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The Psalmist says: “zeal for your house will consume me.” Jesus’ disciples recall these words upon observing him driving the money changers out of the Temple. For faithful Jews, the Temple was sacred, set apart for worshipping the one, true and living God.
I can remember as a young priest, Deacon George Nugent say “each day I am lucky enough to go and work at God’s house and care for it” Deacon George was the Director of Facilities and Maintenance at All Saints in Lakeville.
In the Catholic tradition, the church - this church is sacred - the temple of God’s holy presence. This is the place where we enter into the divine life of God. This is where we hear God’s living Word and where we are fed by the Body and Blood of Jesus - his real presence. Here, we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit and are united as God’s family. And it is from this place that we are sent out into the world to live as missionary disciples.
A consistent reality throughout the history of the Church is that Catholics work hard to build (and renovate) beautiful churches - because this work is for God. This is God’s house and it is worthy of our zeal and care.
Beauty in the Western philosophic tradition is a transcendental - along with truth and goodness. Through these, we are able to touch the very essence of God. In the sacred liturgy, God communicates with us through sign and symbol and thus the beauty of our churches and liturgy help disclose His living presence. Many of us worked so hard and sacrificed to renovate Lourdes because the beauty helps raise our minds and heart in worship of God.
As I have been reflecting on our Patronal Feast Day and the completion of our interior renovation, the phrase “God’s providential care” has returned often to my mind and heart. This is the way of God - working on our behalf and moving on the surface of all things. We know by faith that God works for the good of all that He has created.
In the wake of Julie Craven’s Facebook post that went viral after the Minnesota Miracle, we each received media requests for interviews. As a lead up to the Super Bowl, MPR interviewed us both. The reporter asked me whether I thought that God hears the prayers of football fans during the games. I was tempted to say he didn’t hear my prayer in October when Aaron Rodgers was pile driven into the ground by a Viking, thus ending the Packers season.
In all seriousness, I did say that the Catholic understanding of God’s providence avoids two extremes: the deist watchmaker God who creates the world and then stands back or the puppeteer God who controls creation. Rather, the Catholic understanding of God’s providence is that God respects our freedom but at the same time is working for our good through His presence and His grace. Salvation history and the two millennia history of the Church attest to the reality of God’s providential care.
The story of the wedding at Cana in today’s Gospel also conveys God’s providential care. In John’s Gospel - the miracle at Cana is the first of the signs that Jesus is the Son of God - the long awaited Messiah. In the Incarnation, God - in the person of Jesus Christ - enters into our history and our humanity. Right from the beginning of John’s Gospel - Jesus also enters into our culture. Jesus and Mary are present at a wedding.
In the story, both Jesus and Mary are working for the good of the guests and the good of the celebration. We see displayed in Mary’s request of her son, her role as intercessor. With due respect, Mary defers to Jesus who turns water into wine and thus through his presence gives the gifts of life and joy. As Christians and as disciples all of us are called to allow the love of God to be the good wine that brings life to our faith.
God has continued His providential care for His people through the gift of Mary - His mother and our mother in faith. From the cross, Jesus gives all believers the gift of Mary - our spiritual mother. As our readings convey, Mary’s role was to bring Christ to the world. Since the Ascension of Christ and her Assumption it would seem that now Mary’s role is to bring the world to Christ.
This is the case in the various apparitions of Mary throughout the world. The message of Mary to her children is always the same: God’s love, prayer, reconciliation, and peace. In the apparition of Lourdes from which our venerable parish takes its name, Mary appears to young Bernadette - a simple country girl who was only fourteen years old. When Bernadette asks the woman in white what her name is: Mary replies: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Four years prior to the Lourdes apparition the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was declared. There is no way that this young uneducated girl in France would have know anything about this new dogma. This was one of many remarkable facts regarding Mary’s appearance in this rural village in southern France. For 160 years, Lourdes France has been a place of prayer, peace and healing.
Our parish was the first parish in the United States to be named for the Marian apparition at Lourdes. Just one year after the Lourdes apparition was approved in Rome - this parish began under the name - Notre Dame de Lourdes. God’s providential care has been experienced throughout the 140 years of our history. In a particular way, God’s providential care has been manifest through the intercession of our Patroness Mary. How efficacious Mary’s prayers have been for us. I have remarked that time and time again God sends the right people at the right time to help build up our community of faith. He is answering the prayers of His mother and behalf of her parish.
So to all of you - our parishioners and friends and to me as well, I ask these important questions. Do you want to be happy? Do you want to be holy? Do you want fulfillment? Do you want to experience greater healing? Go to Mary and ask for her prayers. She will lead you, as she always has, to her son Jesus and the good wine of his love. Reach out to her, she is our mother and she will help you as she has helped this fine and venerable parish - Notre Dame de Lourdes.
Fr. Griffith