It’s in the Lady’s Eyes

Look at the eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They’re soft and tender. They are praying that we may know the tender, redeeming love of her Son.

Sr. Maria Guadalupe, from the religious order, Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist talked to me a few years ago about the significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe for us today:

As I understand it, the New Evangelization is about finding new ways to reach people with the same Gospel message we’ve had for 2000 years – but finding news avenues and methods with which to reach out to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, because the very nature of the Church is missionary.  The good news?  God calls us to be one with Him!  Our Lady of Guadalupe flows out of this quite naturally, as I believe that the scriptural mystery she echoes most closely is the Visitation.  Our Lady pronounced her “fiat” and then went out, carrying the Christ Child under her heart, to bring the Good News to her cousin.  She was the first missionary of the Gospel.
I think that the  most essential aspect of evangelization today is hope, because we are living in a world where God has been forgotten for the most part.  Without God, what is there to hope for?  This lack of hope has led not only to despair, but also to fear and anxiety.  And Our Lady of Guadalupe says to all of us, not just St. Juan Diego, “Do not fear any illness or anxiety.  Am I not here who am your Mother?  Are you not in the crossing of my arms, in the fold of my mantle?  Is there anything else you need?”  And if she is our Mother, she points the way to God Our Father.  Despite the evidence to the contrary, we are not alone, we are not without purpose.  Pope Benedict proclaimed this in the first homily of his pontificate: “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”  He has repeated this theme with many various over and over since then, because it is a message we need to hear.
Our Lady of Guadalupe also brings us her presence, in a very real and tangible way.  Her image, on the tilma in Mexico City, remains as a miraculous sign of God’s tender and compassionate care for us.  We are incarnate beings, and we need those physical signs….  In the 16th century, her image on the tilma brought about the conversion of millions.  Today, in the 21st century, I believe that this same image can do the same, especially through the power of the media, which allows her tilma to reach every corner of the planet.  But even beyond the tilma, she seems to manifest herself in unmistakeable ways, at least in my personal experience.  I have always found that when I seek her intercession, there is no way to miss the indications that she offers to indicate that she is listening.
In terms of the renewal of religious life, well, I think that once again, it has something to do with presence.  Religious life, as envisioned by the Church, is meant to be a Marian image of the Church, listening at the feet of her Lord, and bringing the message of His love to the highways and the byways.  People long to see this presence – thus, the appeal of the religious habit to those young women who are discerning.  The outward sign of our religious consecration corresponds to our inward state of being — set apart for the Lord.  We naturally turn to Our Lady for our inspiration of how to live this consecration, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most beloved titles of Our Lady among our Sisters.  It may have something to do with the Eucharistic Lord she bears in her womb, as indicated by the black sash – for Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Our Lady of Guadalupe means a lot!

I interviewed Sr. Maria Guadalupe for this piece on Our Lady for Lay Witness magazine. I wrote more about Guadalupe, Pope Francis, and our current urgent mission here.

Note: This post has been corrected since published. Sr. Maria Guadalupe was initially identified as being with the religious order the Sisters of Life. She’s a Dominican sister. I also spoke with Sr. Sr. Talitha Guadalupe of the Sisters of Life for the Lay Witness piece. The quote above is from Sr. Maria Guadalupe, O.P. More in the piece. Apologies for the mistake.