A great miracle happened here…

“A great miracle happened here.” This is a saying that is repeated on the Feast of Hannuka, when Jews remember the tiny flask of olive oil that lasted for eight days to illuminate the Menorah in the Temple. Today, early in the afternoon, this saying was repeated by those who frequent the seat of the Saint James Vicariate in the center of downtown Jerusalem.

A tall tree that has stood for decades in the courtyard of the home of the Saint James Vicariate suddenly, without any warning, simply crashed to the ground. This of course is not a miracle. What was miraculous was that while the tree fell down just as our children were beginning to arrive at the Vicariate after school (as they do every day), the tree came down with no child in sight. What was miraculous is that while each day the courtyard around the tree is full of cars of those who frequent the Vicariate or members of the kehilla who have errands to run and park their cars in the courtyard, at the moment the tree fell there were few cars parked there. What was miraculous was that in almost every direction in which the tree could have fallen, there would be severe damage to the property, it in fact fell in the only direction where there was nothing, no window, no balcony, no wall, in its way.

Thanks to the arduous work of Tony and Jack, the tree could be carved up and moved out of the way!

There is a special blessing to be said, praising God for His providence and today that blessing was on every lip. We could point to God in a real way today as we repeated to the children: “See how God loves us”. Thank you, Lord!