The Living Icon of Authentic Femininity & Maternity

During a recent pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I was explaining to our pilgrims that the Blessed Virgin Mary, appearing as an expectant mother, carrying the Son of God and the Savior of the world in her womb, declared her authentic femininity and her authentic maternity to St. Juan Diego when She asked him “Am I not here who am your Mother...?” Those reassuring words led to the conversion of all the people of Mexico to the Christian religion. It led to fostering protection for women and children. It ended the barbaric practice of human sacrifice to false idols and demons.

The mystery of the Incarnation reveals that Mary gave birth to Jesus in His two natures – human and divine. She is therefore, correctly called the Mother of God. Because Mary (the new Eve) participated so closely with Her Son’s (Jesus is the new Adam) work of redemption, she became our mother in the order of Grace. Through baptism we are re-born into the life of Grace, therefore, Mary becomes our mother in the order of Grace.

At the wedding at Cana, when Jesus addressed Mary as “woman”, as He did again from the Cross, He is asserting her authentic femininity and her authentic maternity. He honors her in her sublime dignity and personal holi- ness because, when the angel Gabriel announced to her God’s plan of Salvation, she replied to Gabriel “Fiat – Let it be done to me according to your word!”. This 14-year-old woman obediently and lovingly committed herself without hesitation. Mary cancelled out the disobedience of the first Eve. She embraced her identity, in her authentic femininity and maternity, and she accepted her vocation to donate her life and all her gifts, placing them at the service of the mission of the Redeemer. Mary’s Son Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly! (Jn 10:10)

One of the deadly lies that Satan has sowed is that promiscuity, contracep- tion, and abortion will make women free to become more feminine and to celebrate their femininity, without the consequential burden of children. This is an insidious attempt aimed at separating femininity from maternity. It is an attack against the wondrous beauty of the nature of woman. The Devil has fomented a resentment and hostility between the sexes, that has tricked many women into desperately trying to be ever-more like men - hating their femininity and maternity.

Meanwhile, the Devil has duped some men into hating their masculinity to such an extent as to pretend to be women. Thus both, women and men who fall for these deceptions are rejecting their God-given nature.

Where is authenticity in all of this? It constitutes a loss of integrity in the very foundational understanding of the nature of the human person and the complementarity of the sexes (male and female).

The tragedy of this is that life doesn’t become more abundant. Rather, it is cheapened and undermined. Life is traded for death!

It is time to rediscover and reassert what God established in the beginning. It seems to me that, by its nature, authentic femininity and maternity, manifests Mary’s purity of heart, in reciprocating the self-giving love of God. Mary is a type or model of the Church.

Mary’s life of dynamic receptivity reveals her trusting and faithfull love for her Divine Spouse who is faithful and true. Mary and the Church are always dynamically receptive to Him, and in her steadfast obedience, she generously places herself at the service of all human life.
Mary’s words to St. Juan Diego reach across time and space - “Am I not here who am your Mother?

While Baptism is necessary for adoption as a child of God in the life of Grace,
Mary would never be indifferent to the needs of the unbaptized child. Her Immaculate Heart of dynamic recep- tivity reaches out for all children – baptized and unbaptized. She continues to intercede to her Divine Son for them and for all of us.

Your commitment for the protection of women and their child in the womb is divinely inspired – and it is inspiring! In our 40 Days for Life campaigns, you carry out the important Lenten disciplines of fasting, praying and alms-giving. In your rosaries and your other devotions, allow yourself to be inspired and to inspire others with Our Lady of Guadalupe’s words – “Am I not here who am your Mother?” This is a lesson that must be learned by every generation – one soul at a time.

Our Lady of Guadalupe... Pray for us!