Dear brothers and sisters,
In the reading from Sirach, we are presented with a poetic description of Wisdom, an image that finds its full identity in Christ, the “wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24), who, at the fullness of time, became flesh, being born of a woman (cf. Gal 4:4). The Christian tradition has also read this passage in a Marian key, as it calls to mind the woman prepared by God to receive Christ. Indeed, who but Mary can say, “In me is all the grace of the way and of truth, all hope of life and virtue” (Sir 24:25)? Therefore, the Christian tradition does not hesitate to recognize her as “the mother of love” (ibid., v. 24). In the Gospel, we hear how Mary lives the dynamic of one who allows the Word of God to enter her life and transform it. Like a consuming fire that cannot be contained, the Word drives us to share the joy of the gift received (cf. Jer 20:9; Lk 24:32). She, joyful at the angel’s announcement, understands that God’s joy is perfected in charity, and so she hastens to the house of Elizabeth. Truly, the words of the Full of Grace are “sweeter than honey” (Sir 24:27). Her greeting alone makes the child leap in Elizabeth’s womb, and she, filled with the Holy Spirit, asks, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43). This joy flows into the Magnificat, where Mary acknowledges that her happiness comes from the faithful God, who has turned his eyes to his people and blessed them (cf. Ps 66:2) with an inheritance sweeter than honey in the combs (cf. Sir 24:20); the very presence of her Son.
Throughout her life, Mary brings that joy wherever human joy is not enough, wherever the wine has run out (cf. Jn 2:3). This happens in Guadalupe. On the Tepeyac, she awakens in the people of the Americas the joy of knowing they are loved by God. In the apparitions of 1531, speaking to Saint Juan Diego in his native language, she declared that she “greatly desires” a “sacred little house” to be built there, from which she would exalt God and make Him known (cf. Nican Mopohua, 26-27). Amid ongoing conflicts, injustices, and pains seeking relief, Our Lady of Guadalupe proclaims the heart of her message: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” (ibid., 119). It is a voice that resonates the promise of divine fidelity, a presence that sustains when life becomes unbearable.
The motherhood she declares helps us discover ourselves as children. Whoever hears “I am your mother” remembers that, from the cross, “here is your mother” corresponds to “here is your son” (cf. Jn 19:26-27). And as children, we will turn to her and ask: “Mother, what must we do to be the children your heart desires?” She, faithful to her mission, will tenderly say to us: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). Yes, Mother, we want to be your true children: show us how to grow in faith when our strength falters and shadows grow. Make us understand that with you, even winter becomes a time of roses. And as your child I ask: Mother, teach the nations that want to be your daughters not to divide the world into irreconcilable factions, not to allow hatred to shape their history, nor lies to write their memory. Show them that authority must be exercised as service, not domination. Instruct their leaders in their duty to safeguard the dignity of every person at every stage of life. Make these peoples, your children, places where everyone can feel welcome.
Accompany, Mother, the young so that they may receive from Christ the strength to choose what is good and the courage to remain steadfast in faith, even when the world pushes them in another direction. Show them that your Son walks by their side. May nothing trouble their hearts so they may receive God’s plans without fear. Protect them from the threats of crime, addiction, and a life without meaning. Seek out, Mother, those who have drifted from the holy Church: may your gaze reach them where ours cannot, tear down the walls that separate us, and bring them back home through the power of your love. Mother, I beg you to incline the hearts of those sowing discord toward your Son’s desire that “all may be one” (Jn 17:21), and restore them in the charity that makes communion possible, for within the Church, Mother, your children cannot be divided.
Strengthen families: following your example, may parents educate with tenderness and firmness so that every home becomes a school of faith. Inspire, Mother, those who form minds and hearts so they may teach the truth with the sweetness, precision, and clarity that come from the Gospel. Encourage those your Son has called to follow Him more closely: sustain the clergy and consecrated life in daily fidelity and renew their first love. Guard their interior life in prayer, protect them in temptation, encourage them in fatigue, and aid the weary. Holy Virgin, may we, like you, keep the Gospel in our hearts (cf. Lk 2:51). Help us understand that, though recipients, we are not owners of this message, but, like Saint Juan Diego, its simple servants. May we live convinced that wherever the Good News reaches, everything becomes beautiful, everything heals, everything is renewed. “Those who are guided by you will not sin” (cf. Sir 24:22); assist us so that our sin and misery do not stain the holiness of the Church, which, like you, is mother.
Mother of the “true God whom we live by,” come to the aid of the Successor of Peter so that he may be confirmed in the only path leading to the blessed Fruit of your womb, for all entrusted to me. Remember this child of yours, “to whom Christ entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven for the good of all,” that these keys may serve “to bind and loose and to redeem all human misery” (St. John Paul II, Homily in Syracuse, November 6, 1994). And make it so that, trusting in your protection, we may advance ever more united, with Jesus and among ourselves, toward the eternal dwelling He has prepared for us, where you await us.
Amen.
