On December 8, 1854, over 150 years ago, Pope Pius IX
announced the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception to the world. Only 3 years later, the apparition of a young
girl appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubrious in Lourdes, France, identifying
herself with these words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Through this apparition of the Virgin Mary to
this young girl in France, the Blessed Mother revitalized & continues to
energize the faith of millions of believers.
The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was officially declared by the Church
in 1907, & we continue to honor the Virgin Mary with this feast on February
11 to this day.
Countless pilgrims, many of them poor or sick, travel to
Lourdes each year due to the many ways healing has come to the faithful on
these pilgrim visits. Healing is also
the focus of our Gospel today, as Mark the Evangelist tells us that the people
were scurrying all over the country bringing people to heal Jesus for healing,
even bringing the sick on mats. Through
these healings, Jesus proclaimed God’s kingdom and showed us what God’s kingdom
was all about.
Today, it is amazing how pilgrims from all over the world
flock to Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, and other holy sites to find something in
their lives. Some come for the
healing. Others come for something that
they can’t even put into words. As we
honor Jesus and the blessed Mother today in a very special way, may we lift up
them all that we need healed in our own lives and in the lives of our family
and loved ones.
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