Visit of the relics of St. Bernadette
St. Mary's Church,
Mallow
15th September 2024
My friends,
We venerate what we value, what is important to us. We’ve gathered to venerate the relics of St. Bernadette of Lourdes whose life was short by our terms (35) yet was enormously profound in meaning and purpose as the voice and messenger of Our Lady’s message to the Church and the world in the mid 19th century, a message that continues to inspire and guide believers 150 years later.
Those of us who have had the privilege of pilgrimage to Lourdes tend to have an intuitive sense of the providential ways of God in that special and sacred place. It is a healing place. Since it became a place of pilgrimage in the 19th century through the life and witness of St. Bernadette millions of pilgrims have heard the call to come to the waters and pray at the Grotto.
Some we know have experienced miracles by way of physical healing and cures these have been investigated and recorded. However, we know well that countless others have experienced emotional and spiritual healing in Lourdes and through Lourdes.
Re-reading the account of the apparitions and the reaction of the Church and State officials it was a time of trial and testing for the teenager Bernadette – she had little formal education and her natural speech was the local dialect. Yet she stood her ground and conveyed the messages of the Lady – to pray for the conversion of sinners, to pray the Rosary everyday for the intention of peace in the world and tell the priests to come in procession and that a chapel should be build built on that site.
The rest is history. Since then people of every status and walk of life have gone on pilgrimage in response to the message of St. Bernadette.
Ours is a sceptical and indifferent generation when it comes to faith, not to speak of relics. Our obsession with novelty makes it difficult to appreciate the importance of this visit of the relics of St. Bernadette. God’s ways we know are not our ways, his thoughts not ours either and so often confuse us.
The mystery of the Incarnation itself is beyond comprehension “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:). Throughout the centuries God has raised up among his people some of the most unlikely servants of his ways. St. Bernadette of Loudes is one such servant. Her faithful, resilient humility in the service of our Lady has by Gods grace enabled her to be a voice that’s calls generation after generation to hear the message of our Lady, to pray the Rosary, to pray for peace in the world, to pray for the continual conversion of sinners and to tell priests to come in procession with their people.
This visitation of the relics of St. Bernadette is a privileged moment for us who gather in faith. Together we are encouraged and enabled to be open to a new awakening of faith in our lives and in our families. The tides of indifference are strong. It is easy to be carried along and be seduced by the superficiality of the marketplace.
Today’s readings are rich in wisdom and insight for living an authentic life of faith in God, Isaiah’s words and those of the psalm are really ‘professions of faith’ in the many ways we can find strength in adversity.
“He has kept my soul from death
My eyes from tears
And my feet from standing
I will walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living”
Respon. Psalm
The letter of James is always so direct and practical.
“Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.”
The gospel piece from St. Mark shows that while Peter rightly proclaims that Jesus is “The Christ” he didn’t yet fully understand the nature of Jesus’ mission and surprisingly he is taken to task most bluntly “Get behind me Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way, but mans.”
Then we’re told “he called the people and his disciples to him.” Then in just a few sentences we are given a summary of the nature of the Christian life.
“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Returning to the visitation of the relics – I quote from account of the message of Lourdes.
“The whole message of Lourdes is contained in this gesture of the Virgin! God has so loved us that he gave himself up for us: This is the message of the Cross – the mystery of death and of glory. The Cross teaches us that there is no true love without suffering, there is no gift of life without pain or loss.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. St. Bernadette pray for us. Amen.”
