At the beginning of this month, World Youth Day (WYD) was held in Portugal. They say that Christianity is dying, that Catholicism is in crisis, and that young people no longer believe in anything. I love these crises. Jesus, the center of all this, celebrated his particular WYD with only 12. In Lisbon the other day, about 2 million young people from all over the world gathered. Blessed crisis.
Jimena is a 16-year-old Spanish girl. She went with many other girls to WYD. For more than two years, she has been suffering from a kind of blindness known as “accommodation spasm.” Both she and her family had tried everything; after a thousand tests and medications in Spain and abroad, the doctors had come to the conclusion that her case was practically incurable. On the horizon was a possible operation, in an umpteenth attempt and unsure of whether it would do any good. (READ MORE: Poland’s Piles of Crutches)
The young woman believed that the only solution was through prayer. She took advantage of her stay in Portugal to go to Fatima and pray a novena to the Virgin of the Snows, whose feast day is Aug. 5, asking to be healed. Through various WhatsApp groups, her family and friends encouraged many others to participate in the novena. The almost 400 girls from Opus Dei centers in Spain, traveling to WYD with Jimena, also joined this chain of prayers to Our Lady.
On the 5th, she woke up excited, with the humanly absurd confidence that she was going to be cured. She went to confession and mass at the Fatima shrine. When she returned from communion, as always guided by her friends, she did not dare open her eyes in case her diopters — oscillating between 8 and 16 — were still there. Finally, she opened them and clearly saw the church, the altarpiece, and the tabernacle. She turned to her friends with tears of emotion as all of her companions joined her. She could barely recognize them. She had not seen them since she was 13 years old. Now they were 16. She was given the prayer card of Our Lady of the Snows to read to confirm that she could, and, with difficulty, because she had lost practice, she managed to read aloud the prayer, being cheered by the whole church, which had just witnessed a different miracle. (READ MORE: Let’s Bring Back Pilgrimages)
Doctors examined the girl and find no explanation. Her doctor says that what happened is not impossible; however, it is amazing and infinitely improbable. Friends I have in common with Jimena have sent me the WhatsApp audio in which she describes what has happened, and I can only say that if you want to believe that this is just a coincidence, that’s your right; there are also people who believe in unicorns, but what a way to waste God’s evidence.
This is a different miracle because it is a 21st-century supernatural event but as powerful as the miracle of the sun of Fatima from decades ago. If on that occasion hundreds of people were able to see the divine sign, on this occasion not only did those present attend live supernatural healing, but they immediately shared it through social networks with videos, photos, and audio, and it became a viral prodigy that traveled all over the world.
As for me, I am spending some summer days in my hometown, La Coruña. The day before yesterday, a group of 5,000 young North American pilgrims arrived from WYD, and after visiting the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, they celebrated a Mass in a park in the city. They climbed the hill of St. Peter’s Park chanting songs, praying, and laughing. Some people in the city were startled; others reacted with the usual hatred and envy (as if they resented their joy) and asked for explanations from the mayoress for having given them the site for their camping. I, on the other hand, looked out the window to see them pass by and thanked God. They belong to the Neocatechumenal Way, and my spirituality could not be further from theirs. But sharing the same faith and seeing their joy and their American nationality visiting my city made me want to go down and hug them one by one. (READ MORE: ‘She Looks Like She Just Went to Sleep’: Thousands Travel to Visit Incorrupt Nun)
When you lose hope, remember only that evil is louder than good. But when good appears, evil wanes and good celebrates the miracle. When you lose hope, remember that it is not in your hands. The Holy Spirit is still in charge. And Jesus is having fun performing Scripture-like miracles in the midst of the 21st century and sneaking onto TikTok like an influencer.
Let’s toast it. And let us thank God. And let’s toast again because God blessed wine and not quinoa for a reason.
Translated by Joel Dalmau.
