Remembering our Lady of Lourdes

Saturday of week 5 in Ordinary Time

Mark 8:1-10

No doubt Jeroboam's term was one of the most corrupt in Israel's history.  God didn't intervene; he allowed such abomination to happen.  Yet on the final verse, Jeroboam's house was obliterated from the face of the earth.

In the gospel, Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.  Not only were the loaves multiplied, even the leftovers were gathered for the consumption of the multitude.  Not a loaf was wasted.  Even this gesture is a sign of grace from God.

The issue is about sin and grace.  And for the apparition at Lourdes, we can partake of these insights:

First, there are graces in the midst of poverty.  Bernadette, in all her simplicity and poverty of spirit, was most happy in seeing the Blessed Mother and choosing her as her humble instrument.  Let's also rejoice not in power and wealth, but in our poverty before the Lord.

Second, the mystery of the grotto, a place for scraps could be source of grace for all.  The miracle of the water in an obscure place tells us not to quickly judge by appearances.  For God is much richer than what we all can see.

Third, the name of Mary as the "Immaculate Conception", “Mary conceived without sin, by the merits of the Cross of Christ” (definition of the dogma promulgated in 1854).  The cross of Jesus purifies us as it did Mary in her adherence to Jesus incarnated, crucified, and risen.

Let us focus ourselves not on our sinful inclinations, but on the mercy and graces of God.