For those of you interested in some 'proof' more concrete than just the say-so of belivers, I came across these interesting examples recently. They relate to the Divine Mercy, a devotion by Catholics to the divine mercy of God.

The first concerns a guy called Ugo Festa who was born in Vicenza, Italy in 1951. He got multiple sclerosis early on. By age 39 he had sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy. By 1990 his spine was distorted and he was getting daily seizures. All kinds of doctors and consultants looked at him and decided in the end there was nothing they could do for him. He decided the onlything left was prayer.

He went to Rome in 1990 and was invited to go with a group to a Divine Mercy centre, but refused. The group went without him but left him with a picture of the Divine Mercy (it shows a depiction of Jesus with two streams of light coming from His heart and side). At St.Peter's he met with the Pope (John Paul II) and asked him to bless the picture. He told the Pope he felt very despondent. The Pope replied 'how can you feel despondent with the Divine Mercy in your arms?"

Ugo decided to go to the Divine Mercy centre after all. A few days later he was praying at the centre when he suddenly noticed the arms of Jesus in the picture outstretched towards him and a tremendous warmth flowing into him. He found himself standing on his feet and loudly praising God. He heard Jesus say 'rise up and walk'. He began to walk. At that moment his ailments were cured (remember what they were? He was at this time, wheelchair bound). He was more physically perfect than he'd ever been in his life before. In August 1990 Ugo returned to the Vatican and met with the Pope again, telling (this time standing on his feet) what had happened to him. He now devotes his life to spreading the message of the Divine Mercy.

Then there was Maureen Digan who at age 15 got a slow progressive disease caleld Lymphedmia. This disease does not respond to medictaion and does not go into remission. Over 10 years she had 50 operations and stays in hospital of up to a year at a time in length. Friends asked her to put her trust in God, but unsurprisingly she wouldn't asking why God had let her suffer like that. She lost her faith completely. Her husband eventually persuaded her to visit the tomb of the nun in Poland who had first had the revelations about the Divine Mercy (Sister Faustina). Thus in 1981 Maureen went to confession for the first time since she'd been a young girl. At the nun's tomb she said to herself 'ok, Faustina, I came a long way now do something". She heard (in her heart) the nun reply 'if you ask for my help I will give it to you". Suddenly she felt as if she was having a nervous breakdown - all the pian seemed to drain out of her body and her swollen leg which was due to be amputated shortly went back to its normal size. She was examined by five independent doctors who came to the conclsuion she was healed completely and had medical explanation for the sudden healing of this incurable disease.

There is a site www.divinemercy.com but it's currently under construction. If interested in knowing more, get the Divine Mercy booklet ISBN 1872276 15 6