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December 22, 2025 13 mins

A man survives a venomous bite. A shadow heals the sick. A sleepy listener falls from a window and is brought back to life. Acts is full of moments that pull us out of our assumptions, and we wanted to test what those stories mean for faith, reason, and everyday life right now. We start by pinning down a clear definition of miracle—not a break with logic, but an act of God that can’t be explained by natural causes—and why the early Church treated claims with scrutiny long before social media “proof.”

From Paul’s brush with a serpent to Peter raising Tabitha, we unpack the difference between resuscitation and resurrection, the role of faith in receiving healing, and the subtle humility of the apostles who refuse the spotlight so Christ can take center stage. The thread runs through every account: signs and wonders exist to point beyond the messenger. That principle becomes our guide for discernment, leadership, and how we talk about “coincidences” that change our path.

We then turn to modern cases: Eucharistic miracles with tested heart tissue, the liquefaction of St. Januarius’s blood, and the rigor of the Lourdes medical bureau where secular doctors document healings with no human explanation. Alongside those headline moments, we consider the “little miracles” that many of us quietly experience—timely encounters, narrow escapes, words that arrive exactly when needed—and how cooperation and humility make us available to grace. We even revisit Eutychus’s infamous nap as a lesson in how God meets us at our lowest and lifts us back into community.

If you’re curious, skeptical, or simply hungry for hope, this conversation offers a grounded way to think about signs and wonders—anchored in scripture, attentive to evidence, and focused on Christ. If it sparks something in you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review to tell us where you’ve seen grace break in.

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Jordan Whiteko, Father Andrew Hamilton, Father Christopher Pujol, Vincent Reilly, Cliff Gorski, John Zylka, Sarah Hartner

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:01):
You're listening to the Catholic Acting podcast.
We discussed the act that Jesusperformed that stunned his
disciples.
Great to be back, Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 (00:09):
You don't know us by now, you're never gonna know.

SPEAKER_02 (00:12):
I'm Jordan Waco here with Father Hamilton and Father
Poojil.
And we're both stunned.
All right, we're on episode 11.
You're still with us.
We're talking about signs andwonders when the apostles
perform miracles.
So usually when we think aboutmiracles from the Bible, we
think of Jesus.
But throughout the Acts of theApostles, they also perform the

(00:34):
miracles.
Uh, but before we get intospecifics, what is a miracle?

SPEAKER_03 (00:39):
A miracle is something that, first of all,
gets our attention, right?
It comes from the Latin to meanan object of wonder, something
that is so attractive and sochanging and something so
unexpected that it pulls us in.
But in if you apply that toChristianity, really a miracle

(01:00):
is a an act of God in our humancondition.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
I would say, yeah, it's a supernatural revelation
logic.

SPEAKER_03 (01:10):
Yes.
And so I mean, miracles stillhappen.
Not human.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
Actually, I'm gonna correct that.
Maybe not human logic, so muchas it's not that miracles break
logic in any way, but it'ssomething that we like wouldn't
normally understand something tobe.

SPEAKER_03 (01:25):
Because God is logical, but we can't explain it
from a human perspective.
Right.
So like if we look at all thedifferent cases that are open
right now for the causes ofcanonization of saints, each
miracle of those saints arestudied by multiple doctors, lay

(01:45):
people, but also non-Christiandoctors, because a miracle has
to be objectively true.

SPEAKER_00 (01:57):
It's unexplainable by natural means.

SPEAKER_03 (01:59):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
All right.
So it keeps us held in wonderand suspense.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04):
And it's described repeatedly as signs and wonders,
hence the title.
Um, so a miracle is wonderful.
What were some of the memorablemiracles that took place in Acts
of the Apostles?

SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
There's some fun ones along the way if you're if
you're keeping track as you gothrough the Acts of the
Apostles.
Like it's not all drama.
No, it's all not just yeah,dramatic, but there's there's
real life effects that happenfrom miracles.
Tell us about the snake bite.
So Paul's by a fire there, andhe's bitten by what would be a
venomous, not poisonous snake.
Poison is for plants, venomousfor snakes.

(02:37):
For all of our snake experts outthere.
Yep.
So a venomous snake, and heshould die from it, swell up and
fall over.

SPEAKER_03 (02:43):
And there's no life light to get him to the venom
clinic.

SPEAKER_00 (02:46):
And essentially nothing really happens to him.
So it fulfills what comes at thelast part of the written gospel
as talking about that those thatfollow Christ will be able to
work wonders, that they will beable to drink even things that
would be otherwise poisonous orvenomous things biting them, and
it doesn't have an effect uponthem.
So it's breaking down thenatural order with the

(03:07):
supernatural shining through.
And so people are amazed bythat.

SPEAKER_03 (03:11):
And we have Saint Peter, he raises Tabitha from
the dead.
And so we have to also make thedistinction that this is a
resuscitation, not aresurrection, because she'll
have to die again.

SPEAKER_00 (03:21):
But I always thought about Lazarus after he comes out
of the grave.
I'd be so mad.
Think about having to die again,you know.
Like I'm already bound.

SPEAKER_03 (03:29):
Leave me in my tomb.

SPEAKER_02 (03:31):
And yeah, and we talked about that last season
last season, too.
Would you even want to come backonce you're in the glory of God
and paradise?
No.
No.
Yeah, no.
I knew that was a rhetoricalquestion.

SPEAKER_00 (03:44):
Uh we just had to be very clear.
Uh there's other interestingmiracles, right?
We talked about in one of theprevious episodes.
Yeah, Peter's shadow aboutoutside the temple.
So it's uh more important thanthe shadow that we have of uh
the famous little rodent therein Punchatani.
Yeah.
So a shadow that's moremeaningful that gives healing,
uh, rather than just telling usthat we have a couple weeks more

(04:07):
or less of winter.

SPEAKER_02 (04:08):
Yeah, it means the same thing either way, by the
way.
It does.
Whether you're if he sees ashadow or not, you know, it's
still the same day.

SPEAKER_03 (04:15):
But that would be fun to be part of that group and
get one of those top hats andknock on the we can get you a
top hat.
Maybe for next year.

SPEAKER_02 (04:21):
Yeah, we'll put you we'll put we'll put uh the logo
on it.

SPEAKER_03 (04:24):
All right.
But even the man that Peterheals with his shadow, imagine
what faith he must have had tosimply think that even not a
physical touch would heal him.
And thinking just that thisman's shadow could affect me and
restore me back to health andcommunity.

(04:44):
And I think that that'ssomething important for us to
recognize.
Jordan, have you everexperienced anything that was
like a miracle, that was like asign or wonder that really made
you see God acting?
He got a girlfriend.

SPEAKER_01 (05:05):
I'm just gonna cut to that.
That was good.
All right.
Well, Father Andrew answered forme.
I I I finally got a girlfriend.
So you can stop sending in thoseletters.

SPEAKER_02 (05:16):
Please cease and desist.
So, what lessons can be learnedfrom these miracle stories?

SPEAKER_03 (05:22):
When we least expect it is oftentimes when we find
the Lord working.

SPEAKER_00 (05:29):
Yeah, and God gives them not in a way in which that
we can guess, oh, on Tuesdaynext week, this miracle's gonna
happen, or here or there,wherever.
God works these into time andcreation, maybe when a person
most needs something, whenthey're going through the most
difficult thing of their life.
Think about how many people haveexperienced, not that we've like

(05:51):
looked into it on a level ofscientific inquiry exactly, but
many times people experiencesmaller miracles in their life
of ways in which that you knowthey really fell into something
that changed their life, thatthey met this person that they
never would have thought.
It could be seen as acoincidence, everything could be

(06:12):
seen as a coincidence in thislife, or that could actually be
your personal little miraclestory that has changed the route
that you've taken in life.

SPEAKER_03 (06:19):
It's important as we look at these miracles, it's so
we can get so caught up in thewonder of them, which is
important, but then we forgetsometimes that the miracles are
always done in the name ofJesus.
The disciples never do it fortheir own glory, their fame,
their honor, and they're alwayspointing towards Christ.

SPEAKER_00 (06:40):
Yeah, may the greater glory of God, you know,
God be praised in all ouractions.
And when we get out of the wayand it's not about our own
vanity, that's when God canwork.
When we forget ourselves in themission of God, that's when he's
most fully alive in the midst ofthe world.
And so we see that exact imageof the early church that

(07:01):
everything's about Jesus, it'sabout his name, about getting
his name out there.
And so they kind of sink back,uh, take a backseat to all of
that, and that's what continuesto grow the church and why it
prospers then into those earlyyears.

SPEAKER_03 (07:14):
And it should remind us of that interaction between
Saint Peter and Christ whenPeter told when Christ told
Peter to get behind me.
Because Christ is the one who isleading, the one who is moving
us forward.
And so really each and every oneof us have to be behind him, who
is that standard bearer, thatflag bearer, that announcer of

(07:37):
of freedom for all people andsalvation.

SPEAKER_00 (07:41):
Because he's the one that's called from the
prophecies, wonder counselor,right?
God amongst us, and so he'sstill amongst his church.

SPEAKER_02 (07:48):
So what about miracles today?
You know, are have there beenany that have happened modern
time?

SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
I mean, we still have miracles that happen that
are constantly being lookedinto.
You have Eucharistic miracles,which are something for our
viewers to look into, especiallystarting with Lanciano, Italy,
and uh spread it out throughoutEurope.
And the Eucharistic miracles,really, in this time of
Eucharistic revival uh withinthe church are so important for
us because it takes the veil offof everything to see like this

(08:19):
is done by God.
This isn't ordinary just breadand wine.
It might have the appearances ofthat for many people, but
sometimes again, God breaksthrough that.
And like, what do we see in someof these miracles?
That the host actually bleeds.
We get true heart tissue.
And there's these miracles thathappened in the 1300s and the
1400s, no way to preserve themor to keep an environment where

(08:42):
things wouldn't decay, and yetthey're still here that many
years later.
Something that just isstupefying in the normal order.
The same thing St.
Januarius, that a lot of peoplealways think of a church that
holds a vial of his blood inNaples, the blood continues to
turn and liquefy every year onhis feast day, something that a

(09:04):
lot of people come to see and tosee that great miracle.
And if it doesn't, there's greatfamine in the land or war.
But some of the ones I've beenmost edified by looking into are
some of the miracles that happenat Lourdes, France, and from the
apparitions there to SaintBernadette.
And you have a lot of otherdoctors that are not Catholic,

(09:25):
that are from all differentfaith backgrounds or no faith
whatsoever, and purely justobjective, looking at these
natural circumstances thatsomehow it came out that cancers
that couldn't be healed werehealed, deformities restored.

SPEAKER_03 (09:41):
And 60 Minutes actually just did a piece about
it within the last year aboutLord's and about these miracles
that are taking place, and sowell scientifically documented
that there is no humanexplanation for how these things
have occurred.
I mean, I think we have to beopen to seeing miracles every

(10:02):
day because our ability to callupon God as Father in one sense
is miraculous, that we have arelationship with the living
God.
So if that's our basis, thenit's easier for us to believe

(10:22):
these miracles that are moreflashy.

SPEAKER_02 (10:26):
So, in addition to the ones you already mentioned,
uh there's Ananias who healsPaul, who was blinded by his
encounter with Jesus on theroad.
Peter heals a paralyzed man,Paul heals a man who is
crippled, uh, and performs anexorcism on a slave girl, and
later heals a man withdysentery.

SPEAKER_00 (10:48):
The dysentery.
You gotta watch out for thedysentery.
Anybody ever play Oregon Trail?
Kills you in one of two ways.
Either you make it to Oregon oryou die from dysentery.
What happens when you die fromdysentery?
Uh, we don't want to see thatone.

SPEAKER_03 (11:03):
You're not fording the river.

SPEAKER_02 (11:07):
Um, and that doesn't even include the jailbreaks we
talked of uh in the previousepisode.

SPEAKER_00 (11:12):
Another great lesson that we can learn from the Acts
of the Apostles is Paul'shealing of a young man named
Eudyches.
Now, Eudyches' story is that heis listening to Paul preach, and
seemingly Paul's a prettyinteresting preacher.
I mean, he's going around to alot of different communities,
he's well written, well spoken.
And so I don't know if he justhad a rough night the night
before, but Eudyches, he driftsoff a little bit.

(11:35):
And so as he drifts off, he hejust so happened to be next to a
window, which is not where youusually want to be.
And so then he fell to theground fellow out of the window
upstairs, uh essentially dying,being on the ground, and then
Paul goes down and resuscitateshim and raises him that way.
And uh, it's a good reminderthen for all of you out there

(11:57):
that maybe father's going on alittle long up there at the Ambo
at a weekend mass, but you don'twant to be like Eudekes, okay?
Keep those eyes open.

SPEAKER_03 (12:07):
And don't break the stained glass falling out.

SPEAKER_02 (12:09):
I'll write some of the homilies, keep them
entertaining.

SPEAKER_03 (12:12):
I mean, poor Eudyches.
He's laying dead on the groundbecause he fell asleep during a
boring homily, and next thingyou know, Saint Paul has raised
him back to life.
So it's a reminder that when wethink we're in the worst
possible, when we've hit bottom,right?
That the Lord still is presentand makes himself known to us

(12:33):
and can do marvelous wonders.
Oftentimes, it takes ouracceptance and our cooperation
to see those miracles take placeand take fruition.
Thanks for listening to theCatholic Accent Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
Don't forget to follow, like, and subscribe to
our show.

SPEAKER_03 (12:52):
I think uh I don't think.
Um clearly I'd like to mentionthat due to a popular response
of our faithful listeners, we'veadded two more episodes to this
season.
Last season we had 10 episodes,and this season we were 12 for

(13:12):
our going to be a twelve.

SPEAKER_02 (13:15):
But yes, we've already passed our our last how
numbers were.

SPEAKER_01 (13:26):
One the count counts.

SPEAKER_02 (13:32):
All right, let's just move on.
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