11 February 2021 - Thursday of the 5th week in Ordinary Time - homily and reflection for the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - John 2:1-11

        Back in 1854, which was even before our American Civil War,  Pope Pius IX announced to the world the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception.   Only 3 years later, the apparition of a young woman appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubrious in the mountainous region of Lourdes, France, in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains,  identifying herself with these words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”   Through this apparition of the Virgin Mary to St Bernadette, the Blessed Mother revitalized the faith of millions of believers, which she continues to do to this day.  The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was officially declared by the Church in 1907, as we continue to honor the Virgin Mary with this feast on February 11 in our current day.

      Each year, more than 6 million pilgrims, including more than half a million from North America, travel to Lourdes.  Many of these pilgrims are sick and poor, as they come to Lourdes for healing and comfort, and for a spiritual encounter with not only Mary, but with her son Jesus.  Having been to Lourdes myself with the pilgrimage group from St Jude a couple of years ago, and having celebrated Mass in the grotto area where Mary appeared to Bernadette, I can tell you that it is an amazing journey of faith to visit Lourdes to experience the great faith of the Christians from around the world who go there.  

     Today, we hear the familiar story of the Wedding at Cana, the start of Jesus public ministry here on earth.  Mary comes to Jesus on behalf of the bride and groom, just as Mary intercedes for all of us with her son.  Mary tells the servers at the wedding banquet: “Do whatever he tells us to do.”  Mary also wants us to have the same attitude, as we listen to the authority of Jesus to lead us and guide us in our lives.  Sometimes we might want something specific from Jesus, just as the pilgrims who travel to Lourdes may want some specific form of healing or a specific prayer request from him as well.  However, in our hearts, we are called to realize that we may not get the exact form of healing or answer to our prayer that we seek.  Nevertheless, we might ask ourselves if we have the faith and courage to trust in God and to be open to the way that he wants to heal us.  We may ask ourselves if we are as tenacious and courageous as many of the pilgrims who travel to Lourdes in the midst of their sickness and afflictions. Through the example of those pilgrims who act out of their faith, and through the intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, may we trust in God and have faith in his ability to heal us and guide us on our journey.