PolySteel's Sponsored Charity

"Tell the priests that people are to come in here in procession and to build a chapel here."

This was the message given to little Bernadette on the 2nd of March, one hundred and

fifty years ago this month. And here we are!

Today as we wander around the domaine looking for shelter from the incessant rain we

are part of throngs of people moving around the Grotto, As we move, churches large and

small, ornate or severe surround us. One chapel was never going to be enough for the

endless throng that gathers around Mary’s special shrine. On Tuesday night we walked

in a procession, faces lit by glowing candles; the air filled with prayer and song. The

torchlight procession is a great common expression of hope and faith in light. It is to honour

Mary but, in so doing, it fills us with a sense of worth and the togetherness we share

with all our companions on this special journey of the heart.

Today we gather again as the family of the Trust to celebrate. We gather in the vast underground

Church and transform this bare concrete bowl into a warm colour-filled living

Church. We are the people of God. We are Church. Church among other things means

people called and formed by God to be the family of God. Mary is the mother of this family

and she expects her children to praise, thank and honour our heavenly Father.

So we gather and, in word and song, we praise and thank God for all the wonderful gifts

of this week, for the new friends we have made, for the love we have created and shared,

and for the joy that overcomes even the wettest of days. That joy, these songs are our

worship as we sing at the beginning of our mass

"Come, now is the time to worship,

Come, now is the time to give your heart.

Come, just as you are to worship,

Come, just as you are before your God".

As Mary was able to teach Bernadette, God’s love for us is without limit and so, while we

gather to sing the praise of God, God comes to us in the sacrament of the Body and

Blood of Jesus. This is to show us there is no greater love than that of God for us. This

we discover as we join all our voices and energy in loving thanks and praise. We come

in answer to Mary’s invitation and she shows us gifts beyond our imagining.

Rain may dampen our days, but the time spent with Mary and her Son ensures that nothing

can dampen our spirit or our shared love.