Our Lady of Lourdes

From the healing waters of Lourdes

Mark 6:53-56

From the Catholic Enclopaedia, "In 1858 the Immaculate Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, near Lourdes in France, in the cavern called “de Massabielle.” Through this poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Mary calls on sinners to change their lives. She has inspired in the Church a great love of prayer and good works, especially in the service of the poor and the sick."

Today, Lourdes is teeming with people, most specially, the sick, who seek solace and consolation to the Blessed Mother of Lourdes  and healing in total obedience to God's will.

The miracle, as the guides in Lourdes would say, is not just in the healing waters of Lourdes but more so, in the power of faith and conversion that were so richly manifested in the people's lives.

People flocking to Lourdes are rejuvinated in faith; both for the sick and the visiting, the volunteer aides and the doctors, and a host of multitudes praying for the conversion of the world.  Thus, I see three forms of healing:  an interior healing that calls for the conversion of the soul from sin to grace and towards a more vibrant faith, an exterior healing of the body and mind brought about by the forgiveness of the soul, and the the social healing the results from the dynamics of sharing and caring in the community.

May Lourdes become a living sign of God's love for all of us as showered constantly by the Blessed Mother.