Jesus Statue's Head Moves During Good Friday Mass
Villagers in western Mexico were shocked to learn that an image of the crucified Christ in their church moved its head. The phenomenon was recorded on video by a devotee during a Lenten service at Santa Ana church in the town of Tepetitlan, Jalisco state more than three weeks ago.
The 20-second footage showed a statue of Christ on the cross that was placed below the altar. It was covered in a dark blue veil to commemorate Good Friday. A woman was heard singing in the background as part of the mass when suddenly, the statue's head dropped an inch, similar to how a live person dozing off in a sitting position would look like.
The clip went viral and made it to national headlines. Parishioners attributed the rare sight to a miracle. "He wants to tell us something," said Estela Gomez, who saw what happened. Some netizens, however, are suspicious since an uneventful mass was recorded, which is something unlikely to happen unless the cameraman knew that something unusual would happen at that very moment.
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Parish priest Juan Antonio Guerra Lule said something beautiful happened, but he said he wouldn't describe it as a miracle, the Sun reported. He explained that the 300-year-old statue was usually inside a glass coffin, but at that time, it was placed in front for the Seven Last Words mass, as per tradition.
Lule explained that the head dropped because the fur rope that held it in place wasn't secured. "It is a natural movement, it is normal," he said. Since there was nothing unusual about the incident, the priest decided against reporting the "miracle" to church authorities.
The Catholic Church, as a policy, doesn't encourage the faithful to be dependent on signs and wonders to get closer to God, but it also doesn't prevent its members from believing in miracles. "If miracles aren't helpful for you, if you find them distracting or strange, you can focus on other parts of the faith," said Michael O'Neill, who studies, speaks and writes about how miracles affect modern Catholic life.
