Lourdes -- In The Words Of The Bishop Of Tarbes And Lourdes, Nicholas Jean René Brouwet

 "[Lourdes] is a very good vision of the Church.  A lot of people have a vision of the Church as a pyramid, a big administration with the pope at the top, but in a place like Lourdes you can have another vision: God at the center, and the poor and the sick at the first place and the other Christians praying with them and serving them.  I think [Lourdes is] a vision of the Church.  We discover what the Church is, not a big pyramid, but to be close to God and to serve each other and to be in communion in the faith around the Lord." Bishop Nicholas Jean René Brouwet. [1], [2], [3], [4].

What a magnificent vision of the Catholic Church Bishop Nicholas Jean René Brouwet has given the world.  The God-centered Church brings to mind God's Milky Way galaxy in which the sun-centered system exists and God's creation and placement of this earth at that perfect distance from the sun that allows man and all living things to proliferate and in the same breath, God's creation of man and all living things that are perfectly suited to thrive on this earth.  In contrast, the other vision of the Catholic Church is a big pyramid with a pope at the very top.  This is not a good vision of the Catholic Church for a pyramid signifies death, even the most famous and marveled of the pyramids is a burial chamber. [5]

Turning away from the dry sands of the desert in which the Great Pyramid of Giza sits to a lush valley in the foothills of the Pyrenees where the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception, appeared to Bernadette Soubirous around the mid-1800s, [6] I learned from the interview of Bishop Nicholas Jean René Brouwet of Tarbes and Lourdes on EWTN that Lourdes has been through two floods fairly recently, one last year in October, 2012, and a major one this year in June, 2013. [7]  Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe during the interview said, "Fr. Regis mentioned the significance to the mud and Bernadette, how she took mud and then she rubbed mud on her face.  There's kind of a symbolism to sin and how sin disfigures the soul, the image of God in us, but then you have a miraculous spring which points toward baptism and the cleansing of sin that Christ wants to give us." [8]  In response to Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe's observation, Bishop Nicolas Jean René Brouwet gave a brief synopsis of the history of Bernadette but did not address directly the significance of the mud brought upon by the flooding.

Let me take this opportunity and the liberty to expound on Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe's remark.  In addition to the explanation that the mud that was brought to Lourdes by the recent flooding was a combination of heavy rains and the melted snow, another one that is spiritual is possible.

Taking a cue from Bishop Nicholas Jean René Brouwet who noted that Lourdes is God's project later in the interview, I conclude that the mud that Bernadette Soubirous was asked by the Blessed Virgin Mary to put on her face (or perhaps "drink" before clear water emerged) came back in June of 2013.  In my mind, the 2013 mud must not be thought of as mud that has caused damages to Lourdes but rather it must be thought of as mud that is renewing  Lourdes.  The healing waters of Lourdes began with mud, so must mud return to its original place in order that the water of Lourdes can be renewed of its healing powers.

In other words, the mud that came to Lourdes in June of 2013 once again covered up the hidden gift of God and God is asking all of us to take the place of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, symbolically, to "drink" [9] the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary, without doubt or resistance but with absolute faith and unconditional love so that the fresh water of Lourdes can once again heal us in whatever ways we need to be healed so that we can all take a step closer to saintliness. [10]

Dear Lord, May we all be called to touch the water of Lourdes and be healed.  Amen.



 
[1] An excerpt from an interview with Bishop Nicolas Jean René Brouwet of the Diocese of Tarbes et Lourdes with Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe, on EWTN at http://bcove.me/gshazx4h  Please forgive me if you find errors in my transcription. 
[2] Background on Bishop Nicolas Jean René Brouwet can be found at:  http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bbrouwet.html  and http://en.lpj.org/2012/02/13/un-ancien-cooperant-de-beit-jala-eveque-de-lourdes/ Nicolas Jean René Brouwet is now the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes.  The French and English versions of the Lourdes website is at http://fr.lourdes-france.org/  and http://en.lourdes-france.org, respectively.
[3] For some reason, I find Bishop Nicolas Jean René Brouwet truly holy and saintly without pretension and without hypocrisy and truly blessed by God.  If he were my neighbor, I am pretty sure that he could make me saintly.  I wish God would give this world a whole lot more priests like him.  It is likely that he has faults, that he is not perfect, but who is? 
[4] You can hear Lourdes pronounced during the interview with the "s" sound and without the "s" sound.  Bishop Nicolas Jean René Brouwet let his native pronunciation of Lourdes slip a few times and during those times, he pronounced it without the "s" sound.  For Americans, it is pronounced with the "s" sound.  This is not French.  The French pronunciation is without the "s" sound.  Listen to it pronounced by a male and a female from France at: http://www.forvo.com/word/lourdes/#es Disregard the pronunciation by the females from Mexico and Spain since Saint Bernadette Soubirous was from France.
[5] The pope who can awaken the faith in Christians and bring others along is one who will put God in the center of the Church and direct the focus back onto God-centered church, away from himself, away from the center of attention, away from the limelight, the headlines and the photo-ops.
[6] An introduction to Saint Bernadette Soubirous: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1757
[7] There is an article on the flood in the NY Times at  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/world/europe/flooding-damages-lourdes-french-holy-site.html?_r=0
[8] An excerpt from an interview with Bishop Nicolas Jean René Brouwet of the Diocese of Tarbes et Lourdes with Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe, on EWTN at http://bcove.me/gshazx4h  Please forgive me if you find errors in my transcription.
[9] To "drink" as used here means to listen, internalize and act upon.
[10] Note that I used the word "saintliness"and not "sainthood" because while many people are true saints in my mind, there are many who are political saints, defined here as saints canonized by a pope for political reasons or evangelical expediencies.  For example, one who is expected to be canonized next is JohnPaul II whom I do not believe showed any sign of saintliness in his life before or during his papacy.  The fact that he was seen in Hell in a vision is also not a sign of saintliness, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk_Xr4o97Y  I think he is going to be canonized is because many, many people, including priests and other men and women of cloth, clamor that he be put on the fast track to sainthood.  A number of these people can probably be considered as idolaters of the dead pope and his alleged writings which are probably written by various ghostwriters.