Feb. 8,
2015
5th
Sunday of Ordinary Time and observation of Our Lady of Lourdes Feast
[Job
7:1-4, 6-7 / Psalm 147 / 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 / Mark 1:29-39 ]
Title: Out of the Way
[__01__] Should I go out of my way? This is a
question we would ask ourselves about the extra effort required in certain
projects, certain journeys, a question about the effort required for a
particular result or destination.
Should I go
out of my way?
[__02__] I ask this
question because we, as a parish, anticipate and observe the feast day of Our
Lady of Lourdes (February 11th)
In a cave of
Massabielle (a mile outside of town), and sever hundred miles from city of Paris,
Bernadette Soubirous – whom we know as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes – as a 14
year old peasant girl encountered the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 11, 1858.
She was out
for her regular work of gathering firewood, an appropriate task in a cold
February.
While on her route,
Bernadette went a bit out of the way to encounter this vision described by
Bernadette as a “beautiful lady”.
This vision
continued in 18 apparitions. Bernadette asked about the identity of the lady
and was told – and repeated the words in her own dialect –
__Que soy L’Immaculado concepciou, I am the Immaculate Conception ___
Which is
rendered/translated in French and
inscribed in our Mosaic of Lourdes above our altar as …”Je suis L’immaculee
concepcion”.
I am the
Immaculate Conception.
[__03__] When
the report of this vision and these words were made to the local authorities
–including the priest/bishop, this report – from a simple and relatively
uneducated peasant girl – was met with skepticism.
However, what later gave – and still gives – credibility to
the appearance was the out of the way nature of the appearance.
Out of the way….
Bernadette
had not the benefit of education, yet she knew this terminology of the immaculate conception.
God
makes himself known not only uptown but also downtown and out of town. In the case of Bernadette, this was over 500
miles from the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris to the Notre Dame de Lourdes.
[__04__] From this series of apparitions came
widespread attention to both Lourdes and the water as a place of healing and
miracles and to Bernadette herself.
Bernadette, while steadfast in her faith and belief in the
apparitions, also sought no attention, no publicity. She did not want to meet
the crowds.
Similar to the spirit of our Savior in the Gospel this
Sunday, Bernadette was withdrawing by herself in a deserted place to pray (Mark,
1:35)
And, this withdrawal gave her peace and intimacy with
God.
[__05__]
Bernadette’s attitude after the apparitions was also met with some
skepticism. Why would she remain out of
the way?
[[ Disliking the attention she was attracting,
Bernadette went to the hospice school run by the Sisters of
Charity of Nevers where she finally learned to read and write.
Although she considered joining the Carmelites, her health precluded her
entering any of the strict contemplative orders.
On 29 July 1866, with 42 other candidates, she took the religious
habit of a postulant and joined the Sisters of Charity at their motherhouse at Nevers.
The Mother Superior at the time gave her the name Marie-Bernarde
in honor of her godmother who was
named "Bernarde". ]]
The Lourdes
water was now “mainstream” … but Bernadette
herself did not seek to be a household name.
[__06__] Bernadette
reminded her Lourdes community then – and our Lourdes community now – that our
value before God is not defined by our activity or productivity.
Even being
frail, marginalized, we can love God with all of our heart, mind and strength
and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
We can serve
God from a time of illness, or frailty, by endeavoring to be patient, to be
lighthearted, even to be comply with the instructions of our caregivers, our
doctors, nurses who might not always have the time or the answers we desire.
[__07__] This
Sunday, we also read the Good News that Jesus visited Simon’s mother-in-law,
privately, out of the way, and healed her at home.
The evidence of this healing was that she
rose immediately and served them.
Jesuit Father Edward Mally [S.J.] wrote that this detail
suggests the completeness of her cure and the service expected of those who have been saved by Christ.
It also reminds us
that our SERVICE would not necessarily gain for us a title or reward. As Jesus
later told James and John – who also privately witnessed this out-of-the-way
miracle – “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” (Mark 10:43)
[__08__] This feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes reminds us
to pray for those who are sick, who are suffering, those who are in any fashion
“out of the way” …and to reach out to them, to adapt ourselves to their needs.
St.
Paul, writing to the Corinthians, observed that adaptation was necessary in his
own service, to adjust the GPS coordinates of his ministry, both geographically
and spiritually.
Paul writes, “I have become all things to all”…. Or “all
things to all mean”(1 Corinthians 9:22).
And, isn’t it true that in your care – or my care – of a
sick (ill) relative, spouse, child, mother or father, friend, we are also
called to be all things … to wear many lab coats or uniforms or hats at times,
to be ..
- Teacher
- Friend
- Counselor
- “Parent”… especially the
case when an adult child takes care of his or her parent.
In other words, we are also called to go out of our way, and
in our own sorrows and difficulties … and solitude
And to welcome the Lord and the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin Mary whenever and wherever they arrive.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
[__fin__]
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