February 7, 2021 – 5th, (Year B) Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day on
Sunday Feb. 7. ●● Job 7:1-4, 6-7 ●● Psalm 147 ●● 1st Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 ●● + Mark 1:29-39 ●●
[__01__] I happened to discover via Google searches and other sources of knowledge a few facts about the date: February 11th.
[__02__] First, there is “Our Lady of Lourdes”,
February 11th is Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day, having been the
calendar date which is pictured above our altar in the magnificent mosaic
painting of Bernadette of Lourdes kneeling praying her rosary on February 11,
1858.
Bernadette had gone out from her home
and town – as a young girl – to collect firewood, a worthwhile task in the cold
winter. Surely, they also had snow.
Bernadette came from a very poor
family in SW France, and they were living in debtor’s jail, unable to pay back
the money they owed.
After seeing and reporting these
appearances of an image she describes as the “beautiful lady” or “petito
damizelo” (her dialect), and the further saying that the lady said: “I am the Immaculate Conception” (au
francais: je
suis l’immaculee conception), Bernadette is – at first
– not believed, not trusted – not seen as credible.
Later, when the apparitions are
accepted, Bernadette becomes a person not only of credibility but even of
celebrity. Lots of “likes” for this young woman. Bernadette, however, spurned
(rejected) all the fame and notoriety that came her way as a result of these
visions.
[__03__] Bernadette is an example of a disciple of
humble origin and one whom Jesus extols as the light of the world. It’s important to remember that the light we
carry, the brightness in our mind and soul and body, the illumination of our
own wisdom and honesty is not something we came up with on our own.
St. Paul, in 1st
Corinthians wrote this about the fact that his true “credibility” was not in
something complex but in simplicity before God and other people:
“When I came to you [brethren], I did
not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words … my speech and
my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of
Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in
the power of God.” (1
Corinthians 2:1, 4)
The light of our own wisdom and
honesty and goodness is not something we came up with on our own. It’s a free
gift of grace that we are always receiving and discovering. It is a light that
we are both receiving and discovering.
[__04__] Second … February 11 also happens to be the
birthday of Thomas Edison who is known as America’s greatest inventor and a
very savvy business person.
Thomas Edison – in his day – was “Elon Musk” + “Jeff Bezos” and “Warren
Buffet” (Mark Zuckerberg?) all in 1.
Edison was an inventor. Many of us can
remember when factory of Thomas Edison Main Street – which is now an apartment
building – was a functioning factory.
Of all his inventions, of which there
were many, the working “light bulb” is perhaps the most memorable.
[_05__]
In fact, the invention of the light bulb is iconic, so conditioned into
our language and culture, that we associate “light bulb” = good thought or
bright idea.
I assume people had good thoughts and
bright ideas before there were light bulbs, but they must have used some other
19th century “emoji” … a candle ?
Were there emojis in the 19th century?
But, the light bulb is much better,
isn’t it ?
Edison’s gift was not so much in
“inventing” something new but in “perfecting” and finding ways to make things
better.
One writer observed this about Thomas
Edison, that Edison’s gift was not so much in inventing things from scratch or
even in finding a problem and then providing a remedy. Thomas Edison did not look for problems in
need of solutions but rather looked for solutions in need of modification and
improvement.
[_06__]
Before Edison, there were many people trying to make light bulbs. Edison
just happened to get a patent for the one that was the most practical and
profitable. He perfected what already existed.
Not all of Edison’s inventions made
money or were really able to be perfected. He had some far-out idea about
making furniture like tables and chairs out of concrete. It was durable, but
doomed to failure.
[__07__] I
bring this up because we are in West Orange, we are West Orange, and because
God calls us and chooses us not as his “bad/problem children” to be punished
with correction but rather as his good children to be converted and completed
with perfection.
One things for all us right now –
including me – to remember is that all of our trials, difficulties, anxieties,
sorrows, are not simply evils for us to eradicate, eliminate or extricate
ourselves from, but also to recognize that through these, we are being
perfected, we are being changed, transformed.
“All things work together for good for
those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)
And, in this regard, it is not a
vaccine that is going to inoculate us or changes us or convert us, but we’ve
already been inoculated, vaccinated, protected by Christ’s living, dying and
rising. You don’t need an appointment. Your appointment is right here.
[_06__]
I’d like to close with a quote
from Boston College professor Peter Kreeft. His writing about the Catholic
faith reminds me that God is interested in our “being perfected”…in our being
converted … and in following his ways every closer each day.
One of the ways we do so is by
learning from our parents, especially,
from our mothers.
Our Lady of Lourdes Day reminds us of
the role of a mother in our lives. Mary is the mother of Jesus, mother of God…and
by extension our mother as well.
In my own family, I have been blessed
by 2 loving parents, both father and mother.
But, it was particularly the role of
my mother…what I often learned from her was not only to demonstrate the
importance of respect for women, for
girls… but also to demonstrate a respect for everyone and even to understand my
own father better ..and to understand both the grown-up men and the grown-up
women in my life.
In this regard, motherhood represents
the perfecting of humanity, the highest calling of the human race.
It is often noted in popular
commentaries about the Book of Genesis that that Eve was created –
chronologically later… a few biblical verses after Adam. But, this did not make
Eve an afterthought, but rather a progression forward, a perfecting of our own
human community and family.
God saves his best for last.
It is also a reminder that the whole
human race is saved – given salvation – by the birth of Jesus of Mary.
Through our mothers, we not only learn
about the feminine but also the masculine in each of us.
God is working with us, calling us not
because we are problems or bad, but because we are God. He discovers us…and
Mary our mother in heaven is praying for us, many times over. “A mothers’ work
is never done.” (Reference:
Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity, Part III, Ch. 11 “Mary”, San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 2001, p. 421)
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