A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 7:11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
REFLECTION: "Jesus gave him to his mother."
James Fulton Engstrom's amazing recovery has been officially approved as the first miracle toward the beatification of Venerable Fulton Sheen.
In 2010 Bonnie Engstrom delivered a stillborn baby. He was blue and limp at birth and CPR was immediately started.
His father baptized him during the CPR and his mom kept praying to Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
The neonatologist stopped working on him so they could call the time of death. James Fulton, 9lbs and 12oz, had been without a pulse for 61 minutes.Everyone stopped working. And then his heart started.
James was admitted to the NICU at the Children's Hospital of Illinois Covered with wires, the odds were against him with the possiblity of losing his right leg due to extravasation of epinephrine and he would most likely, if he survived, be a "vegetable'--alive but severely mentally disabled, with a feeding tube and never able to communicate. . .
EEG's showed very abnormal brain activity. An MRI showed that the brain had been injured from the severe lack of oxygen.
Many doubts arose about their aggressive approach to save their baby.
His parents could either worry or could hope. They could fear or they could trust.
So they prayed, and they asked people to pray in the church where Venerable Fulton Sheen had said mass in Peoria, Illinois.
As a group they prayed for Sheen's intercession:
And God answered the prayers and "Jesus gave him to his mother" all healed and with no complications.
The Church believes that Jesus did this through the intercession of Archbishop Sheen.who will now be beatified.
This modern day miracle is just as in the days when Jesus walked on this earth. Just as Jesus reached out to the widow, so Jesus reached out to James Fulton Engstrom's parents.
Stop and listen and always surrender your will to Jesus. Be aware of the presence of Jesus in your life. Sit quietly with Jesus and He will reach toward you to let you know how much He loves you.
God Bless
