Our Lady of Guadalupe
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” – Lk 1:30
As much as I love the triumphant Magnificat for its prophetic poetry, I am continually drawn to Mary’s questioning of the angel Gabriel in today’s readings. She asks, “How can this be?” after the angel Gabriel tells her, “Do not be afraid.” I pray and wonder, does her question arise from doubt, fear, dismay? Mary becomes human to me at this moment. For the first time Mary feels accessible to me as I picture her agency while she considers this choice. I now see her as an empowered woman invited to consider something, not a submissive woman burdened by a request. She who said yes to receiving Jesus as her son and then let him go towards the cross teaches us that a relationship with God is charged with both grace and challenge. Her “yes” was not a naive impulse nor an obliged response; her yes is a conscious choice she made with fear.
A couple of summers ago, while sitting across from migrants in a comedor at the U.S./Mexican border in Nogales, I met many individuals who were making choices with fear. Individuals who have questioned their leaders and their God. Human beings who have paused in their migrant journey to ask a powerful nation for asylum. Human beings who have made life threatening choices with fear because they have children to feed and because their governments cannot keep them safe. In the faces of those individuals, risking detention and enduring inhumane circumstances, I saw Mother Mary: young, grace-filled and afraid. In sharing frijoles and tortillas, their questions met my own and their fear met my own. What can I do living so many miles away? What is my role in this? I saw them, and with my gaze, I did my best to love them.
Perhaps I am continually drawn to Mary’s questioning because that is where I find myself, yet I know that is not where I am meant to stay. “Love ought to show itself in deeds more than words,” St. Ignatius of Loyola reminds us. Mary used her fear and her love to take an historic step. Today, as millions gather to honor La Virgen de Guadalupe, we remember that fear can lead us towards courageous faith. And, as we experience our world as graced and broken as it is, we remember that God is continually calling each of us. So, we question and we pause, and, most importantly, we move with our fear.
Creator God, you know us better than we know ourselves. As we honor La Virgencita today, remind us of your unconditional love that we are called to emulate. Guide us as we discern the signs of the times and how to live out our vocation. Show us where we need to step up and where we need to step back. But mostly, gently encourage us to accept what you invite us to day by day. Amen.
Ana López