Lourdes is a sacred place of healing through a meeting or encounter with Jesus Christ and the intercessory prayer of Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernardette. Those who are sick are at the centre of our pilgrimage and so we begin our pilgrimage with a Mass of healing with the sacrament of the sick. We follow the instructions given to the early Church by Jesus in the letter of St James: ‘if a member of the Church is sick, then the people should send for the elders (the priests) of the church and they must anoint him with the oil of the sick in the name of the Lord and pray over him.’  These words follow the gospel we have just proclaimed. The large crowds gathered around Jesus; they were attracted to his words and his message. Amongst them was a leper. As the leper approached Jesus, the crowds would have moved away fearful of the disease and afraid of being contaminated by the leper. Some would have shunned him and tried to drive him away. You can image the great commotion in the crowd. In contrast, Jesus stretches out his hand to touch the leper. The crowd would have been shocked. Jesus would become unclean. They would have been more shocked when they heard Jesus say, ‘Of course I want to cure you’. The holiness of Jesus as the Son of God healed the leper, forgave his sins, and restored him to the community. He was no longer an outsider shunned by others but had his place in the community. He was welcomed and included. Jesus sent him to thank God.  

Jesus wants to cure the sick and show his mercy to you. This command is followed in daily life when people call for the priest to come to their sick relative or friend, whether at home, in hospital, before surgery or in need of healing. It is often a very intimate sacrament with only a family member or a nurse present. Today we celebrate this sacrament at the beginning of our pilgrimage to remind us that Jesus wants to heal us and continues his healing through the Church. He brings healing, consolation and hope.

One hundred and two years ago to this day, on the 25 July 1923, Jack Traynor came to Lourdes with the Liverpool pilgrimage. Living in Grafton Street with his wife and children, Jack carried the scars of the First World War in his body. During the Gallipoli landings, he was severely injured due to machine gun fire. He had difficulty standing, walking, experienced epileptic fits, had three open wounds and no feeling or movement in his right arm. Having made the long and arduous journey to Lourdes, on this day, he was taken to the baths and then to the Blessed Sacrament Procession. When he was blessed by the Blessed Sacrament he experienced healing in his right arm which he could then move, and then the use of his legs and then began to walk with difficulty. The next morning he could run to the grotto and pray in thanksgiving to Our Lady. In 1926, the Medical Bureau in Lourdes reported ‘this extraordinary cure is absolutely beyond and above the powers of nature’. Whilst there was a general belief he had been cured, only last year after a formal canonical commission was Archbishop Malcolm able on the evidence available to declare that this was a miracle wrought by the power of God through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes. Thank you to all who worked hard to bring about this declaration.

When Jesus healed the leper, he made him whole and brought him back into the community. He was no longer an outcast. Sometimes we make people outcasts, because of their illness, their disability, our prejudice or how we judge them. Jesus reminds us that he is the friend of all who reaches out in mercy to all people. We pray for an opening of our hearts and minds. In Lourdes, we are all one family which is a beautiful image of the Church.

We pray for those who are sick, for healing and restoration. May the encounter with Jesus Christ in this sacrament bring healing, consolation, and hope which they will share with others. We thank God for his blessings.

+John Sherrington