May 4: Reflection

The grotto is the heart of Lourdes. In this unlikely place, Our Lady came from Heaven to bring an assurance of God’s ever-faithful love to all the sick and suffering people of the world. The miraculous spring emerged in this remote corner of France and has brought comfort and healing to pilgrims ever since.

Our thoughts are not like God’s thoughts. Only Bernadette could see Mary—the others had to trust. We would prefer God to manifest Himself with an awesome display of power. Instead, God chose to give a trickle of water to a peasant girl in an obscure village.

A trickle of water is how we became God’s own children through baptism. How unremarkable it seems and yet everything is made new at that moment. The divine life of grace begins in us and we are given the promise of eternal life.

Do we need to travel around the world to discover something already within us? How often do we miss seeing God because we look for flashy events instead of simple, ordinary encounters? Can I find even in sickness and sufferings a way that He speaks to me and assures me of His love?

Today our pilgrims celebrate Mass at the grotto and Heaven again comes to earth—this time Our Lord Himself in the Holy Eucharist. Again, so unlikely and humble a way to manifest His love!

We pray to the Virgin Mary for her assistance in seeing how God comes to us in hidden ways.

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