Pre Lourdes Pilgrimage Mass

Pre Lourdes Pilgrimage Mass

June 5, 2026

I am just back from Rome where I attended Pope Francis’ weekly audience on Wednesday. In his talk that day, he spoke about the liturgy, and he reminded us that we come, for example, to Mass, we move into another experience of time and space that interrupts our frenetic activities. It brings us back to the essential. It provides us with a pause that regenerates our heart. We recognise again at Mass that it is first and foremost God’s grace at work before all our actions. We learn to live, as the Pope said, in a rhythm inhabited by the Holy Spirit.

These are lovely words and I thought they are helpful for us as we gather for this Mass in preparation for our pilgrimage to Lourdes. They remind us of what matters. Many people have been working hard in the background. And I’ve very grateful to them. Many pilgrims have been getting themselves ready. I’m delighted so many are coming this year, around 450 our largest since Covid. Many young people are getting very excited about the pilgrimage. And we are always delighted to see them. But in all our busyness, in all our preparations, in all the arrangements to be made, including not to forget our passport or to make sure it’s up to date (!), it is good for us to take this time out to pause for a moment, let ourselves be regenerated and remember again the essential – a pilgrimage is about opening ourselves on a journey where God can work in a new way in our lives.

We can do many activities. We can be busy. But above all, what we bring to the pilgrimage is our heart. It’s a heart to believe, to love, to hope. What matters most is that we love one another as Jesus commanded us. It is our heart that will celebrate faith. It is our heart that looks to the future with hope. It is the heart that will speak to each other’s heart in love. And all the while, it will be God working first, with his gift of love and mercy.

In a few weeks’ time we’ll all be in Lourdes. And Lourdes is a really wonderful place. We wish the cyclists well as they’ll be the first to set out. I know that so many of you here have been going back to Lourdes year after year. One of the great aspects of Lourdes is that it runs counter to a message the modern world is telling us day by day. As Pope Leo has been emphasising about in recent times, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence there is a risk that there our world believes that what matters if greater efficiency, productivity and perfection. AI gives the impression that everything can be perfected, made more functional, made better and better. In itself, this might seem okay but there is a problem. Suddenly, our limits, our sufferings, our illness, our old age, our vulnerability seem just to be defects that need to be corrected. Or worse, they are almost denied. We forget that they are part of the human condition. We forget that we need to bring them to the healing power of Jesus. We forget that our humanity flourishes not despite these limits but in and through them. That’s the great thing about Lourdes. The sick and suffering are not hidden away. They have pride of place.

The sick and suffering are very evident in the assisted pilgrims who come and this year we have many coming with us. Less obvious is the sufferings and burdens others are carrying. The reality is that everyone carries some limit or failure or burden. We all carry within us situations that over the years have left their scars, maybe the memories of a journey shaped by dreams, yes, but also failures and disappointments. But we can bring all of this to Lourdes. And in doing that, we are doing something wonderful. We are offering God and Our Lady the possibility of doing more for us that we could ever imagine ourselves. Lourdes is the place that says: believe the impossible is possible, just like Mary did at the Annunciation when she said “yes” to the Angel Gabriel. God wants to speak to your heart and my heart and to the heart of each pilgrim on our Limerick diocesan pilgrimage. He wants put fresh heart within us, full of wisdom and healing and love, so that we can really be at peace in a world that so badly needs peace.

And for that to happen, let’s decide we are going to make the effort for this pilgrimage to be a great pilgrimage not just for us individually but for each other. We make the Lourdes pilgrimage for each other. Let’s ask God at this Mass for the grace to build up our diocesan pilgrimage together.