Reflection 11 - HEALING THE WOUNDS THAT BLEED

As pilgrims to holy places we make the outward journey of travel; meeting people; settling in and then when all this has been done the movement is to the inner journey within each one of us. Both journeys bring us to a place of healing and serenity within body; mind and soul.

Lourdes is one of these places of pilgrimage; it is a place of immense healing through the power and presence of Our Blessed Lady. To sit down at the Grotto in the quiet of the evening as dusk falls and the candles are lit below Our Lady’s statue is itself a wholesome and comforting experience. If we sit there for some time we pray, we observe, we see many people moving prayerfully , silently under the Massabielle (the old rock) praying, looking , touching, in awe, in tears - whatever our state we are all truly welcome in this Holy cave. Young couples kneeling before the statue praying, hoping; a mother on bended knee holding her child whose pallor is very pale pleading silently, profoundly; The old lady on the wheelchair who is proving very difficult and quite annoyed with her carers and most of all herself. We are all anonymous to each other as we carry the wounds in our hearts for healing. Yet, we pray, plead individually, collectively.

Yes, life’s wounds must bleed if we are to heal. Life’s wounds need to be surrendered in our brokenness and powerlessness if we are to enjoy a new way of living. At Lourdes Our Lady awaits us to honour, to receive our wounds. She awaits us in the gift and depth of our own silence. We await often stumbling; more often resisting the miracle of change until ultimately we hand over in the great depths of our powerlessness.

We bring the many and varied emotions that control us; yet we also come with hearts that are filled with gratitude for the healings already gifted to us. In that marvellous Gospel passage in Saint Matthew which begins : ‘Come to me..... and you will find rest for your souls’ Mt: 11:28-30. Each time we come on pilgrimage to Lourdes a little of our burden is released; handed over and in response to this much is bestowed and given to us. Saint Bernadette was a wonderful instrument of God’s love and His healing. She who tells us of her great physical suffering before her death and long before palliative care came to be. Her carers who must have greatly been pained as to touch her broken and pained body would have only added more suffering instead of relieving it.

‘You will find rest for your souls’ - it is here within the depths of our being and in the presence of Our Lady that our cross of life which is often very alive and may be rarely seen or spoken yet which can be profoundly painful gives way little by little to the gracious gift of surrender. We come in our suffering; our grief for this rest of soul and when the soul comes to this profound place of peace the body rests.

Lourdes, the Grotto, Our Lady of Lourdes and also she who is health of the sick – these are our resting places very near the heart of God who awaits our healing. May our wounds heal with the healing power of God. What a wonderful hope awaits each of us as we approach the resting place near the heart of God.

Copyright Frank Downes op October 2012

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