Today, we continue our Advent journey, pausing to remember Mary’s accompaniment on our paths. Has it been a peaceful and hopeful journey--or has extra busyness overcome us? Have we been weighed down by concerns? Are we disappointed in our progress on our pilgrimage? Perhaps it’s time to pause and spend a moment pondering the compassionate gaze of Mary in the image above, as seen outside the Chapel of Christ the Good Shepherd, Immaculate Conception Seminary. What do we see in her gaze? What might Christ want us to see in his mother’s eyes?
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When St. Juan Diego looked upon Mary in a series of apparitions in December 1531, he experienced the loving kindness of her gaze and in her words:
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Listen, put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest son, that the thing that disturbs you, the thing that afflicts you, is nothing…Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.
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Mary asks each of us today also to listen to her gentle assurance: “Am I not here, I, who am your Mother?” Pope Francis encourages: “May [Mary] lead by the hand all the children who go on pilgrimage…to meet her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, present in the Church, in his sacramental nature, especially in the Eucharist, present in the treasure of his Word and in his teaching, present in the holy and faithful People of God, present in those who are suffering and in the lowly in heart.”
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Today, let us surrender our burdens, and rest in the hollow of Mary’s mantle, the crossing of her arms. Let her cradle us today, as she leads us to her Son.
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Dear Lord,
We come to you today in thanksgiving for Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Thank you for her miraculous image on the tilma of St. Juan Diego. May meditating on her compassionate countenance remind us how you, too, gazed into her eyes and knew of her love for you. May we trust that Mary wants our peace of heart, and to draw us closer to You. Amen.
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Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D., Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Administration and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, earned a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, an M.A. in Catholic Theology and Pastoral Ministry from The Institute of Advanced Studies of Catholic Doctrine, St. John's University, and an S.T.L. and an S.T.D. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (The Angelicum), Rome. Dr. Traflet is a key leader in the Center for Diaconal Formation, and she gives numerous lectures, retreats, and days of recollection, including some specific to wives of deacons and deacon candidates. She is the author of Edith Stein: A Spiritual Portrait (Pauline Media, 2008).
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