Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1, 39-47
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”
Mary of Guadalupe
1) Juan Diego. Mary does not appear to the Cardinal, nor to the Bishop of Mexico. She appears before an ordinary, honest man who got up every day to go to work, a man who had a sick relative, who struggled every day and was part of that divided society, between Spaniards and natives. That Juan Diego might be you, a working person, with worries and within a society which troubles you. It is important to understand that God looks for simple hearts, and God’s work is shown in those who we least imagine. This was true in Juan DIego, so much so that not even the bishop believed him. This must lead us to value every person who walks along with us, because God works in whom he wants and when he wants.
2) Tenderness. What moves me most about this devotion is the tenderness with which Mary treats Juan Diego, tenderness that heals and gives confidence. Ours is a time which lacks tenderness; we have become very hard people, we’re a hard society and there’s even hardness within the Church. Ask yourself whether you are very hard on those around you, ask yourself whether you show affection to them. May Mary help us to be more tender and closer to others.
3) The mantle. Mary presents herself pregnant, in her is that little being that has a strong beating heart; in her is the greatest being in the world, God himself. Mary’s gaze is tender, and in her pupils we see the face of Juan Diego. When Mary looks at you, you will not be just someone else to her; you are her son or her daughter. She gets into the culture of her people, because she walks along with you and me, she walks as one of us, and she comforts us on the way. Mary takes care of you and me. Long live Mary! Long live Mexico! Long live a world with more tenderness and less hatred!
God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And always remember, Heaven is our goal.
