Cooperating with heaven
February 6, 2012
Sr. Silvia Maria Tarafa, SCTJM
For private use only-©

 

On Feb. 11, we celebrate the feast of our Lady of Lourdes. Our Heavenly Mother appeared in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous, when historically the Church was not recovered from the devastation caused by the French Revolution. Just 10 years prior, the archbishop of Paris and the pope’s prime minister had been murdered; Pope Pius IX had fled from the Vatican for safety. In the midst of this instability, he declared as dogma Mary’s Immaculate Conception.

Four years after the proclamation, our Lady appeared to Bernadette to uphold Pope Pius IX’s dogma. Our Mother came in most unseemly circumstances. She chose a remote unimportant town, and appeared in its garbage dump. She chose to come to a young, uneducated, sickly girl from one of the poorest families, whose place of lodging was an old abandoned jail, no longer fit to be used as a jail. Even Bernadette’s father was unjustly imprisoned. Yet Mary chose to proclaim to the world, through Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

We can see how greatly Bernadette cooperated with this plan of heaven at a key moment of the apparitions. On Feb. 25, in the midst of a growing number of onlookers, our Blessed Mother told Bernadette: “Go to the spring yonder and drink and wash yourself.” Bernadette responded immediately to this call of our Lady; she was not concerned with what her family and others thought of her, nor the price she would have to pay to be faithful.  Her one concern was to obey our Lady in haste. She immediately dug a hole in the ground in search of the “water” requested by our Lady. Unable to find clean water, Bernadette washed her hands and face with mud, and then drank the muddy water. This caused her to gag, while onlookers made fun of her.

As 150 years of history have proven, Bernadette’s single-hearted and immediate obedience to our Lady’s call opened for humanity, from this muddy hole, an uninterrupted fountain of grace-filled water that continues to flow for the physical and spiritual healing of many all over the world. Bernadette’s obedience opened a new fountain of grace for the whole Church. Her obedience helped to proclaim from the rooftops the singular importance of our Lady in God’s plan of salvation.

Our young Bernadette inspires all of us who receive calls from heaven to surrender in haste to God’s plan. We see the fecundity that takes place when we give priority to the Lord’s will for our lives, even if it seems difficult and others do not understand our response to heaven’s call. What if Bernadette had said “no” out of fear; what unimaginable graces would have been lost for humanity.

May those our Lord and our Lady call as part of their special plan be willing to drink of whichever cup the Lord desires - for the fulfillment of His plan and the salvation of many.

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