Today on Gaudete Sunday, we come before God and ask “What should we do?” just as the crowds asked John in the gospel reading. Discernment is the process of listening to God and ourselves to learn the answer. Responding to God’s plan for us is to live a life of love and joy. Often in this world, we are drawn to promises of riches and worldly goods that move us away from loving God and each other. God reminds us in big and small ways to seek out the good and the just. 

One such big way occurred nearly 500 years ago with the appearance of Mary to Juan Diego. She chose him to carry her message to the bishop (and to the world) to follow her and build her church. Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego and his indigenous people drew them deeply into the mystery of God and served as a force of dignity and hope, inspiring joy and action. She still does this for us today. For the poor and the oppressed she is the mother of hope, and she calls all of us to justice and peace. 

The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is grounded in a specific place and people. And yet she remains the mother of us all. Her story reminds us to start where we can, with what is right in front of us–through this, big things can happen. What happened in Juan Diego’s rural backyard had global significance. In this way, Our Lady is an agent of change. As she did for Juan Diego, our Blessed Mother accompanies us on our life’s journey, consoling us in our suffering. She is in solidarity with those on the margins and reminds us that we are a Church who was founded on the margins. And as that Church, we are called to be with–and accompany–our poorest brothers and sisters in the human family.