The 70-year-old archbishop, the former president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that the Blessed Virgin Mary loves everyone as a mother.
“When we look into her eyes, we experience the love she has for each one of us, for our families, the Church, and the society in which we live,” he said. “Mary of Guadalupe opens her arms with tenderness and compassion and embraces us all with motherly love.”
He described Mary’s “beautiful mission” as bringing Jesus to each person.
“In all her apparitions, the Virgin Mary’s message has always been like that of Tepeyac: She is the mother of all humanity, the mother of every person of every race and language,” he said. “And where she is, her Son Jesus cannot be absent, offering his love and salvation.”
When she appeared on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City in 1531, Our Lady of Guadalupe not only looked like a native woman but also spoke in the same language as one. She came at a time of conflict between the Spanish and the indigenous peoples to ask Juan Diego, a peasant who had converted to Christianity, to persuade the bishop to build a shrine in her name. When the bishop asked for a sign that the apparition was real, Juan Diego went back to Tepeyac, and Mary appeared once again. She instructed the saint to gather a bouquet of flowers even though it was winter. When he returned with the bouquet in his tilma, or cloak, the bishop fell to his knees when he saw Castilian roses and an image of Our Lady.
Mary’s life on earth provides an example for all Catholics, Gomez said, pointing to Our Lady’s visit with her relative, St. Elizabeth, while they were both pregnant.
Credit: Source link
