Particular

“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12a).

Saint Bernadette Soubirous Incorrupt Body

I have been reflecting on the Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes.  She was a Saint who was granted visions of the Blessed Virgin and despite her lack of education and her learning difficulties, Our Lady chose this child to reveal the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception.

It is a bit of a paradox to think about this Saint.  You see, she was asked by the Blessed Virgin to dig in the dirt where the Blessed Virgin appeared and to eat the dirt and the weeds and to drink the water that flowed there.  She was asked to have a church built there.  People who came to bathe in and consume the water that flowed from the grotto would be miraculously cured.  Saint Bernadette was not cured.  Not only was she chronically sick with asthma and of a weak composition, but she was never cured of her illnesses, and in fact, when she was cloistered as a nun she became even more sick, experiencing tuberculosis of the bone and cancer in her leg bone that ultimately led to her early death.

And this is a paradox.  A paradox is something that appears to be false but is actually true.  For example, it is apparently false that the healing water failed to heal the Saint.  But actually she was healed spiritually and became a great Saint through her immersion in the water.  This healing was far more powerful than any physical healing could be…

The Blessed Virgin told the Saint that she would not be happy in this life.  Saint Bernadette expressed her experience of JOY (not happiness) as a result of the sufferings she endured. And that joy – unlike happiness – was spiritual.  

The beatitudes are like this.  They are paradoxical.  The beatitudes offer a particular blessing to the soul who lives the beatitudes.  There is no happiness from the beatitudes.  After all, how could I be happy to suffer?  But there is a joy that is promised of them.  And that joy is GREATER than happiness…

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:1-12a).

And I have been thinking about that.  For it is clear that there is much joy and great suffering in being Blessed…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.