Life in the Fast Lane

Ever get behind a REALLY annoying person on the road? You know, someone going like 10 miles under the speed limit on a road with a double yellow line… a truck that just HAS to pass another truck that’s going one mile per hour slower than the passing truck wants to go… It’s enough to tear your hair out sometimes! Or what about when you make a wrong turn and have to go WAY out of your way… you miss an exit and the next one isn’t for five miles… It’s so easy to get frustrated with yourself for being so stupid.

I’ve gotten a lot better with being patient with these people (and myself) on the road with this simple thought: You never know what God is protecting you from. It could be a speeding ticket, an accident, passing by an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/friend… Or He could be improving your timing so you see someone you need to… You never know.

On Saturday night, I was driving myself and my roommate home from swing dancing, and there were at least three other cars of people we were out with going the same way.

If we had left about 2 minutes earlier, we might have been killed.

You see, a 27-year-old man was driving his SUV 80 mph the wrong way on the freeway and crashed head-on into another car, killing both drivers instantly. 1-3 more cars were involved in the accident.

The first car in our group passed the accident right as people were stopping and getting out of their cars to see if the crash victims were okay. Two of us were stopped about 5 cars back from the accident. We were able to call the other car in our group in enough time to tell them to take a different way home.

As sorrowful as I feel for the families of those who died, it’s a scary thought to know that timing is everything, and the 2 minutes it took me that night to accidentally pass the entrance ramp, turn into a driveway, get back onto the road, and get on the ramp… Might have been the difference between life and death that night.

So next time you literally want to jump out of your car and wring the neck of the guy in front of you… or beat yourself down for going the wrong way… just roll with it and thank God for a few extra minutes and for life, instead.

Happy Our Lady of Lourdes Feast Day!

Tomorrow (technically today at this hour — February 11th) marks the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary to a poor little farmer girl named Bernadette. It’s being called the jubilee year, and there are some plenary indulgences you can get for doing certain things related to a devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes.

Mary appeared to a little girl in the middle of nowhere in southwestern France 150 years ago, and to this day a stream that was once a muddy slop area for pigs runs clear. Millions of people flock to Lourdes, and so many are miraculously healed: many are healed physically, but I believe that all are healed spiritually.

Jim Beers (a quadriplegic who travelled with his wife giving talks, mostly to youth groups, about the greatness of God) used to go like every year or so, and, since he wasn’t physically healed, people used to ask him what he thought about the claims that going and getting bathed in the waters at Lourdes could give you a miracle, and he always asserted that just because he wasn’t healed physically did not mean that he didn’t gain a whole lot of healing from the trips. I’m sure that’s how he lived for so long and so optimistically.

The Grotto at Notre Dame is that of Our Lady of Lourdes, and it’s amazing how similar it looks to the real thing — just the French one has a craggy mountain around it that’s HUGE. I’ve had so much grace poured upon me at the ND Grotto. I used to stop there between classes and drink from the water fountain there before moving on. I’ve never had a more refreshing drink in my entire life. It may not be the little stream in France, but heck if that’s not a soul refresher right there.

I’ve been to Lourdes twice, and it was just an amazing experience both times.

The rosary ring I carry around has a little Lourdes image on it.
Story: The second time I was there was with my mom and my grandpa’s cousin’s wife (I know, just  go with it, we are close and she is awesome.). One afternoon, my mom got so swept up in the place that she left her purse with her passport and all sorts of trip info in the Basilica. We had already walked a pretty far distance away, so, frantic, we ran back to the church… and didn’t find her bag. She was obviously very very upset, and I was the only fluent one of the bunch at that point, so I went to the lost and found to see if anyone had turned it in. As I walked into the door, a woman in about her early 50s was standing at the counter — IN THE PROCESS OF TURNING IN MY MOM’S BAG!! Of course, I was elated, thanking her profusely. Everything was in tact in the bag and everything. I started to offer the woman something in return for her great kindness, but she refused, saying that I reminded her of her daughter, and that if I would just pray for her, that would be thanks enough. Well, I wasn’t satisfied with just that because this woman was a true lifesaver, so I offered her the rosary ring that I had. This is the rosary ring I’d had since some time in high school; it was very plain with the latin beginning of the Hail Mary on it. I prayed fairly often on it when I was in great need, at times loaning it to people who needed an extra little boost in inspiration to pray. It was the most meaningful thing I owned, really, and I wanted her to have it. She started crying then, thanking me over and over.

Later that day, we were in the giant gift shop of Lourdes… AND I FOUND THE EXACT SAME ROSARY RING FOR SALE, except this one had the little image of Our Lady of Lourdes with St. Bernadette where mine had been plain. Now, granted, there are some things that you’ll find a lot of different places, especially because a ton of religious articles are made in Rome and then sent around the world. But it just seemed like too big of a coincidence that the exact same piece with that slight variation would be in both Mosack’s in Mentor, Ohio, and the gift shop in Lourdes, France. So I obviously got it and still carry it with me everywhere, in my pocket or in my wallet.

Minor miracles all around really. I know that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without those trips and, beyond that, my devotion to Our Lady.

Prayer of the Jubilee Year of 2008

God our Father
among all creatures You have formed Mary,
the perfect creature, the “Immaculate Conception”.
Here in Lourdes she proclaimed this name and Bernadette repeated it.
The Immaculate Conception; this is a cry of hope:
evil, sin, and death are no longer victors.
Mary, precursory sign, dawn of salvation! Mary,
You, the innocence and refuge of sinners
We pray to you.[Hail Mary...]

 

Lord Jesus,
You gave us Mary as our Mother.
She shared Your Passion and Resurrection.
Here in Lourdes she showed herself to Bernadette,
saddened by our sins but radiant with Your light.
Through her, we entrust to You our joys and our sorrows,
our own, those of the sick, and those of all people.

Mary,
Our sister and our mother,
our confidant, and our help
We pray to you

[Hail Mary...]

Holy Spirit, you are the Spirit of love and unity.
Here in Lourdes, through Bernadette, Mary asked
for a Chapel, and for people to come in procession.
Inspire the Church which Christ is building on Peter’s faith:
that it may be one.
Guide the pilgrimage of the Church:
that it may be faithful and daring!

Mary, you are filled with the Holy Spirit,
you are the spouse and the servant.
You are the model for Christians, and the maternal face of the Church.v We pray to you.

[Hail Mary...]

For the many graces received here,
for all the conversions,
all the forgiveness,
all the healings,
for the vocations and promises
which you have witnessed or engendered,
for the love of serving others, which you have let us experience,
Our Lady of Lourdes
we thank you!

With all our brothers and sisters of the human race,
with all people in need of peace and justice,
with young people in search of a way,
you who appeared so young to little Bernadette,
with all those who are in mourning, who are ill,
handicapped, or facing a setback,
with those who may have a reason for despair:
Our Lady of Lourdes
We pray to you!

Because you are the smile of God,
the reflection of the light of Christ,
the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit,
because you chose Bernadette in her misery,
because you are the star of the morning, the gate of Heaven,
and the first resurrected creature
we praise you,
we acclaim you
and with you we sing the wonders of God

[Magnificat: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
He has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed;
the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is His name.
He has mercy on those who fear Him,
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,
Casting down the mighty from their thrones
and lifting up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
to remember his promise of mercy,
The promise made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children for ever.]

AMEN