Eucharistic Miracles of Buenos Aires, Argentina (Part 2 of 3) It was inflamed human heart tissue due to a compromised blood supply. I realised that when the heart suffers trauma, it looks very different from standard textbook images of normal heart tissue. The scientists that I had engaged thus far were not experts in heart trauma. The next step was to find a world expert who was not only a forensic pathologist, but also a cardiologist. I found him in New York: Dr Frederick Zugibe. On 20 April 2004, a leading Australian investigative journalist, Mike Willesee, accompanied me to New York to present Dr Zugibe with my case samples. Dr Zugibe had been told nothing of the history of the sample or my research. In our presence, as I filmed, he microscopically examined the samples. The only true statements made by Dr Zugibe are contained in what I recorded and documented at that original meeting. They have since become historic: “ I am an expert on the heart. The heart is my business. This is flesh. This flesh is heart muscle tissue, myocardium, from the left ventricle wall not far from a valvular area. It is the muscle that gives the heart its beat and the body its life. This heart muscle is inflamed. It has lost its striations and is infiltrated with white blood cells. White blood cells are not normally found in heart tissue. These cells are produced by the body and they escape from blood and infiltrate the tissue to address trauma or injury. The presence of those white blood cells in the tissue tell me two things: Firstly. This heart has suffered traumatic injury. There has been a compromising of the blood supply to the heart. This is not unlike what I have seen when someone has been beaten severely over the chest in the region of the heart. Secondly. This heart was alive. This heart is from a living person not a dead person. I am looking at a snapshot of a living heart. I can date the injury. I can date when the compromising of the blood supply occurred. It happened 3 days before the snapshot in time captured in the microscopic slide .” (Reference: www.miracolieucaristici.org)

Every year churches around the world celebrate Sea Sunday. It is a day for people to come together to pray for seafarers and fishers, and thank them for the vital role they play in all of our lives. But seafarers often work in difficult and dangerous conditions. Conflicts around the world are increasing risks to their safety, especially for crews travelling through regions such as the Strait of Hormuz. Many also face abandonment by employers, long separations from family, stress, and poor mental health. Since a typical contract for those who call the ocean their workplace lasts several months, often with limited internet access, while working in shifts around the clock. Isolation, exhaustion, anxiety, and uncertainty can weigh heavily on those who work far from home and community. This is why the work of Stella Maris is so important. Stella Maris (formerly known as Apostleship of the Sea) is the maritime charity of the Catholic Church. Through chaplains and ship visitors, Stella Maris offers pastoral, practical and spiritual support, friendship, and a listening ear to seafarers and fishers in ports of the UK and around the world. A simple visit can remind someone that they are not forgotten. A conversation, a prayer, or help contacting family can become a source of hope in difficult times. Your support will make a big difference to seafarers and fishers in need. You can donate in church, by visiting www.stellamaris.org.uk/donate, or by texting ‘SEA’ to 70460 to donate £5. This collection is vital to enable Stella Maris to continue its important work, so please give generously. There is a 2nd Collection for Stella Maris this weekend

O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honor. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,  God, for ever and ever. Amen.