Petersboat Podcast: "Is it Wrong to Ask for Signs? | The Monday After" (Jan 5, 2026)
Host: R. Ketcham

Episode Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Father R. Ketcham reflects on the meaning of signs and miracles in the Christian life, particularly in the aftermath of the Feast of the Epiphany. Rooted in Catholic tradition and personal experience, the discussion explores how God communicates to people through events, symbols, miracles, and even apparent coincidences, inviting listeners to discern and interpret signs not as proofs but as invitations to deeper faith.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is a "Sign"?

• Definition: A sign is "something that we can see happening and then interpret so that God can speak a word to us through it." (01:21)
• Context: The episode is inspired by the Epiphany, where the Magi follow a star to find Jesus. The star, the gifts of the Magi (gold, frankincense, myrrh), and the dream warning them are all presented as signs—real events rich in deeper meaning.

2. Faith and the Reception of Signs

• Caution About Sharing: Ketcham warns that discussing miracles and signs can sometimes alienate non-believers:
  “Some people think we’re already crazy for believing in God in the first place or wanting to be religious—talking about miracles with them can sometimes only increase that gap.” (05:17)
• Gift of Faith: He underscores that faith is a gift and signs don't create faith, but "confirm and strengthen it." (06:01)
• Quote:
  “For someone who believes, no explanation is necessary, but for one who does not have faith, no explanation is possible.” (05:32)

3. Modern and Scriptural Signs and Miracles

a. Persistence of the Jewish People (08:00)

• The enduring existence of the Jewish people is seen as a “sign” of humanity’s ongoing need for redemption—not as an erasure of the past, but as its redemption.
• Quote:
  “Salvation is not the eradication of my past. It’s not cancel culture, it’s the redemption of my past.” (10:47)

b. Apparitions of the Blessed Mother (12:15)

• Our Lady of Guadalupe (1531) and Fatima (1917):
  • The miracles associated with these apparitions (especially the “Miracle of the Sun” at Fatima) serve as both wondrous events and as signs with personal and communal meaning.
  • At Fatima, after a rainy morning, the sun dances in the sky, leaving thousands "dry and clean":
    “God was speaking to us through this, to say: you can pray to my mother, …my son will have a fixed place in your life again that can restore you, clean you, you know, heal you, and free you from fear or terror.” (16:21)
• Medjugorje: Some pilgrims see the sun as a Eucharistic host.
  • "Do not be afraid to look at my son. He will not blind you. He will help you to see.” (18:16)

c. Eucharistic Miracles (20:00)

• Occurrences where communion hosts display human tissue or bleed, always with Type AB blood, are “signs” inviting deeper faith in the Real Presence—God’s own heart.
  • “In the Eucharist is my own heart… Come to him.” (21:20)

d. Gemma Digiorgi & Padre Pio (21:37)

• Gemma, born blind without pupils, received sight after Padre Pio's blessing.
• Interpreted as a sign of God's power to help us “see the goodness of life… with the gift of faith in a way that the world might not be able to understand.”
  • “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” (23:08)

e. The Stigmata (St. Francis & Padre Pio) (24:35)

• The wounds of Christ, miraculously appearing on saints, are a sign of union with Christ's suffering and a summons to give ourselves in sacrificial love.
  • “This is what God wants for all of us, that we would conform ourselves to Christ crucified…” (25:37)

4. Local and Personal Signs

a. The Intertwined Rosaries (26:15)

• A parishioner prays for her grandsons with two rosaries and awakens to find them intricately linked, with no physical explanation.
  • Magicians confirmed such linking was “impossible.”
  • Ketcham reflects:
    “God has given a sign… that I will hold your grandsons together and united to the church if you keep them always like in your heart…” (28:54)

b. A Priest’s Story of Friendship, Loss, and Rosaries (30:36)

• Ketcham shares the poignant story of his best friend’s suicide, and a series of "signs" involving rosaries:
  • On the same day his friend died, Ketcham had offered Mass for him in Rome and placed rosaries touched to John Paul II’s tomb in his hands at the funeral.
  • Later, his friend’s mother gives Ketcham rosaries that the friend had bought during their shared pilgrimage years before.
  • “He switched with rosaries, traded rosaries at the end of life…Blessed Mother, like keeping us together…He will not be lost.” (34:37)

5. Interpreting Gospel Signs (36:46)

• Gospel miracles (healing the blind, deaf, paralyzed, and raising the dead) are not just wonders, but signs:
  • Inviting us to faith, hope, and a personal encounter with Christ:
    “When Christ gives sight to a man who is blind, he wants us to see by the gift of faith and to see the goodness of life…” (36:50)
• The multiplication of the loaves is explained as a sign for community, Eucharist, and the Church—God feeding not generic crowds, but each person and small community.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sharing faith:
  “For someone who believes, no explanation is necessary, but for one who does not have faith, no explanation is possible.” (05:32)
• On the existence of suffering:
  “The Jews continue to suffer all the time. And I realize that, oh, I will too. But that doesn’t mean that salvation has not come to me. It means he’s with me in my suffering, redeeming it.” (11:26)
• On prayerful hope:
  “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” – Padre Pio (23:08)
• On Eucharistic miracles:
  “In the Eucharist is my own heart, the heart of my son Jesus, beating with love for all humanity as a universal recipient, come to him.” (21:20)
• On miracles in daily life:
  “Miracle, yep. Sign, if we allow it to be an occasion of God speaking a word to us.” (29:22)
• On God’s desire for us:
  “This is what God wants for all of us, that we would conform ourselves to Christ crucified...” (25:37)
• On the meaning of signs:
  “Signs to me are more than just like miracles. They’re a word that God can speak to us through the thing that we see happening.” (06:13)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:20] – What is a sign? Magi and the Epiphany
• [05:15] – Caution on sharing miracles and the gift of faith
• [08:00] – The Jewish people as a sign
• [12:15] – Marian apparitions (Guadalupe, Fatima, Medjugorje)
• [20:00] – Eucharistic miracles explained
• [21:37] – Gemma Digiorgi & Padre Pio
• [24:35] – The stigmata (St. Francis, Padre Pio)
• [26:15] – The intertwined rosaries miracle
• [30:36] – Personal story: Best friend’s death and the rosaries
• [36:46] – Interpreting gospel miracles as signs

Final Thoughts & Tone

R. Ketcham delivers the episode with warmth, vulnerability, and pastoral insight. He continually reminds listeners that signs and miracles are not proofs to coerce belief, but invitations from God to discern His presence, love, and call—especially amid suffering and uncertainty. The language is gentle, personal, and rooted in hope.

• Closing Words:
  “I hope it’s good for you to think about signs in this way…and as always, I wish you a peaceful and prayerful week. God bless.” (41:50)

Summary by topic, with quote attributions and timestamps.
This summary aims to offer listeners both the heart and substance of the episode, revealing how signs—from earth-shattering miracles to personal "coincidences"—can be invitations to deeper faith and reflection.