The Holy Father presided over a Mass honouring Our Lady of Guadalupe, encouraging people all throughout the Americas to take her as inspiration for creating a culture that cares for everyone, especially migrants seeking a better life.
On Monday, the Church observed the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica officiated over by Pope Francis. During his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the intimacy between God and Mother of His Son.
He remarked “God never stops watching over our world—needy and wounded—to assist it with His compassion and mercy, His way of intervening, of manifesting Himself, always surprises us, and fills us with joy.”
Pope Francis reflected on today's reading from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians, saying that God sent His Son, who was "born of a woman," to accomplish our salvation.
He observed, “In Jesus, born of Mary, the Eternal One enters the precariousness of our time, becomes forever and irreversibly ‘God-with-us’, and walks beside us as brother and companion.”
Furthermore, Jesus is still with us as our companion and one with us in everything but sin, the Holy Father noted.
Specifically referencing the 1531 apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the area that is now Mexico, Pope Francis explained that Mary came to the Americas to bring God's consolation during a period of historical turmoil. He added;
“Nearly five centuries ago, at a complicated and difficult time for the inhabitants of the new world, the Lord wanted to transform the upheaval brought about by the encounter between two different worlds into a recovery of meaning and dignity, into openness to the Gospel.”
The Holy Father established a connection between the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the current state of the world.
He reflected on the "rumbling of war, deepening injustice, famine, poverty, and pain" that casts a "bleak and disconcerting" cloud over our future.
Even though there are many signs of doom, the Pope Francis added, we are living in a "propitious period of salvation" because the Lord is calling us to embrace fraternity and put aside our selfishness. He also remarked;
“[Mary] wants to stay with us. She begs us to allow her to be our mother, to open our lives to her Son Jesus and to welcome His message so as to learn to love like Him.”
Pope Francis also highlighted the initiation of a global novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe on Monday, in anticipation of the upcoming celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Guadalupe apparitions in 2031.
For the restoration of the social and ecclesial fabric of these peoples and communities, he said, "I urge all members of the pilgrim Church in theAmericas, pastors and faithful, to participate in this joyous pilgrimage that aspires to promote an encounter with God through Our Lady of Guadalupe."
In concluding, the Holy Father prayed that the Lord Jesus could grant everyone days marked with happiness and peace, "so that the peace of the Lord may dwell in our hearts and in the hearts of all men and women of good will."