Working miracles is something the Rev. Leo Goodman, pastor at St. Mary's Catholic Church, knows all about.

But he doesn't call what he does miracles.

"They are illusions, sleight of hand, nothing miraculous about it," says the Lancaster priest who moonlights as a magician as a way to share the message of Christ.

Sure, he can make a white dove appear from nowhere. He can make a young woman disappear, then reappear. He can make a Rubik's Cube arrange itself instantly. And he can make a table float in the air.

But the priest stresses that his tricks are not miraculous. They are based on tried and true techniques for creating visual illusions.

"The Catholic Church is opposed to magic," says Goodman. "But this is not magic. It is a way of fooling the eye and distracting the audience so they don't realize what's going on."

It's also a way of getting in touch with young people, who are fascinated by the tricks that Goodman performs. On a stage that looks much like a rock concert with lights, background scenes and amplified music, Goodman literally rocks the house with his dramatic show, "Magical Revelations."

He performs at schools, fairs and community events about once a month or more, depending on his schedule.

Just recently, Goodman presented his magical show to a group of mesmerized students from kindergarten to grade 8 at St. Leo's Catholic School near Rohrerstown. A few of the older students could be overheard trying to guess how he made cards appear and disappear. The younger ones were simply spellbound.

"It's a great way to reach out to kids with God's message," says Goodman.

The show opens with lively "Pink Panther" music as words spin on the overheard screen, relating to God as a mirage. Optical effects, such as elephants with extra legs, are shown, to emphasize how what we see is not always the truth.

Then in a puff of smoke, Goodman assures the young people that indeed, "God is Real!" on the screen. And makes his own impressive entrance on stage to tell them more about it.

"I got interested in magic about 12 years ago," says Goodman, adding that he realized it was the ideal way to capture the imagination of young people and share his message.

He immediately saw the results, as youngsters "oohed" and "aahed" as he did simple tricks like juggling eggs. The eggs, by the way, were hard-boiled, he admits. The kids were impressed. So he added to his repertoire.

Now his act seems more like Houdini's, with magical escapes, swords plunged into boxes where young ladies once were and white doves that fly from the pages of a Bible in a spark of bright light. His performance is combined with Bible stories and stories about the early Catholic Church.

He even relates one card trick to a tale about Simon Peter in Rome, linking the end result to the path to heaven.

He uses another illusion, with three linking rings, to talk about the Holy Trinity.

Goodman is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Society of American Magicians and the Fellowship of Christian Magicians.

One of the ways Goodman gets the kids involved is to encourage audience participation. In one card trick at St. Leo's, he called on second-grader Kyle Postlewaite, third-grader Julia Colwell and fourth-grader Erica Shoewicz to sort out the hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs.

He really dazzled the children with a Houdini-like trick that placed his young assistant Alejandra Greenleaf inside a box, closed the door, placed sharp looking swords into the box and opened it up to reveal that Greenleaf was no longer there and not sliced to pieces by the swords. A few moments later, she reappeared inside the box, safe and sound.

"I assure you, these are all tricks. Anyone can do them, if they knows the secret," says Goodman. "It's a great way to get and keep the attention of the kids. And it's a lot of fun for me, too!"