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We
encounter Jesus through Mary
11. At
the birth of Jesus, the Magi came from the East to Bethlehem and “saw the child
with Mary his Mother” (Mt 2:11). At the beginning of his public life, at
the marriage of Cana, when the Son of God works the first of his signs,
awakening faith in the disciples (cf. Jn 2:11), it is Mary who
intervenes and directs the servants towards her Son in these words: “Do
whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). In this regard I once wrote that “the
Mother of Christ presents herself as the spokeswoman of her Son's will,
pointing out those things which must be done so that the salvific power of the
Messiah may be manifested”.( 17) For this reason Mary is the sure path
to our meeting with Christ. Devotion to the Mother of the Lord, when it is
genuine, is always an impetus to a life guided by the spirit and values of the
Gospel.
How can
we fail to emphasize the role which belongs to the Virgin Mary in relation to
the pilgrim Church in America journeying towards its encounter with the Lord?
Indeed, the Most Blessed Virgin “is linked in a special way to the birth of the
Church in the history ... of the peoples of America; through Mary they came to
encounter the Lord”.( 18)
Throughout
the continent, from the time of the first evangelization, the presence of the
Mother of God has been strongly felt, thanks to the efforts of the
missionaries. In their preaching, “the Gospel was proclaimed by presenting the
Virgin Mary as its highest realization. From the beginning — invoked as Our
Lady of Guadalupe — Mary, by her motherly and merciful figure, was a great sign
of the closeness of the Father and of Jesus Christ, with whom she invites us to
enter into communion”.( 19)
The
appearance of Mary to the native Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531 had
a decisive effect on evangelization.( 20) Its influence greatly
overflows the boundaries of Mexico, spreading to the whole Continent. America,
which historically has been, and still is, a melting-pot of peoples, has recognized
in the mestiza face of the Virgin of Tepeyac, “in Blessed Mary of
Guadalupe, an impressive example of a perfectly inculturated evangelization”.(
21) Consequently, not only in Central and South America, but in North
America as well, the Virgin of Guadalupe is venerated as Queen of all America.(
22)
With the
passage of time, pastors and faithful alike have grown increasingly conscious
of the role of the Virgin Mary in the evangelization of America. In the prayer
composed for the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, Holy
Mary of Guadalupe is invoked as “Patroness of all America and Star of the first
and new evangelization”. In view of this, I welcome with joy the proposal of
the Synod Fathers that the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother and
Evangelizer of America, be celebrated throughout the continent on December 12.(
23) It is my heartfelt hope that she, whose intercession was
responsible for strengthening the faith of the first disciples (cf. Jn 2:11),
will by her maternal intercession guide the Church in America, obtaining the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as she once did for the early Church (cf. Acts
1:14), so that the new evangelization may yield a splendid flowering of
Christian life.
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