What in Heaven's Name is Going on Here?

It's refreshing, in a perverse way, that we don't have to travel to the far corners of the globe, searching out isolated villages for examples of backward and ignorant people looking for supernatural explanations of things they don't understand. We've got such people right here in our own backyard.

According to this AP story by Juliet Williams, A statue of the Virgin Mary at a church in Sacramento "has begun 'crying' a substance that looks like blood."

I understand it's in the church's interest to promote the belief among its members that their God still takes an active interest in the affairs of the world, so I don't object to statements like that of the Reverend James Murphy, who says,

"For people individually seeing things through the eyes of faith, something like this can be meaningful. As for whether it is supernatural or a miracle, normally these incidences are not. Miracles are possible, of course. The bishop is just waiting and seeing what happens. They will be moving very slowly."

Hey, whatever it takes to keep the rubes happy and engaged. More troublesome for me are statements like this, from Williams, the AP "reporter,"

"Thousands of such incidents are reported around the world each year, involving blood, water or oil, though many turn out to be hoaxes or natural phenomena."

Ah yes, many turn out to be hoaxes or natural phenomena. The rest, being neither hoaxes or natural phenomena, presumably really are miracles. Goodness gracious.

Left unexplained (who can explain the ways of God, after all?) is just what a Virgin Mary crying tears of blood in Sacramento the week before Thanksgiving signifies. Just God showing off, maybe, showing he's still got it, however pointless "it" may be.