The ROMAN OBSERVER Vatican City Friday, 19 February 2016

Praying at the foot of the Virgin in the Basilica of Guadalupe
A place for those
who do not ‘count’
We have just heard how Mary went
to meet her cousin Elizabeth. She
set out without delay, without
doubts, without lessening her pace,
to be with her relative who was in
the last months of her pregnancy.
Mary’s encounter with the angel
did not hold her back since she did
not consider herself privileged, or
make her hesitate in leaving those
around her. On the contrary, it renewed
and inspired an attitude for
which Mary is and always will be
known: she is the woman who says
“yes”, a “yes” of surrender to God
and, at the same time, a “yes” of
surrender to her brothers and sisters.
This is the “yes” which prompted
her to give the best of herself, going
forth to meet the others.
Listening to this Gospel passage
in this place has a special significance.
Mary, the woman who gave
her “yes”, wished also to come to
the inhabitants of these American
lands through the person of the Indian
St Juan Diego. Just as she went
along the paths of Judea and Galilee,
in the same way she walked
through Tepeyac, wearing the indigenous
garb and using their language.
On that morning in December
1531, the first miracle occurred which
would then be the living memory of
all this Shrine protects. On that
morning, at that meeting, God
awakened the hope of his son Juan,
and the hope of a People. On that
morning, God roused the hope of
the little ones, of the suffering, of
those displaced or rejected, of all
who feel they have no worthy place
in these lands. On that morning,
God came close and still comes
close to the suffering but resilient
hearts of so many mothers, fathers,
grandparents who have seen their
children leaving, becoming lost or
even being taken by criminals.
On that morning, Juanito experienced
in his own life what hope is,
what the mercy of God is. He was
chosen to oversee, care for, protect
and promote the building of this
Shrine. On many occasions he said
to Our Lady that he was not the
right person; on the contrary, if she
wished the work to progress, she
should choose others, since he was
not learned or literate and did not
belong to the group who could
make it a reality. Mary, who was....
...young people without a future
who are exposed to endless painful
and risky situations, and the elderly
who are unacknowledged, forgotten
and out of sight. The Shrine of God
is our families in need only of the
essentials to develop and progress.
The Shrine of God is the faces of
the many people we encounter each
day....
Visiting this Shrine, the same
things that happened to Juan Diego
can also happen to us. Look at the
Blessed Mother from within our
own sufferings, our own fear, hopelessness,
sadness, and say to her,
“What can I offer since I am not
learned?”. We look to our Mother
with eyes that express our thoughts:
there are so many situations which
leave us powerless, which make us
feel that there is no room for hope,
for change, for transformation.
And so, I think that some silence
may do us good today as we pause
to look upon her and repeat to her
the words of that other loving son:
Simply looking at you, O Mother, /
having eyes only for you, / looking
upon you without saying anything, /
telling you everything, wordlessly and
reverently. / Do not perturb the air
before you; / only cradle my stolen
solitude / in your loving Motherly eyes,
/ in the nest of your clear ground. /
Hours tumble by, / and with much
commotion, / the wastage of life and
death / sinks its teeth into foolish men.
Having eyes for you, O Mother, simply
contemplating you / with a heart /
quieted in your tenderness / that silence
of yours, / chaste as the lilies.
And in the silence, and in this
looking at her, we will hear what she
says to us once more, “What, my
most precious little one, saddens
your heart?” (Nican Mopohua, 107).
“Yet am I not here with you, who
have the honour of being your
mother?” (ibid., 119).
Mary tells us that she has “the
honour” of being our mother, assuring
us that those who suffer do not
“Mary, the woman who gave her ‘yes’, wished also to come to the inhabitants of
these American lands in the person of the Indian St Juan Diego. Just as she
went along the paths of Judea and Galilee, in the same way she walked through
Tepeyac, wearing the indigenous garb and using their language so as to serve this
great nation. Just as she accompanied Elizabeth in her pregnancy, so too she
accompanied and continues to accompany the development of this blessed Mexican
land”. Pope Francis devoted his homily to Mary at the Mass he celebrated on
Saturday afternoon, 13 February, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. At
the end of the celebration, the Pontiff crowned the image of the Virgin and paused
for a while to pray.