Lightning struck the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Denver, Colorado last week, severely damaging a 22 foot statue of Jesus Christ. The event occurred on the 17th of May, striking off the right hand, destroying the left arm and shattering the feet of the image. The shrine was constructed by an Italian artist in 1954, and brought to Colorado and erected on the foothills of Golden. Those that maintain the shrine are researching how they will repair the damage done to the hands and feet of the statue.

Quote: "A Sacred Heart Statue Restoration Fund has been set up for those wanting to contribute. These funds will be used to repair the hands and feet of Jesus. "He has no hands and feet, give Him yours". (Excerpted from a homily by Fr. John Lager, O.F.M., Cap. at Mass in the Shrine chapel earlier today.)

You can see the damage to the image, pictured to the right. So what is so remarkable about lightning striking an image of Jesus Christ? What is the probability that lightning could strike 22 foot statue on a mountainside, destroying both arms and both feet, without touching the rest of the image?

Quote: "Sister Bernadette Casciano told 7NEWS the Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Mother Cabrini Shrine was hit in the arms by lightning. She said the strike knocked off the statue's right open palm, damaged its left arm, shattered its feet and caused significant damage to the base. "We are grateful that no one was hurt. We have begun to research how we might restore the arms and bring this prominent landmark back to its original beauty," said Casciano.

As insurance brokers often state, I guess you could call this an "act of God". Although the Scriptures teach us that there is only one God and idols made by men are just the "work of men's hands", the Lord treats idols and images as other gods which have taken the glory and honour deserved only to Him. With the story of the Exodus out of Egypt, all the 10 plagues were judgements on the false gods of Egypt. For Egyptians worshipped the Nile - which was turned to blood, the sun - which was turned to darkness, etc. The Lord was showing Pharaoh, who had previously stated, "Who is the Lord that I may obey Him?", who He was.

Exodus 12:12
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I [am] the LORD.

In the Old Testament, we have another story of when the Lord executed judgement against a false god. When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant from Israel, they placed it in the house of their god Dagon. In the morning, the image of Dagon had fallen on its face before the Ark - which at that time represented the place of God's presence on earth. Although Dagon was just a lump of stone, it seems the Lord wanted the Philistines to know that He was greater than their god. They set Dagon on his feet again, and when they came back the next morning, Dagon was again fallen before the Ark...

1st Samuel 5:4 
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon [was] fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [were] cut off upon the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him.

The hands represent strength and the head represents authority. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, his image was struck on the feet, which represents stability and foundation. For the world empires represented in Daniel's image, the destruction of the foundation resulted in the entire world system being dissolved. The Mother of Cabrini Shrine has had its hands and feet destroyed as a warning to those who adore these images rather than worship the true God. The destruction of the hands signifying the cutting off of the strength of this false god, and the destruction of the base signifying that anything that is not built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ will be destroyed. Amen.

Source Mother Cabrini Shrine, Denver Channel