11 February 2016
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Pedro Arrupe was a student at the School of Medicine in Madrid when he came to Lourdes and witnessed a miracle. There was a young man who was about twenty years of age and who was twisted and contorted by polio. His mother pushed his wheelchair into the central isle in which the bishop was to pass carrying the Blessed Sacrament. After the Bishop blessed the young man with the host and made the sign of the cross, the young man stood up from his wheelchair and was cured. Arrupe was able to assist with the medical examinations and saw that the Lord had truly cured the man. Arrupe returned to Madrid and three months later left the medical school and entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Loyola, Spain.
The appearance of Our Lady at Lourdes was not just for Bernadette, it was for all of us pointing to her son, Jesus Christ. Jesus does not say, “do whatever you like.” Instead, he appeals to each of us in the Gospel. You do not need to quite your job or your school like Pedro Arrupe did. However, how will you respond to Jesus’ invitation if He speaks to you directly? “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”