February 11, 2025 // Bishop

Theology on Tap Kicks Off in South Bend, Fort Wayne

Paula Lent

Talk on Our Lady of Lourdes Begins Series on Marian Apparitions

On Tuesday, February 4, the Catholic young adults of South Bend came out in droves to hear Bishop Rhoades speak at the inaugural night of the winter series of Theology on Tap at Bar Louie in Granger. 

The theme for the series, “In Him Through Her,” was chosen by the young adult planning team as a way to explore themes from Marian apparitions. On the first night, Bishop Rhoades shared about the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, where a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous saw 18 apparitions of Mary (under her title Our Lady of Lourdes) in 1858. The sanctuary at Lourdes has become a well-known pilgrimage destination, particularly for those seeking healing through the waters of its spring. The first recorded miracle there occurred in 1858, when a paralyzed pregnant woman returned to full health after placing her arm in the water. Since then, there have been more than 7,000 reported healing miracles, 70 of which the Church has confirmed. The last confirmed miracle at Lourdes occurred in 2018.

During his talk, Bishop Rhoades gave a history lesson on the Marian apparitions Bernadette received at Lourdes, and he shared his personal connection to the pilgrimage site with the audience.

“Since my childhood, Lourdes was a part of my growing up,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Lourdes was a very important devotion, because my mother’s sister, my Aunt Sis … she was a nurse, and she never got married. … Her life was really dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. She would spend all year raising money to bring the sick and handicapped and disabled to Lourdes. And every year, they would have a pilgrimage of about 200 sick and disabled people. So she was always talking about Lourdes. … She would always bring us back holy water from Lourdes. And that was special.” 

Because of this, Bishop Rhoades said he was “really happy to go there” when he had his first opportunity as a young seminarian studying in Rome in 1980. He traveled to join his aunt on one of her group pilgrimages and worked with other young adults to assist people – especially those whose physical limitations made mobility hard – with entering the baths at Lourdes. “It was really a very moving experience,” he recalled. 

“Lourdes is special because it’s so focused on the sick and the suffering. And I think it’s the largest shrine in the world where people go for healing,” Bishop Rhoades said. 

Bishop Rhoades continued: “In many ways, Lourdes is a really special place, because we think a lot about the physical cures that have been reported. But it’s really a holy place, a sanctuary of prayer,” he said before noting that “it’s hard to put into words the graces that one can experience at Lourdes.” 

Bishop Rhoades returned to this message later in his talk, saying: “Those who did not experience physical healings, they leave Lourdes with hope, even though they haven’t been cured. I’ve seen so many people like that. I felt it: After I bathed in the waters of Lourdes, I felt an inner peace and that hope. And I think that’s common in the various Marian apparitions.” 

As part of the Q&A session that followed his talk, Bishop Rhoades made a connection between Mary as a symbol of hope and the Church’s current Jubilee Year of Hope. He also reiterated that our source of hope is found in the Lord.

When asked by a participant what connection he saw between the messages of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Jubilee Year of Hope, Bishop Rhoades quoted the line from Paul’s letter to the Romans from which Pope Francis drew the title of his papal bull of indiction for the Jubilee Year, Spes Non Confundit: “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). “And I think Mary is a witness of that hope. The love of God shines through her,” he said. 

“And that’s what gives us hope: Hope of salvation, hope of eternal life, hope of perfect communion with the Lord and all the saints, all our loved ones who have gone before us,” Bishop Rhoades continued, underscoring the importance of placing our hopes in the promises and words of God. 

Given the themes of the talk, one participant asked Bishop Rhoades: “What are some healing verses? And also, how do you heal your inner self profoundly?” 

“I can’t heal myself,” Bishop Rhoades responded immediately. “It’s a gift from the Lord. When I’m suffering, I turn to the Lord in prayer,” he said, noting that he does so in part by spending “time before the Lord and the Blessed Sacrament, just speaking from my heart to the Lord.” 

The Q&A session ended with Bishop Rhoades sharing, in honor of Bernadette’s encounter with Our Lady, about “an encounter that changed his life,” before encouraging the audience to go on pilgrimages. 

Bishop Rhoades told the young adult audience about an experience he had at the Our Lady of Lourdes replica at Mount St. Mary’s college when he was a student there trying to discern a calling to the priesthood.

“So, I was studying there, and I went up the mountain where the grotto is. And I sat on a bench on a hill overlooking the grotto. And I just poured it out of my heart, ‘Lord please help me to know what your will is, and Mary, Mary my mother, help me to know.’  So then at that point, I thought about marriage, and then I thought about priesthood. When I thought about the priesthood … I had this inner peace, deep inner peace and joy. And I can pinpoint that was the day of my calling,” Bishop Rhoades said. “And then when I went to the Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine, I was a priest at the time, and I was in a very tough assignment. I felt a lot of that [peace] being there at Guadalupe; it renewed my energy and my commitment and my strength. So going on pilgrimage is a good thing. It’s good for the soul.” 

Emily Burnham, one of the young adult team members for this series of Theology on Tap in South Bend, told Today’s Catholic: “We were very excited to have Bishop Rhoades as our first guest this week! Not only is he a great shepherd but he has a very strong devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. With him as our inaugural speaker, I have no doubts that the series will be a successful way to bring young adults closer to Jesus.” 

The rest of the series will feature speakers who will reflect on other Marian apparitions. Burnham shared: “When she appears, there is always an overarching theme to her message that leads us back to her son, Jesus. Each week, we will dive into a different aspect of finding healing, peace, repentance, trust, and unity within the world today. Our speakers were chosen because of their strong devotions to each of the different apparitions of Mary.  We hope that they will speak into her messages and share with the young adults what Mary was trying to convey, ultimately leading them to an encounter with Jesus.” 

The South Bend Theology on Tap series will be held at Bar Louie in Granger on Monday nights through March 3. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and talks begin at 7 p.m. The evenings end at 8:30 p.m. The event is open to young adults in their 20s and 30s from all states in life.

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Focus on Fasting Begins Fort Wayne Theology on Tap Series

Father LeeAllen Fortin, associate pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, expounded on the benefits of fasting during the opening session of the winter series of Theology on Tap in Fort Wayne. Nearly 60 young adults packed the tables at Charlie’s Place, a local restaurant and bar, on Tuesday, February 4. The theme of the winter series is “Body and Soul,” and with Lent just around the corner, Father Fortin’s 45-minute talk on fasting was well received by the crowd. To learn more about the series’ remaining schedule, including a March 4 Mass and celebration with Bishop Rhoades, visit diocesefwsb.org/tot-fw.