Christ the Cornerstone
Let’s turn to the Blessed Mother, to her love for us
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” (Lk 1:46-47)
Four days ago, on Dec. 8, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The doctrine of Mary’s sinless conception, and her freedom from the burden of original sin that is carried by every other descendant of Adam and Eve, is a powerful testament to God’s mercy and his desire to preserve us from the consequences of sin and death.
The Immaculate Conception celebrates the fact that Mary is unique and different from all the rest of us—not in a way that distances her from us, but in a way that brings her closer.
Mary’s closeness to us is emphasized in today’s Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The story of Mary’s miraculous appearance in 1531 to St. Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City, is familiar to many Catholics in central and southern Indiana.
Mary identified herself as the Mother of God, but also as the mother of all of us. What’s more, she appeared to this poor man as a young mestiza woman dressed like a native princess. She spoke to him—not in Spanish but in the indigenous language of his own people. And she assured him that she was not a stranger, but in fact was as close to him as his own mother.
Mary instructed Juan Diego to have the local bishop build a church on the site. As proof of who she was, the beautiful lady left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor-quality cactus cloth. Under ordinary circumstances, this cloth should have deteriorated within 20 years but to this day, nearly 500 years later, it shows no sign of decay.
When Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, out-of-season Castilian roses fell to the ground, and the bishop sank to his knees. On the tilma where the roses had been, there was an indelible image of Mary exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac.
In 1999, St. Pope John Paul II, in his homily given during a Solemn Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe during his third visit to the sanctuary, declared the date of Dec. 12th as a liturgical Holy Day for the whole American continent. During the same visit, the Holy Father entrusted the cause of life to Mary’s loving protection and placed under her motherly care the innocent lives of children, especially those who are in danger of not being born.
We celebrate this great feast day in communion with dioceses throughout the United States, Mexico and all the Americas. We are reminded on this day that Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our mother, is here with us, and one with us, in all the moments of our lives. In good times, she rejoices with us. In hard times, she showers us with her compassion, and she shares with us the courage that she displayed standing at the foot of her Son’s cross.
Mary’s freely chosen acceptance of God’s will for her was a powerful instrument of our salvation in Christ. The fact that she comes to us wearing native clothing and speaking our own language is a sign that her love for us is boundless and unfettered. She is not subject to the narrow divisiveness of sin. She remains close to us always, pointing the way to her Divine Son and showing us how to be united with him and with each other.
Mary’s words to St. Juan Diego, nearly 500 years ago, speak powerfully to each of us today:
Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.
As we continue to celebrate this holy season of Advent, let’s turn to our Blessed Mother and allow her to guide us, care for us, and intercede for us. And let’s ask the one who was born without sin to show us what life can be like for us if we surrender completely our egos, our self-centeredness, and our refusal to accept God’s will for us in our daily lives.
Advent is the season for patient waiting. Let’s ask our loving Mother to help us with our impatience. May we join with Mary in saying to God’s messengers: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). †