Exactly ten years to the day—18 July 2018—Ricky Peterson of Kansas City knelt once more at the tomb of Mary MacKillop, this time with a prayer of thanksgiving for the seemingly miraculous event that had changed his life a decade earlier.
The first time the now-57 year-old knelt at the tomb was as a pilgrim during World Youth Day in Sydney, when he had prayed a prayer he will never forget—that through the intercession of Mary MacKillop, God would heal him of the Parkinson’s Disease he had endured for nine long years.
“I said, ‘Mary, I’m asking you to pray with me again tonight. Lord, I would love nothing more than to leave this Parkinson’s and tremor buried beside Mary, if it’s your will. I’m going to go out and praise your name’.”
It was only ten minutes later when the father of five was on the train, travelling with his youngest daughter back to their host family in Wahroonga, that Ricky first noticed the severe tremor in his right arm had disappeared.
“I kept checking every 30 seconds and I was like, ‘it’s still gone, it’s still gone’.”
Read the rest of this inspiring story at the Catholic Weekly.
With thanks to the Catholic Weekly and the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.