In this clip, Cy Kellett welcomes Tim Staples to discuss how to engage a Pentecostal fiancé about the Catholic faith. Tim shares insights on the power of miracles and how they can bridge the gap in understanding and feeling God’s presence in the Catholic Church.
Transcript:
Caller: So my fiance is Pentecostal. And I understand that you were from the Assemblies of God before you came to the church. Correct. Okay. So whenever I try to have a discussion with her, it seems I could throw all of the church history, you know, all of the. I guess the evidence for the Catholic Church, and the conversation just immediately shuts down where it’s just a right. She doesn’t. She doesn’t feel God. At the Catholic Church whenever we go to Mass together. Sure. And I’m just kind of wondering if you have any guidance or any, I guess, experience with that particular objection. Yeah. Call it that. Absolutely. But let me just say this. At the outset, she goes to Mass with you. Yeah. She’s gone, I would say by four or five times. I mean, she’s. That’s amazing. That’s amazing right there. It’s not a. Yeah. She doesn’t really come out with any strong object. You know, we could have a discussion about real presence things, you know, the saints. But, I mean, she’s very. I would say, supportive of. Right. Of my faith. And she really has no objections, I guess, to me being Catholic, the real hiccup is he just doesn’t feel God there.
Tim Staples: Yeah. You know, I think you’ve. You’ve kind of reached that point where now, okay, I know where she stands. And so, you know, I always say to folks Christian, you have to find out where the person itches, and they’re the only one that can tell you. And then you scratch it. It seems like you may have gotten there because with some I know Christian from my family, you know, with my brother Terry, I mean, my brother Ted, it was doctrine, man. We hit doctrine after doctrine, and we would argue and argue and argue. And they’re both Catholic now. My mom knows much more. Like your fiance, that is fiance, Am I right?
Caller: Correct. Yeah. She was much more. So.
Tim Staples: I will tell you how I approached my mom. I approached my mom by introducing her to the miracles of Lourdes and Fatima, Padre Pio and, you know, Eucharistic miracles, the incorruptibles. And that really grabbed my mom because as a Pentecostal, you know, your fiance knows Mark 16:17. These signs shall follow them that believe they will lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover, speak with new tongues and all that. That’s a big verse in Pentecostalism. But what really, really drew my mom was the fact that in the Catholic Church alone do you have all of these hundreds of miracles, many of which are visible to this day. You can go to Lanciano and See the miracle of Lanciano. It exists. I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. You know, you can see the incorruptibles, like St. Catherine Laboure. You know where this woman has been dead for what, over. Gosh, over 100 years. Well over 100 years. Way over 100 years. And her fingers are still pliable. Her bones are cartilaginous, her hair is perfect. You can see her eye color. If you cut her, she will bleed. There’s no human explanation for this. And her body is there. St Bernadette in Lourdes as well. Her body’s in Nevers, but those sorts of things. And the eucharistic miracles of Lanciano. Lanciano is 1,319 years old, to be exact. 1319 years. And it still exists. It’s a miracle where the sacred host and the precious blood were transformed into real human flesh and blood. I mean, it’s phenomenal. And it still exists. Coagulated blood. And it’s been scientifically examined to be the flesh from a human heart. Actually, the myocardium of a human heart. I mean, miracles like these. Miracles like. If you’ve ever read about Padre Pio, forgive me, I can go on forever on this, but if you’ve ever read any of the books on or by Padre Pio, I’ve read two biographies, and it’s a mind blower. The miracles of this man who just died in 1968. You know, it’s in our lifetime. Sigh. This man was walking the planet and we’re talking about. There is a woman who is still alive to this day. I think she’s about 82 now and she’s still alive.
What is her name again? Digiorgio. I think it’s. I forget her first name. Her Last name is DiGiorgio, but I want to say Pia, but I’m not sure. She was born without the pupils in her eyes, so she was born blind. And at seven years old, her grandmother brought her to San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio. And Padre Pio prayed for her and she was healed. And to this day, 75 years later, this is a mind blower. 75 years later, she still doesn’t have any pupils in her eyes. She’s technically blind, and yet she sees perfectly. I mean, she is a walking miracle, anyway. Christian. I would argue that’s a great way to start with a Pentecostal is the miracles, because the miracles of the Catholic Church. Not that miracles can’t happen outside, because I believe they have and they at Least potentially can. But there is nothing that compares with the miracles that have happened in the church. So that’s a good first start. And from there, you might find she’ll become a lot more curious. It’s because of the fact that we are the true church, that we have such profound miracles. Gemma digiorgio. Gemma, yes. Gemma digiorgio. What a story. Just beautiful. And we have hundreds of them in the church. In fact, there’s a great book by Tan Books. I think it’s called Saints that have Raised the Dead. I have a copy of it. I think it is. That documents just under 400 times in church history where saints have raised the dead. Right. What? Yeah. Well over 300. Close to 400 documented cases. Of course, St. Anthony famously raised the dead, but we’ve had just. It’s incredible. And this is one of the best kept secrets in the church, by the way. These are gifts. Miracles are gifts to the Church. Not for us to just, you know, say, wow, this is cool. They’re for unbelievers. That’s why God does it and Catholics don’t tell anybody about it. Drives me crazy.
Caller: So I don’t. I think you cut out or. I couldn’t quite hear. Do you have a book that you could recommend that at least was, like, a compilation of these things?
Tim Staples: Oh, sure, sure. I would recommend, for example, Joanne Carroll Cruz wrote two books, one Eucharistic Miracles and one called the Incorruptibles. Excellent. That recounts just scores of Eucharistic miracles and Incorruptibles. Gosh. There’s another book I have at home on miracles. Jimmy Akin gave it to me, and now I can’t think of the name. But I’ll tell you what I could do. If you leave your email address with our call screener, I can send it to you. I’ll send you that title. It’s sitting right in my office at my house. But I can’t think of the name right now. But it’s a good place to start. Eventually, though, you’re gonna need good apologetics, because eventually it’s gonna lead her to ask the questions. Okay, but what about this? What about that? What about that? Yeah, but it’s a good way to get her to, you know, take that first step. Thanks, Christian. Thank you very much. We go now to Brenda in Colorado.