The rescue of Chilean miners
Saint Mary Mackillop was asked by devout Catholics to intercede for the rescue of the Chilean miners. Praying to Mother Mary Mackillop has now become an expectation of all Australian Catholics concerning people in all kinds of dire circumstances.
In Chile, a strongly Catholic country, thousands of people prayed to saints daily for the rescue. Protestants consider all believers to be saints of God and all have the right to intercede with Him. But they also prayed for the same result.
Now the miners have been safely brought from hell to hope, from the blackness of despair to the light of day. The President of Chile said it was the prayers of the faithful that brought them out after being entombed for 69 days.
It is not ended yet. Mine Safety regulations must be strengthened. Medical checks must be made on the miners for signs of post traumatic stress, panic attacks, anxiety, and family adjustment tension.
The miners often prayed together while underground and some of those rescued have already thanked God for His help. This saved them from the depression that causes loss of hope. Faith show there is light above the tunnel.
What was the secret of this incredible rescue? Of course the united will of the people of Chile, the international expertise of many mining countries including Australia, the Phoenix capsule and large drill were central. Others burst out in gratitude to God for answered prayer. Millions of people asked that the 33 miners trapped a half mile beneath the earth be rescued. And they were.
“God has spoken to me clearly and guided my hand each step of the rescue,” said Carlos Parra Diaz, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor at the San Jose mine. “He wanted the miners to be rescued and I am His instrument.” A local Catholic priest put it more humbly: “God has heard our prayers. Lots of prayers from lots of people.”
But what if they had died as thousands of miners in China every year die?
Many Christians die when saints are invoked and God is the object of believing prayer. For twenty-five years, every week I conducted a Prayer for Healing Service that continues to this day. We believed, anointed people with oil, trusted God and yet good people died. True we had unexplained healings, remission of cancer and changed attitudes. We did not need the intercessions of special saints, just the prayers of believers. But many people were not healed and many died.
All Christians must come to grips with unanswered prayer. At every prayer meeting I have ever attended there are many unanswered prayers. Christians die of cancer at the same approximate rate as non-Christians in churches of every persuasion. The fact is that many prayers go apparently unanswered, if the answer to prayer is to get what is prayed for.
For reasons I do not understand, God answers prayer according to providence that the Creator put in the world at the beginning. For the Chilean miners the answer to prayer came through the Phoenix capsule and a large drill. Some experience healing through medicine. Some things we just get over naturally. This providence is a limit to our expectations that God has self-imposed.
Never the less, when prayers are miraculously answered, it is only natural and right that we should fall on our knees in gratitude. It is very sad to witness such a great result and not have Someone beyond those at the mine head to thank.
REV THE HON DR GORDON MOYES AC MLC