22nd June 2008
I had the privilege last week to accompany some of our parishioners to Lourdes, the famous Marian Shrine which this year celebrates its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. While there I was very impressed by the depth of faith I saw. So many people are unwisely writing the death notice for the Catholic Church if the crowds in Lourdes are anything to go by. Thousands of people go through the gates of the Shrine daily and are drawn to the side of a mountain where they believe something extraordinary happened to a young girl and because of her witness and faith Lourdes is as it is today.
Lourdes is a place where the gospel is lived very concretely, where the sick are healed, the good news is proclaimed, and the Kingdom of God appears to break through. These thousands of people, all different, all speaking out of a different culture are somehow united as one family. This is shown especially at the torch light procession each evening when all the various countries come and sing the Ave together. It is above all a place where people are not ashamed or afraid to be called a follower of Christ. Many people dismiss it because of its over commercialism, and yet once you enter the Domain that is all gone and people are only intend on praying and worshipping God and Mary his Mother. Today's gospel describes very well what it should mean to us to be a follower of Christ and how we might spread the good news of his Kingdom. The lesson is above all simplicity of life, who you are is of importance, not what you are, or even what you have.
Bernadette Soubrious is a model for us who want to live the way God wants us to live. She was not very learned, had very little to call her own, suffered great opposition and hate, and yet Pope Pius XII said of her the following, 'In spite of mockeries doubts and opposition, the voice of this child has impressed itself on the world'. Today we need I think to follow her example all the more. We who are often confused and bewildered by the pace of change in society, we who look for answers and for hope, we who perhaps allow ourselves to become too much inward looking or at worse indifferent to the call of God today. The life of the Saint of Lourdes carries with it a timeless message; do not be afraid of witnessing to your faith no matter what. A question for us all today is, 'are we willingly to witness to Jesus, beginning this very minute? I am, are you?
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Homilies Archive
2009 HOMILIES
25th December 2008
Christmas
21st December 2008
14th December 2008
8th December 2008
Immaculate Conception
7th December 2008
2nd Sunday of Advent
30th November 2008
1st Sunday of Advent
23rd November 2008
Christ the King
16th November 2008
2nd November 2008
All Souls
1st November 2008
All Saints
26th October 2008
12th October 2008
5th October 2008
28th September 2008
21st September 2008
14th September 2008
7th September 2008
31st August 2008
24th August 2008
17th August 2008
15th August 2008
Assumption
10th August 2008
3rd August 2008
20th July 2008
13th July 2008
29th June 2008
22nd June 2008
1st June 2008
23rd March 2008
Easter Sunday
22nd March 2008
Easter Vigil
2nd March 2008
24th February 2008
17th February 2008
10th February 2008
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