple  of Jesus must believe in is that of His Resurrection - this hope is the cornerstone of our faith. If the Church manifests caution in recognising miracles it is because She must first discern their connection to this fundamental truth.
In any case, let us not be afraid of asking Saint Anthony's intercession in times of need - it is an act of love for Anthony and, most of all, for that God Who created the Saint and us alike.