June 2017 - Shepherd of Faith

Candlelight procession at Lourdes!

I’ve been away for quite some time. I miss writing but I feel uninspired. This, despite the fact that I have so much to talk about and share. Since I last wrote, I have traveled to Lourdes, France. I’ve shared in so many wonderful, miraculous and spiritual experiences. I’ve met some great people along the way. Before I left on my trip I was distracted by all the prep and anxiety of the trip. I was most stressed about being away from home for 6 days. Upon my return, I was distracted by the fact that in a few weeks I would be undergoing major surgery.

It’s funny how routine life can get. It’s even funnier how comfortable we become with the routine. If there’s anything this trip to Lourdes has taught me, it’s to STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. By so doing, you allow yourself the opportunity to receive the many graces and blessings God has in store for you.

So let me start at the beginning: I was given the opportunity to go on an all expense paid trip to Lourdes, France to travel as a caregiver to one of my friends who was applying for the trip through the Knights of the Order of Malta. The Knights organize this pilgrimage every year and sponsor several sick/disabled people, along with their caregivers, to experience the beauty, spirituality and healing of Lourdes, France.

At first, I was conflicted about being chosen to be a caregiver. Although I have been there on several occasions to help my friend with medical issues , I didn’t feel I was her “caregiver” as I understood that word to mean. So I told her I wasn’t interested in applying. At her insistence, I submitted the application and several months later got word that we had been approved to participate in the pilgrimage. I have to admit, I wasn’t the least bit excited. My routine was being challenged. In addition to my routine, I had to break the news to my husband who suffers from PTSD since 9/11. Ughhhhh! As time went on and after I received my passport, God gave me the grace to accept the gift and blessing. I actually started getting excited about it.

I’ll share photos and experiences in future posts. For now I’d like to fast forward to a month after my return home. The experience was one that neither words nor photos can aptly express. The magnitude of the “domain”, the presence of God and the Blessed Mother around us, the sense of community with fellow pilgrims from other distant lands was mind blowing.

What truly touched my soul was the fact that despite the state of the world, I feared nothing, I worried about nothing, I focused on nothing else but the faith I love so much. That, my friends, is a gift I can never ever repay! As a result of my experience at Lourdes, I have returned to my routine with a deeper devotion to the Blessed Mother, with a desire to maintain the palpability of God’s presence around me every day and a thirst to continue on pilgrimage! This would have never happened had I let my fear take control. FEAR – FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL! It’s not from God – let it go!