The Lord and Lady of the Dance!

They were dancing in the aisles!  It was not Mama Mia nor the long running musical, Buddy, but the Easter Monday Mass for the IHCPT pilgrimage.  The Lords and Ladies of the Dance may have been restricted in movement or mobility but all had rhythm, and a joy so infectious, that the whole congregation of fifteen hundred, including forty priests and three bishops broke into song and dance.

At that moment and on many occasions since I was so aware that the Lord of the dance and,  maybe more accurately,  the Mother of the Lord of the Dance had brought us here to Lourdes. Last night in the packed Rosary Basilica for a Penitential Rite,  a young man,  working in a Government department, turned to me and said: "This is what the early church must have been like."

Jesus blesses the eyes which see but He is also critical of those who have eyes,  but refuse to see.

Jesus blesses those who believe in the signs, the signs which are all around us these days.

Seeing is indeed believing. The Lord of the Dance is among us. It brings a feeling felt along the heart and may even put that extra spring or dance-step in our feet."

Fr. Michael McCullagh, C.M.

15th April, 2007