The flaw in this reasoning is that God is an omnipotent being and St. Gemma is still human. I mean for instance, when you make the claim that God created the universe, one need not produce a lot of scientific study. Philosophical arguments can already be sufficient. On the other hand, when you make the claim that a person is having visions and is suffering from injuries that were neither self-inflicted or natural, the burden of proof is more defined.
In a canonization process, yes, you want evidence. The Church always requires a lot of evidence while moving through a canonization process. And they got it for Gemma.
Student09 is absolutely correct that if God could create the universe, He certainly could create wonders in Gemma like He did. In fact, He has done this many times in great saints for 2,000 years, so there is a TON of evidence for this kind of event, which should make it less shocking, though always delightfully wondrous and beautiful! In view of how much God has done in so many saints, and in view of the inexpressible power of a God who created the universe,
of course God could work such wonders in Gemma!
You are right that we want evidence when thereâs a canonization going on. The canonization process is complete, now, and the verdict of the Church is infallible. Therefore we can be quite sure the injuries were not self-inflicted. There was a lot of research into this, from professionals, and now there is an infallible statement.
There was one report where a doctor investigated her and came back with the conclusion that there were no stigmata. On that occasion, he saw the blood, but he could find no sign of injuries in her body, which indicated to him that there were no stigmata. However, Gemma predicted beforehand that Jesus was displeased with the planned investigation and would keep the doctor from finding anything. She had not been told by any human of the planned secret visit from the doctor, yet she foretold that this would happen. The doctorâs negative report was
not that there were self-inflicted stigmata, but that there were
no stigmata. Yet there have been plentiful witnesses, including bishops, who have clearly seen deep wounds in her body and have observed the entire process of the stigmataâs miraculous appearing and disappearing. An argument that there were no wounds in her body would be ridiculous in view of the vast numbers of testimonies that have clearly described the presence of deep and gruesome wounds in her flesh. Therefore itâs clear that the doctor was not allowed to see what was regularly happening. Either Gemma (if one is inclined to be very skeptical and throw out the numerous eyewitness reports because of prejudice, as well as the Churchâs official investigation and results) or God obstructed the doctorâs investigation.
Aaaand here is where Iâm having trouble with you here. What exactly was displeasing about their motives? Surely Christ, despite Thomasâ doubts still allowed the man to see for himself the injuries He had suffered on the cross.
Yes, but sometimes when people have asked Jesus for a sign, He has said no. For instance, once, the Pharisees approached Him, asking for a sign, and He gave them no sign âexcept the sign of Jonah,â a sign they would become aware of on Easter, but not before. And another time, we read of a town where He performed very few miracles because of the lack of faith in the place.
So sometimes God does keep His power to Himself.
He also sometimes keeps His work in His servantsâ lives to Himself. The saints have all tried to hide marvels God worked in them and through them, except when they felt it was better that people know so that they might believe, and allowed this to overrule their preference for obscurity. Jesus is no exception; there are repeated cases in the Gospels where He tells people not to let anyone know about the signs He has performed, or where He commands demons not to call Him Christ in the presence of the people.
You need to be careful with this type of thinking. Anybody can twist it and make it as if you donât want people to know something or worse, that God Himself may have had something to hide.
God does have some things to hide, but that shouldnât be seen in a negative light. He reveals more and more of His light over the course of history, bit by bit as individuals and cultures become more capable of receiving it properly. He prepared the way for Christ for millennia among the Jews through the revelation of the covenants, the laws and prophets.
Iâve experienced the necessity of this myself, as well, in my evangelistic work. Sometimes people arenât ready for some of the truths about Mary, for example. I have to share the light of the Gospel about Mary with them bit by bit, helping them to accept the easier things first and then moving on to the more and more majestic and sublime. I canât give them everything at once or theyâd throw me out with a punch in the nose.
We know that Paul saw visions in Heaven and heard words that it is not fitting for man to pass on to other men.
God reveals more and more to people as they draw closer and closer to His Heart.
does anyone else here have a devotion to this Saint? I just spent a bit reading about her on this website stgemmagalgani.com/ and âŚWOW. Reading about her really makes me want to love God more.
