Bishop Peter Doyle has kindly allowed us to reproduce his homily from Lourdes 2012:
Homily at the Mass of the Anointing of the Sick during the
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes
St.
Bernadette was already sick with asthma and malnutrition and hunger when Our
Lady first appeared to her. What did Bernadette see? A lady dressed in white
and surrounded by light - Mary reflecting the risen glory of her Son, Christ
the light of the world.
When
Jesus takes Peter and James and John up the mountain, they catch a glimpse of
that same light when Christ is transfigured - the vision of that future hope and
glory which will flow from the suffering and death of Jesus.
The
Transfiguration is the fourth of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary which we
are praying with Bernadette today. In those mysteries we see that the light of
Christ shines in the Church through our witness to the Gospel and in the
celebration of the Sacraments as we reflect on the Baptism of the Lord, the
Proclamation if the Good News, the Marriage Feast at Cana, and the Institution
of the Eucharist. For the Sacraments are the celebration of the Paschal
Mystery, that is, Christ's victory over sin and death through his suffering and
dying and rising.
Like
Peter up the mountain, we can just want to hold on to the glory bits. He wanted
to capture that amazing experience by building three tents for Jesus and Moses
and Elijah. In the same way we can want to hold on to this experience of
Lourdes. But Jesus came down the mountain to embrace all human experience in
his suffering and death.
That is
what Jesus does in his Church today as we celebrate the Sacrament of the Sick.
While the focus is on the anointing of the sick among us, the Sacrament engages
us all. It is a sacrament you who are helpers and nurses and doctors have been
preparing for and living out all week in your care and touch and tender
compassion - yours has been and is the ministry of Christ and his Church.
You have
been strengthening our sick brothers and sisters with words and actions of
faith and by praying with them. You have been commending them to the suffering
and transfigured Christ. You encourage them in their great contribution to the
well-being of the Church as they unite themselves willingly with Christ's
passion an death.
Dear
precious sick pilgrims, you are, above all, witnesses to our mortal life being
redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Now we
celebrate with you the Sacrament of the Sick to strengthen you in carrying the
cross of suffering, and to raise you up in times of anxiety, weakness and
temptation. In this sacrament the grace of the Holy Spirit is given to you as
we look back to Christ's death and resurrection, the source of sacramental
power, and look ahead to the future kingdom of light and life pledged in the
sacraments.
I have
seen examples of compassionate touch and healing grace abound this week, making
holy the ministry to the sick. May we be renewed in that ministry as we return
home. Now that ministry is brought to a high point in the anointing of the
sick. May Christ's light penetrate the darkness of your sickness, and may the
Lord save you and raise you up. Amen.
(c) Bishop Peter Doyle
