--- title: Blog Posts – Church Life Journal | Miracles description: Miracles | --- Search [![churchlife](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/hubfs/Churchlife_Aug2016_Theme/Images/church-life-journal-white-horizontal-1.png)](http://churchlife.nd.edu/) - [Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays) - [Articles](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/articles) - [Blog](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post) - [Contributors](http://churchlife.nd.edu/contributors/) All posts filed under: BLOG POSTS [![](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/blessed_mary_garden.jpg)](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/2016/05/26/a-desert-becomes-a-forest) ## [A Desert Becomes a Forest](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/2016/05/26/a-desert-becomes-a-forest) Published by [Danielle Peters](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/author/danielle-peters) “We must not be afraid to go into the desert and to transform it into a forest!” With these words Pope Francis challenged hundreds of people gathered on April 24, 2016 for the *“*[*Village of the Earth*](http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/april/documents/papa-francesco_20160424_villaggio-terra.html)*”* event which was promoted by the Focolare Movement and Earth Day Italy. During his surprise visit that lasted more than an hour, the Holy Father drew attention to "the many deserts in the cities.” Recal... Share - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [May 26, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/2016/05/26/a-desert-becomes-a-forest) [Blog Posts](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/blog-post) / [Practice](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/practice) / [May](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/may) / [daniellepeters](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/daniellepeters) / [Mary](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/mary) / [Miracles](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/miracles) ### Share [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmcgrathblog.nd.edu%2Fcategory%2Fblog-post%2Ftopic%2Fmiracles%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on LinkedIn](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/linkedin-24x24.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmcgrathblog.nd.edu%2Fcategory%2Fblog-post%2Ftopic%2Fmiracles%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dlinkedin) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fmcgrathblog.nd.edu%2Fcategory%2Fblog-post%2Ftopic%2Fmiracles%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmcgrathblog.nd.edu%2Fcategory%2Fblog-post%2Ftopic%2Fmiracles%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Blog%20Posts%20%E2%80%93%20Church%20Life%20Journal%20%7C%20Miracles) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fmcgrathblog.nd.edu%2Fcategory%2Fblog-post%2Ftopic%2Fmiracles%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fmcgrathblog.nd.edu%2Fcategory%2Fblog-post%2Ftopic%2Fmiracles%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ### Categories - [Blog Posts (113)](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/blog-post) - [Easter (24)](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/easter) - [Mass for Millennials (21)](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/mass-for-millennials) - [mystagogy (17)](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/mystagogy) - [timothypomalley (13)](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/timothypomalley) - [Notre Dame (12)](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/blog-post/topic/notre-dame) ![Institute for Church Life](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/Churchlife_Aug2016_Theme/Images/icl-lockup-01.png?width=318&name=icl-lockup-01.png "Institute for Church Life") ### About the ICL The Institute for Church Life animates the University of Notre Dame’s direct service to the Church through outreach in theological education, research, faith formation, and leadership development. ### Church Life Journal - [About](http://churchlife.nd.edu/about/) - [Archives](http://churchlife.nd.edu/archives/) - [Contact](http://churchlife.nd.edu/contact/) - [Contributors](http://churchlife.nd.edu/contributors/) - [Journal Submission Guidelines](http://churchlife.nd.edu/journal-submission/) ### Follow Us - - - Copyright © 2016 University of Notre Dame | Institute for Church Life