"Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." // Luke 17:19
“Please, Momma, make me a mother like you!” I will never forget the sound of desperation in that woman’s voice, her ache for a child. She entered the baths of Lourdes, knowing Momma Mary would bring her cry to her Son. Her faith was stronger than an Olympian's; her prayer was more beautiful than any song I’d ever heard. There was vulnerability and intimacy between a mother-to-be and the Mother of our Savior. Her prayer for healing sounded like a vow she was exchanging to God to be a mother who would love and lead her child directly to Him.
The waters of Lourdes, France, have an profound effect on one’s soul. The prayers prayed in silence and aloud co-mingle with the healing waters. To witness the faith of countless women freely disrobing and plunging into the waters, wrapped in a sheet, in order to be cleansed from illness and infirmity will forever be the most humbling moment of my life.
It is not unlike today’s Gospel. I will never know if the faith of the women I helped lower into the baths of Lourdes received the healing and grace they sought, but I do know that God heals every woman how He knows they need to be healed in those waters. I know God spoke to their hearts the same thing He spoke to mine, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you" (Luke 17:19).
I was not healed from Multiple Sclerosis when I plunged into the icy cold waters. However, the depression that was plaguing me was immediately released. God knew I needed healing from depression. He also knew that the gift of Multiple Sclerosis would lead me into a deeper love and trust with Him and a greater understanding of His suffering for me, for us, on the Cross.
So today, I return to Him in thanksgiving for all the ways He has healed and will heal me. I offer a prayer of gratitude for all the women who allowed a stranger to pray alongside her as she faithfully offered her prayers for healing to our Mother Mary and God. May God heal what we need to heal most today for His glory.
Return to Him in thanksgiving. // @socaltriciatClick to tweet
Tricia Tembreull is a speaker and campus minister with a boundless passion for life in California. She serves as Campus Minister at USC Caruso Catholic Center. She loves adventure and enjoys testing new recipes out on friends and family, gathering them around the table to encounter Christ in one another and be drawn to the satisfying unity we crave in the Eucharist. She was a contributing author to Set a Fire. Find out more about her here.
JOIN US
JOIN THE BIS APP
