A parishioner told me this story this afternoon:

My wife was getting ready to give birth and had been given the medication to induce labor. The doctor came to examine the baby who was full term and somewhat of a linebacker as far as we could tell. The doctor told us the baby was in a transverse position. In other words, he was in there sideways. The medication to induce labor had already started to kick in but baby was not positioned correctly. Mother is starting to panic a little and they are worried she will need an emergency Caesarean if the doctor can’t maneuver the baby into the right position. The doctor says he’s going to wait a short while, then come back to try one more time to move the baby. While they’re waiting an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion turns up from the local Catholic Church asking if they would like to receive communion. The startled couple say, “Yes please!”

They receive communion and when the doctor returns baby is head down feet up, ready to roll

Nice one!

This is the kind of faith story I love to share with others. It doesn’t demand that people believe in God and become Catholics, but at least it reminds them that there is more in heaven and earth than their philosophy has dreamed of. The universe is an open system and reality is rubbery. Its all not quite as firm and determined and set as those boring old materialists would like to think.