Posted on 12/14/2008 3:42:22 PM PST by NYer
COLONIE — God works in mysterious ways apparently, especially during ice storms.
Without power since 2 a.m. the indoor temperature dropped by the hour and evacuation was imminent at Our Lady of Hope retirement facility run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Against this natural disaster, they offered prayers, fingered rosary beads and heard Mass celebrated.
Just as the 86 elderly, low-income residents and the 10 nuns who care for them had packed suitcases and were about to begin loading into ambulances and buses for a temporary placement in a nursing home across town, the lights flickered on and the furnace roared back to life, just before 1 p.m. Friday.
"It's a miracle," proclaimed Mother Celine Vadukkoot, the mother superior. "God showed his divine providence to us once again."
Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, broken tree branches had pulled down power lines and left homes along Old Loudon Road without power.
"How could I have ever doubted the sisters?" asked Jon Politis, chief of Colonie Emergency Services, who was standing by at the facility with a cadre of emergency medical services workers who had assessed the facility's disaster plan and were ready to relocate residents between the Albany County Nursing Home and the Sisters of St. Joseph's Provincial House.
Theresa Fox, 91, seemed to dance a little jig with her walker as power came back on and she learned she wouldn't have to leave her home of the past six years.
"I'm so happy I can stay," she said, as she collected her mail in the lobby.
"I love this place This is my home. This is God's home."
Fox said her immediate plans included going back up to her third-floor room, unpacking her clothes and medicine, and tuning into her favorite soap opera.
"I love 'The Young and the Restless'," she said. "I'm addicted to it."
Mother Vadukkoot is hoping for some divine intervention when it comes to raising $600,000 for a large emergency generator, adequate to power the entire facility.
It will take more than a thoroughbred filly named Rosary Beads the nuns were given in 2005 and which they later sold for $8,000 at auction, retaining 20 percent of the horse's modest earnings.
"We'll keep praying for miracles," the mother superior said.
This community is just down the road. The good sisters accept any and all offerings with a big smile and the loving embrace of our Lord. True to their name, they are beggars for the poor for whom they have provided a loving home in which to live out one's last days. God bless these good sisters!
This is what passes for a "miracle" these days?
At least acknowledge the work of the utility crews.
Deal with it.
The newsies aren't capable of such subtlety. And the work of the utility crews is a miracle.
I think God acts in answer to prayer, sometimes with a remarkable nudging aside of the normal so-call "laws" of nature and human behavior and sometimes in accordance with them.
I agree with MotherVadukkoot. When men, some good some not so good, go out into nasty weather and do hard and dangerous work, and the power is restored just in time to prevent a huge disruption, that's a miracle in my book. We are surrounded with miracles and prayers answered by a God drunk in love with us, and we don't notice or we sneer.
We have frequent ice storms and resulting power outages here in NW GA, and the next home purchase after a lawn mower is a generator. In fact, we bought ours BEFORE we got a lawn mower because our first house didn't have a lawn.
If they have a natural gas or oil-burning furnace, a small (6-8,000 W) generator will be enough to run the furnace blower, the igniter, the refrigerator, and a few electric lights. Soup can be made on a Coleman stove and if they have some enterprising sisters who are willing to experiment they can even bake in a Dutch oven or cardboard-box oven on the back patio.
If they have an electric furnace, though, they are in a jam because any coil draws too much current for a small generator. Even the little electric space heaters put a terrible strain on it -- and you really shouldn't try to make toast or run a hair dryer!
We have lived quite well in ice storms for years, I think our record is 10 days without power (that was Hurricane Opal, there were at least a dozen trees down across the power lines between us and the substation).
We Believers shall say a prayer for you in hopes your eyes will open.
Remember
There are no atheist in foxholes.
“I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”
nice!
I don't agree...While the Lord may have prompted the person in charge at the electrical company to get on that section of downed wires first, I don't see where it can be called a miracle...
I've seen plenty of miracles...A miracle seems to an event where there is no explanation for it happening, other than the hand of God...
I'm sure if ALL Christians take a look, they can find miracles in their lives...
Had the electricity been restored without the effort of the workmen, there's a miracle...Let's not downplay the power of God...
My initial comment was a reaction to the level which "miracles" have sunk. From a virgin birth - which would be a genuine miracle - to restoring power? I mean, come on.
Hopefully Our Lady of Hope can raise enough cash to avoid this sort of situation in the future.
Retirement home residents have enough things to worry about. Heating and electricity shouldn't be one of them.
I don’t believe that anyone here would think you were pandering if you happened to post the address. . .
I visited a Little Sisters of the Poor retirement home when I was in elementary school back in the 1970’s; part of the church’s CCD catechism program (essentially “bible school”).
I wonder if the 100-year-old lady whom we met then is still living?
.A miracle seems to an event where there is no explanation for it happening, other than the hand of God...
Yeah, well by that definition, it's not a miracle. I have come to think of those as "special" miracles. They too happen unnoticed.
Jesus was right: If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not believe even if one were to return from the dead. There are plenty of inexplicable things which to the eyes of faith, given vision by the Spirit, are clear miracles. But the faithless, acknowledge the wonder of the cure or whatever, but turn back to their business.
Would this meet the standard of the Vatican for a miracle? No, I don’t think it would reach this level. However to those involved from their point of view there was a sequence of events, which they had no control over, so yes to them it was a miracle.
As for the atheist in the foxhole. I’m sure there may be a few out there, heck with all the evil present I’m sure there are a lot of lost souls. I can not speak to your experiences but mine have taught me if a man (or woman) is at the point where they believe the end is just about upon them there are second thoughts. Yes I have seen this occur. Have I been there for all possibilities? No.
That is one of my favorite jokes of all time.
These guys can say what they like before and after action, but but it is not true.
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