May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Today we celebrate the feast day of our parish. The feast of the Holy Family which we
celebrated on the Sunday after Christmas was the feast day for all of the
people of God. The feast of All Saints
that we celebrate at the beginning of November is the day that we hope will be
our feast day when we have passed beyond the bounds of death into the Kingdom
of God. Today, however, is the feast day
of our particular parish. This weekend
we remember the first apparition of Our Lady in the grotto of Lourdes, France
on February 11, 1858. We also celebrate
that on the 10th of May, 1942 this parish was established under the
patronage and protection of Our Lady of Lourdes. On our feast day we give thanks to Almighty
God for his goodness and for the mighty works that he has done in our parish. We renew our commitment to proclaiming the
Gospel and being the sign of the Kingdom of God in our community. And today, rejoicing in the protection and
prayers of Our Lady of Lourdes, with Saint Elizabeth we ask, “How is it that
the Mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Our Lady comes to the humble; that has always been her
way. Beginning with her visitation to
the humble Elizabeth, and in her appearances to Juan Diego, to the children at
Fatima, to Catherine Labouré, it is to those who are meek and humble of heart
that Our Lady appears. To the humble
Bernadette, the Blessed Virgin Mary entrusted her message at Lourdes. Calling the people that humble village, and
all of the people of the world, to pray for the conversion of sinners and to do
penance for them, Our Lady calls us to recognize our own need for
conversion. Mary calls us to humbly seek
the grace of her Son in the Sacrament of his mercy.
Our Lady comes to those in need of healing. Following her invitation to penance and
prayer, Our Lady revealed to Bernadette a spring of water that brings the gift
of healing. Many miracles of physical
healing have occurred at the Shrine at Lourdes.
Many more people have received the healing of peaceful acceptance in the
midst of suffering, and have been prepared with confident faith and certain
hope for the healing of the resurrection.
When the sick come to Lourdes, they do not hide their illness, they do
not hide their weakness, and they do not hide their need for healing, from the
Mother of God. With that same
confidence, we approach the Blessed Virgin Mary, as children under her special
protection, and reveal our illness, our weakness, and our need for healing.
She comes to the humble. She comes to the suffering, and Our
Lady brings us the Lord Jesus. When the
Blessed Virgin Mary traveled to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth,
the Lord Jesus dwelt in her womb. When
she remained at the foot of the cross, the Lord Jesus dwelt in her arms, as his
mission was accomplished and his suffering was ended. Through Mary, she who is the Immaculate
Conception, the one in whom the grace of God has fully triumphed, the Lord
Jesus came into the world. Our Lady, in
her great humility, invites us to encounter her Son. She brings us the Lord Jesus, and she brings
us to the Lord Jesus. As we approach her
with our humble veneration, Mary directs us to her Son in humble adoration.
As we now enter into the mystery of the death and
resurrection of the Savior, we give thanks that the Mother of Our Lord has come
to us. We rejoice in her prayers and protection,
and bring before her our need for conversion and our need for healing. And we ask her to teach us to be meek and
humble of heart so that we can proclaim the good news of the Lord Jesus and
share in the glory of her Son. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
