Hold Nothing Back

Homily for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

As I was meditating upon the visit of the angel Gabriel to our Blessed Mother, I was reminded of something that St. Francis wrote in his Letter to the Whole Order

Saint Francis writes: “Let humanity kneel in fear, let the whole universe tremble, and let heaven rejoice when Christ the Son of the Living God is on the altar in the hands of the priest! O wonderful ascent, O stupendous descent! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity that the Lord of the Universe, God and Son of God, should so humbly hide himself for our salvation in what seems to be only a small piece of bread! Look, then, upon the humility of God! And pour out your hearts before him. Humble yourselves that he might exalt you. Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that he may receive your all who gave his all to you.”

“Hold nothing of yourselves for yourselves.” While St. Francis gets his inspiration for this notion from the Eucharist, it is also readily applicable to the story of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus because the angel is essentially asking Mary to hold nothing back of herself so that God will be able to give us the tremendous gift of Jesus in human flesh. This gift will eventually give birth to the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist as it was handed on to us at the Last Supper on the night before Jesus literally “held nothing back” to redeem us from our sins.

Despite any doubts that Mary may have had regarding how this would happen, there is never any hesitation in her response. She gives herself to God to use as a vessel for the only begotten son of God.

As Franciscans, the mystery of the incarnation is very much a part of our spirituality. The example of St. Francis is an example of someone who gave himself totally to the Gospel way of life. He stripped himself of even his clothing in order to live the Gospel.

As we celebrate this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we are also mindful of the fact that St. Juan Diego also gave himself totally to the task that had been set for him by his vision of the Blessed Mother. He humbled himself before the bishop in order to present the request that Mary had given him. Because Mary and Juan Diego held nothing back, we now celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patron of the Americas.