AN ASTONISHING MIRACLE: Under God's grace, paralyzed priest walks again!

In 2010, Rev. John Murray was told he would never walk again after experiencing a horrible accident.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Murray was walking along a Jersey shore boardwalk, just like he's done countless times before this day, when he lost his balance. Falling over, he smashed his head against a railing.

As soon as he hit the ground, Murray knew he was badly hurt; he could not feel his lower body.

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Murray shattered two vertebrae, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

"You should expect no voluntary movement for the rest of your life," doctors told Murray, according to a NY Daily News article.

"It was the most depressing day of my life," expressed Murray, who spent much of his time as a traveling preacher for the Catholic Church. "Imagine being told that... But God had nothing to do with it. It was an accident. God didn't want it to happen, but slowly, the miracle happened."

Four years later, 66-year-old Murray is experiencing his own real-life miracle as he regains the use of his legs.

After the accident, he spent a few months at one of the premier clinics for treating spinal injuries, the Kessler Institute in West Orange, and then was transferred to the Stella Maris Nursing Home in Timonium, Maryland.

Murray endured demanding physical therapy with a specialist for two hours everyday and continued working out on his own after the required time.

The day after Thanksgiving, Murray's miracle began. "I thought it was a spasm at first, but then I started going like this," he said, tapping his foot. "It was very emotional for me. But a miracle is not magic. In response to my prayers comes God's grace."

The strength in Murray's legs continued to grow; in July 2012, he walked into the Kessler Institiue with the help of a walker shocking them all.

"I asked and received the Holy Spirit," he explained. "The Holy Spirit brings with it power and grace, and grace is the key. I'm not totally passive, I have to cooperate with the graces. Now, I'm a special model of God's graces."

Prior to the accident, Murray spent most of his time as a traveling preacher for the Catholic Church. Now he endures physical therapy several times a week, remaining hopeful that he'll continue to gain progress.

"Prayer is powerless. It's God's graces that comes of prayer that are powerful," Murray said. "I have a deeper faith and deeper appreciation of God's grace. He is constantly bombarding us with his gifts. It's not all God's grace, it's God's grace that begins it all."

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