God's Love at Lourdes

February 11, this Saturday, is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. In 1858, this was the day on which the Blessed Virgin appeared to a fourteen year old girl named Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, France. Over a period of five months, there were eighteen apparitions. Our Lady wanted to get people to abandon sin, to pray and to love God. So, she chose a simple poor peasant girl to convey the message.

Many of us are familiar with the events surrounding these apparitions. Bernadette was scrutinized again and again by Church and civil authorities. When it would have been easier for her to say that she was mistaken or might have dreamt of these apparitions, she stuck to the truth. The clincher to believing Bernadette's honesty was her relaying to the inquisitors the name that Mary called herself. Our Lady said that she is "the Immaculate Conception." It was four years earlier that the First Vatican Council defined the dogma of The Immaculate Conception, declaring that Mary was conceived without original sin. Bernadette was not aware of these proceedings and never even heard of the term "immaculate conception."

Our Saint was most obedient. She trusted when our Lady asked her to wash in the spring when there was no spring to be found. She went to the place to which Mary pointed and started digging with her hands. Soon, a spring of water started to the surface. This is the water that has been and continues to be instrumental in so many miraculous cures. Of course, it is not the water per se that does this, but God who has chosen this way to lead people to Himself.

There are a few significant points that we can understand from the apparitions at Lourdes. First, we see God's ever abiding love and mercy. People were going astray through sin and falling away from faith. God did not punish but sent his Mother to lead them back on the right road. She asked that a church be at the grotto, the place of the apparitions. What is a church for? The Sacraments! So that confessions can be heard, sins forgiven, Masses offered; so that Baptisms, Confirmations and marriages could take place. God did this for our spiritual well being and even in some cases for physical health.

Secondly, Lourdes teaches us about obedience. St. Bernadette showed her strong character and remained faithful to the truth. In spite of all interior suffering she obeyed our Lady. Obedience was also demonstrated by the Virgin. She did as God wanted and brought His message to us through our Saint. She also obeyed Christ her Son. The Church is the Body of Christ. The Church declared her "The Immaculate Conception." She accepted and declares herself the same.

Hopefully we come to know God's love for us more and more through Lourdes and respond with joyful obedience. 

Father Stanley

More on Chastity

Presentation of Christ at the Temple by Hans Holbein the Elder, 1500–01

This coming Thursday, Feb. 2, is the feast of The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple.  By law the first new born son had to be offered to God forty days after birth. Also, the mother had to present herself for purification because according to Levitical law, a new mother was considered unclean until she presented her son to God. Certainly, our Lord was exempt from this law. But, though his Mother and St. Joseph He submitted anyway. It was not necessary for our Lady to be purified since she was without a spot of actual sin or stain of original sin. Yet, she chose to act like any other Jewish woman of her time.

This feast highlights purity. Jesus is the source of purity. Mary is most pure; she is the Immaculate Conception. Last week I reflected on the virtue of chastity: that it is meant of every single one of us; that it is necessary in order to have real love. At the center of chastity is love. By it we are able to have an affection towards God and a selfless desire for the good of others. We are able to see others as God's children.

Impurity destroys love. Impure thoughts lead to impure actions. Impure actions lead to more and greater impure deeds. The loss of chastity weakens one's will to do good and causes one to lose the desire to know God and to understand His Will. By licentiousness one can quickly and easily become merely a sensate being, living for only that which can be experienced through the senses. Hence, we have the world of advertising. The appeal is made to us on the basis of what can make us feel good. So, we are encouraged to be self-centered.

There is a high correlation between impurity and violence and cruelty. The libidinous person thinks not of the other person but only of his desires. The consequences of his actions are disregarded.

So, in a world with much temptation to selfish impurity, how does one stay chaste (or become pure if he has lost that virtue)? First, one must truly desire the virtue of chastity and hold it as a treasure. Our motivation must be a realization of its worth, more so than a revulsion to the results of its absence.

So, truly wanting purity we must beseech God for it and cooperate with his help. That means avoiding impure shows, internet sites, reading materials, etc. It means controlling our sight -- how we look at others. Also, controlling our desires for constant comfort as well as mortifying our imagination are essential. We should also ask Mary for her help as our mother and for her prayers.

On Thursday, which is also called Candlemas Day, the priests will bless candles which people can take to their homes. It symbolizes Christ Who is the Light of the world. Through the aid of the Virgin most pure may we receive the Light of Purity Himself.

 Father Stanley

Chastity

We know that the sexual appetite in us humans can be strong and that it is often manipulated for profit. It's well known that sex sells. The advertisement and entertainment industries, among other enterprises, take advantage of the disorder in us caused by original sin. Conjugal relations belong exclusively to marriage because their purpose is both procreation and mutual permanent love. That's the way God designed it for us from the beginning. He made us male and female and said to be fruitful and multiply (Gn. 1:28). This was the institution of marriage. However, Adam and Eve sinned; they disobeyed God. Things went awry. So, a disorder ensued. Among other things the abuse of sex occurred.

The virtue of chastity is that capacity we have to understand and use our sexual powers properly. This involves not only our body but also our mind and heart. Jesus said that it's not only the act of adultery that is a sin but also looking at another lustfully is also the sin of adultery (Mt. 5:28). Therefore we should avoid those thoughts, desires and affections which are not appropriate to our state in life. Without chastity it is not possible to have true human love nor to love God. Without this virtue, a person becomes a slave to his or her passions and can easily be reduced to the animal state, existing merely for the pleasures of the flesh.

Chastity is a positive strength. It is only those, who promote sexual license, believe that it is an unfair restriction. It is meant for everyone. It's for married people as well as those who are single. It engenders true selfless love and mutual respect. It promotes the dignity of each person. If it is removed from the conjugal act, then sexual relations are nothing more than acts of selfishness. They are good so long as they please the persons involved. Too often this leads to unhappy marriages and divorce.

Charity is the greatest of virtues. Yet, without the virtue of chastity there cannot be real love. In the marital state couples encounter God in the proper fulfillment of their duties as loving spouses. For those who are in the celibate state of the priesthood and/or religious life, chastity means having an undivided heart that is given only to God and His work. For those who are single, it means respecting the bodies of others as well as their own bodies and not enjoying the relations proper to marriage.

It's no surprise that God's plan for us to live chastely is completely foreign to most people. But such was the case when Jesus walked the earth and when the Church was born. Yet, Christians faithful to our Lord's teaching were able to convert much of the world. Why? Because they spoke the truth - the truth that spoke to the hearts of the people then. This is the same eternal truth that speaks to our hearts.

Father Stanley