The Plane has landed.
It is so good to be home.


The Lourdes August 2008 Page

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Well here we are at the close of this pilgrimage. At this point, I can say for certain that it will have an impact on this group for some time to come. What exactly that impact will be is not in our hands. Like power steering on a car, this is a slight turn of the wheel that will alter the direction. As for which road that leads to is something for God to ordain.

These kids have worked in a marvelous and generous way without a serious complaint. It seems to me that their tiring efforts have built a camaraderie and solidarity that is not easily built into ‘youth programs.’ They will be the first to tell you how demanding it was and how they enjoyed it. So many volunteered and went beyond. They started early and stayed later. They could be chatty at the proper times and reverent at the others.

Sunday began with a morning of reflection and Mass. The rest of the day was free for hiking, shopping, praying and sleeping. After dinner we had our final reflection.

Sunday Homily
Faith and Charity
The Motto of the Order of Malta

For nearly half of Christian history, there has been a group dedicated to two ideals: the defense of the Faith and assistance to the poor and the suffering. The Order of Malta has attempted to live out the faith and practice charity in its life and organization. It is that ideal which has brought us here to Lourdes today. I give that bit of history because too often our version of Christianity is a religious theory among many others. We make it so philosophical that it has no real meaning. Many Churches, especially here in Europe, are empty museums because many, in leadership especially, grew very comfortable with a ‘cultural Christianity.’ This is a faith that is no more than a pretty backdrop or a quaint traditional value.

The first thing that falls when people start thinking this way is one thing Lourdes clearly does not shy away from. It is the care of and the dignity afforded to the sick. Hitler despised faith as much as he hated the handicapped. The sad orphanages of Eastern Europe show the wonderful success of a godless Communism. And so-called progressives who militate again any religious expression have no problem with abortions even if they are gender-selective. Care of the sick and the suffering is a thermometer of how decent a society is regardless of how advanced they think they are. A perfect society does not allow imperfect people.

The Christian Gospel has a different perspective. Malta got it right when it described those in need as “our lords” and the “holy poor.” Like so many saints and movements, the needs of the needy are an essential expression of the faith. Not because we gain salvation by being nice to them but because they are Christ. It is Jesus Himself who said that what we do for the least among us is, in the end, what we do for Him. It’s not that we are working our way to heaven; this type service is actually an act of worship. When you pick up a malade from the train, you are holding Christ. When you help a vioteur up a curb, you are picking up the cross Christ carried. When you ‘bring some one to the Grotto’ in prayer, you are standing with them before God.

Over the years I have discovered that there is a trend out there I find disturbing. I hear people doing nice things for people in need. But they say they do it because it ‘makes them feel good.’ It comes from a good place and, yes, doing these types of things does make us feel good. Unfortunately, sick people are not there for that reason. Those who do charitable deeds for others from a place of self-gratification will not do them when that feeling goes away.

People in need are not easy and often not grateful. You may have grown tired and been short-tempered with those you have helped already. And being good Catholics, you can feel guilty about that! There is no saint out there who hasn’t gone through the same thing. Relax because it’s normal. Be kind – and that includes to yourself. Remember that you are not here to make yourself feel better; you are here to worship. Yes, that is what we are doing here at Mass and at the prayerful activities in the Domain. And that is what you are doing in the train station and at the baths.

This is a central truth of our faith that life should be treated with the utmost dignity because we are created in the likeness and image of God. And that is a truth that is in dire need of defense. When authoritarian regimes have found a ‘solution’ to medically troublesome, they next go after the religious types. We began this Pilgrimage on the Feast of St. Edith Stein who was hauled off to the gas chambers because she was Jewish and she was a Catholic convert, intellectual and a nun. They round up priests, religious and parish volunteers because the faith is about the truth. And our world is in need of the truth.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that we are living in a time of lies. Hollywood stars have babies without marriage and scoff at the thought that they are anything but virtuous. Music stars thank their ‘Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ for giving them the ‘talent’ to sing pornographic songs that would make our Blessed Mother blush. Education tells us that having any standards other than the ones the ‘intellectuals’ hold is crass and ridiculous. And religion only leads people to terrorism and exclusion.

Faith is about freedom. Not the freedom to do wrong but the internal liberty to do the will of God. It is that profound realization that we are called to more even in the face of the distressing disguise of a God who identifies with our distress. It is the immense privilege to be the answer of the prayers of others. And a cynical, shallow world is not comfortable with a faith like this. This is a faith in need of defense and willing defenders. How appropriate that the members of Malta are knights and dames. They are the non-violent soldiers whose vocation is to stand up - in word and deed – in defense of the God made flesh. The Babe of Bethlehem, whose Mother appeared to Bernadette in this place, chose to share in the very human weakness we see here lined up in front of the Grotto. This is not an ‘in-your-face’ moral message trying to control the behavior of the masses. Nor is it a financial incentive to getting the monetary most of God’s blessings. This is a strong faith that grace is most powerful when it is practiced in weakness.

What you are doing here, what Malta does on a regular basis, is admirable. You are worshipping God with song and sweat. You raise your hearts and your arms as worship in prayers and to sick people. What a marvelous thing! What an astounding faith! Is it fun? At times. Is it a drag? Ditto.

But what counts, with all the good and the bad, the compassionate and the callous, is the will of God.

And those who do that will, those who do what you are doing, are the ones who will hear those words on Judgment Day “Come, you blessed of my Father, and claim the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For when I was in need, you were there in Lourdes (and beyond) to meet it.”

Nice work, eh?

Today has been a lovely day, a bit warm after a morning sprinkle. After lunch we all met in the Rosary Plaza for our group shot. And my, oh my, what a fine looking group we are!

We then spent some quiet time in prayer in the Eucharistic adoration Chapel (actually a tent) and then prayed the Stations of the Cross at the edge of the Domain:



And a few of us made it to the Grotto and here is the evidence:

After some free time, Mass, and dinner, we participated in the daily candlelight procession and headed back for our reflection group:

Today is the Feast of the Assumption and the highpoint of the French National. The day began with the big Mass and escorting the sick to and from the Mass on the Prairie (a big field). They even made sure the clergy got out at the end!



Okay...I have to be honest here. I slept through the Proccession but I know they all had a great time. We just finished Mass and are sitting on the Green Couches waiting for dinner.

Stay tuned...

It is raining and it is the height of the French National Pilgrimage. The organizers (!) of this big group are truly appreciative of the Malta Youth. Our uniform is easily and often recognized by many. The kids are doing such a spectacular job that we were given the blue scarves of the French Nationals. After a day of service (and a side trip to the top of the fort), we had some downtime before dinner and the candle-light procession:

Sorry for the delay in posting. It has turned out to be a lovely, slow day here and while some worked the Baths, others climbed to the Fort. I went down with Kim, Steven, and Rob and we made this video for the 2008 Children from the May Pilgrimage:


Tonight the kids are on crowd ‘guidance’ for a concert in the St. Pius X. Actually, it was a prayer service for the French National Pilgrimage:

Outside was the Rosary Proccession:

And later, at the reflection group:

How many kids do you know who would go to bed at 11PM (or were supposed to) and get up at 4:30 AM to help sick people go from a train to a bus? Well I am with a whole group of them. And they will be there until later this afternoon. I dodged countless meandering Europeans on my scooter long after they had begun this work to say Mass in the chapel up at the station. They have breaks between trains and a good number were napping on the benches. But here’s the thing: up till now I have not heard a single, genuine complaint. And this is real service work. It is not easy and can even be unpleasant. But they are serving some of the most marginalized they’ve seen.

Your response would only be, “Wow!”

The schedule changed as did the weather. The result was that most of the afternoon and evening were now freed up. We had dinner and then a Conference. It was a more relaxed evening, giving the kids a much needed rest.

And this is a text of the conference I gave them along those lines:

ConferencE:
Come Apart and rest a while
resting in the company of Christ

The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. – Mk 6

Some of you may remember the Third Commandant: Thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath Day. And being Catholics we interpret this properly as a mandate to go to Sunday Mass. And this is true and good. But there is another part to that commandant that is essential. You can see it in any observant Jewish neighborhood at sundown on Friday night. Some States have ‘blue laws’ that order stores shut on Sundays. And both the Jewish and Christian Sabbath form that longed-for break known as the weekend.

You know what I mean as you sit there in a European history class counting down the minutes till the last actually second before the start of the weekend. The work day ends at 5 and on Friday. That means 64 until work starts again. Unfortunately in my line of work none of this is true. Nor for a parent, a caretaker, an ER doctor, or some one in pain.

So if you agree – and being somewhat normal teenagers, I assume you do – that weekends are good, vacations must be better. They are extended times of doing something else. And we love them. In the seminary, there was an announcement board that said ‘Pray for Vocations’ and we always substituted an ‘a’ for the ‘o’.

And so, as part of your vacation, you are here in Lourdes picking up the sick, being kind to folks you don’t know and being helpful to people you don’t understand. And then there’s all the church, and prayer, and singing. – not your typical vacation! There’s water (lot’s of it) but no pool, a big rock but no sandy beach, huge crowds but no coasters! Some vacation, eh?

Well, yes. It fits all our usual requirements. You’re not in class or flipping burgers. There’s nothing due and your financial future will not be determined on how well you do (or not).

But is it restful? How much of what we call vacation or free time ever is? And what does this have to with keeping the Sabbath?

The answer is everything.

In my former assignment, God Himself had trouble keeping me from my day off up in the Catskill Mountains. A kid in the school asked me once what I do up there. I told him the truth. I told him, “nothing.” He was befuddled and asked incredulously, “no, how can you do nothing? Isn’t that doing something?” I replied, “yes, Andrew, yes it is.” In fact that ‘doing of nothing’ kept me sane. It took a lot of work not to do anything. But over time, I got very good at it. And I also began to discover that God had a very good reason for that commandment.

You see if we defined our downtime by what we don’t do, that’s fine and nice but not what is necessary. Human beings need rest. We appreciate the absence of obligation but what we honestly need is refreshment. The ideal vacation allows us to discover that.

Vacatio is the Latin word for empty, for vacant. It is a time to be empty not an opportunity for doing more and filling up the calendar. Whether a big summer break or the weekly respite, the question is one of emptying. It is a time of recreation – a time of re-creation. It allows us a deep rest that re-makes us. And if this is a physical and psychological need, we can see that it is also a spiritual need. That is the reason behind the 3rd Commandment. With lives that are packed with the career-developing enrichment activities, God knows –and I mean that - we can’t go on too long without it. . You – more than I – have to deal with programmed days that are ridiculous. Some are even convinced that becoming the next Bill Gates depends on t-ball, ballet, and bassoon lessons. Modern life, and growing up in the modern world, is an experience of pure stress.

How do we know that? The moment nothing is scheduled, many of you and your classmates, run to your computers, change your FaceBook status-lines, and announce to the world that you are “bored.” Alert the media and proclaim from the rooftops that a young person is not being busied or entertained. What a tragedy that a little sheep of the flock is not running to four different sporting events in a single afternoon! No wonder so many fall victim to escapist activities on the substance-abuse express. I am tempted to believe that what they are looking for is exactly what God commanded us to find. I think that all the planning and anxiety in planning those two free weeks of the summer are really a search for what God offers so freely and easily.

In the new play In the Heights, Benny is one of the characters in the tough inner-city neighborhood contemplating how much better things would be if he won the lottery and he sings:

For real, though,
imagine how it must feel going real slow
down the highway of life
with no regrets

and no breaking your neck
for respect or a paycheck.

He sings for all of us. But we do not need to imagine. We have the offer of soulful refreshment from God Himself. We hear the call to “come apart and rest” in the company of Christ. This is an invitation to do nothing and to do it with Christ. This isn’t weird or mystical. You won’t start chanting or levitating. You will, however, begin to find that rest and that quiet every person needs and craves. It can be by yourself or among crowds of thousands. All that matters is that you are doing nothing in the Presence of our God who means everything.

Many of you hear priests telling you what you must do and what you should not do. They are mostly correct. But today you are hearing a priest telling you to do nothing.

Do it with Christ, but do it.

Monday doesn’t seem to have that dread here in Lourdes as it can in school or at work. The group is more relaxed and rested. And even with a morning session at the Baths, they seemed awake and alive at lunch. And, yes, that is the first time I had seen them today. And no, Sisters, I did not make it to the Grotto early this morning! Maybe tomorrow, maybe…..

We had Mass on this feast of St. Clare in the Chapel of the Poor Clares and remembered them in the Mass. It was from here that we began the Footsteps of Bernadette and hiked all around town


The first visit was to the Baptismal Font in which she was Baptized.



Then on to the cachot where the family lived.
And then to hospital where she made her First Communion.

We headed up the hill to the train station where the kids will be helping the arriving pilgrims off the trains.

More later…..

Sunday is living up to its name. It is a dry, bright day here by the River Gave. Most everyone had a good and much needed sleep from a very busy first day.

A technical note: I am having firewall issues in my hotel and have to bring my laptop to the main hotel.

And being Sunday, we began with Mass in the enormous underground St. Pius X Basilica. It holds about 30 or 40 thouusand and packed today. Mass here is often referred to as the International Mass and it lived up to that title. The Bishop was from Italy and the Mass used Italian, French, Spanish, Futch, English, Indian, and Latin. Our group was involved in the Procession, Offertory and the Our Father:








But after Lunch, the kids returned to the relative anonymous work at the Baths. There is no spotlight here and it can be wearing. The day was beautiful and the crowds were sizeable. What is so impressive is that these people are encountering a raw humanity on a scale few are used to. And they are rising to the challenge in a way that sets them apart. Despite the serious nature of what they are doing, they are happy and joking and okay with it. Any parent would and should be proud of them.

After the Baths we had a Holy Hour in the chapel. Now these are teenagers with the usual amount of energy expected. So you’d think that even a brief period of silence prayer in the Presence of our Eucharistic Lord would be impossible? Not in this case. They were exceptionally reverent. And the only person accused of nodding off was leveled against me by a certain contingent from Iona Prep. Imagine! I guess they don’t teach extended neck stretches up there in New Rochelle!

Okay, they caught me – but isn’t that how the Disciples spent the first Holy Hour?

Finally were watched Bernadette after dinner that portrayed her life based on her own recorded words.

It was a long day and a good one. Tomorrow is work, Mass, the Footsteps of Bernadette and more.

So stayed tuned…

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!
..AND IS UP AND GOING


Well we made it. After an hour delay on the ground at JFK, we had a smooth flight on a packed 777. We landed in Paris at dawn and transferred to another terminal (somewhere near Germany (Charles de Gaulle is so big!) for the short flight to Pau. A bus then brought us into Lourdes so every one is here (as far as I can tell)

With no time wasting, we changed into our outfits and had lunch that included vinila ice cream (a reason to come here by itself!). The kids went to begin working at the Baths helping the sick (Fr: malades) in and out. I admire them. Still jet-lagged, they went right into it. I, sad to say, went right to sleep. They are truly the strong and more noble ones!

We had Mass at 6 pm in the basement chapel of the Poor Clares (la Come is right next to it for the May Pilgrimage crowd). The new pilgrims received their crosses after Mass and we headed back for dinner.


A personal note here: the scooter is the same one I had last May and is a great hrlp. So far, no wheelchairs screaming down the local hills escorted by track team members!

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After dinner we had reflection group and caldenar re-vamp meeting. It was a good starting point - the basic question was ‘why comes to Lourdes?’ I think it is a question most of us will continue to answer through the week.

And while the little angels were catatonic and stumbling to bed, I shot down to the domain for the Rosary Procession. It was good to there.

Off to sleep...stay tuned.

Webcam shots (possibly starring our group):
Go to the Grotto

Well this is the immediate preparation period and I am uploading this on the morning we are leaving for JFK and off to Lourdes.

Let me begin by yelling you how this began according to the "sacred synchronicity" (ala Beth Dolce) on Thursday, 24 July:

- Around 3:00 p.m.  I mentioned to a priest-friend that I was in Lourdes a year ago today and had a fond feeling for it.

- At 4:00 p.m. I checked the Lourdes webcam to watch the end of the candlelight procession

- At 4:30ish had a text chat with Gael and Jen on stage in Lourdes -before they went out for ice cream at the Jeanne D'Arc on the bridge (ie, not the Adult Beverage Distribution Point known so well by a more “mature” crowd!)

- Then Liz called beginning with “Hello Father 9-1-1” and asked if I could fill in for Fr. Paul Carrier, SJ for 8-18 August as Chaplain to the Pilgrimage. I told her I had to clear it with Mother Geneiveve, lsp the Superior here at Jeanne Jugan.

- I left my room to check the mail and Mother was in the elevator

- She told me that 'Mary was calling me' and I should go.

SO…….

I am packed, prayed, and prepared. And so ready to go.

I have been listening recently to the soundtrack of the 2008 TONY winner “In The Heights” (my first assignement was there at Incarnation on 175th & St. Nicholas AND the place where I became symptomatic with MS on 11 February 1995 – the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes). Two phrases from that incredibly realistic play are applicable this morning:

Vanessa sings about leaving the heat and crowd of the City and sings – as do I today:

But one day I'm walking to JFK and I'm gonna fly!
It won't be long now!

The other is a Spanish chant-like motto that says so much:

No pare; Sigue! Sigue!
Which is
“No stop! Go! Go!”

For me, going to Lourdes is not like going to a ‘miracle factory’ or winning the Lottery. It’s going to a place where things are ok – not better, not worse; not easier, not harder. It’s a place where being disabled or sick is normal – just as it is for those who are. It’s a place of comfort because every leaf, every drop of water is a testimony that God stands besides those who need that spiritual, emotional, and even physical comfort.

And to be with a group of ‘da Yoots’ who will experience it as few their age will is a grace. They will be instruments of God’s tenderness even if they do not realize it. They will be an active part in the healing that the thousands going there are seeking. And more than likely, they will even inspire me.

So, as the bloggers often say, stay tuned…….