The year was 1531. It was December. Great and wonderful things were about to happen. I am, of course, alluding to the appearance of Mary on the hill of Tepeyac, near modern day Mexico City.

At a time like ours when our society seems so weakened and misguided, when the faith is marked by both beauty and weakness of conviction, especially among young people, when there seems to be so much darkness in the world, what a wonderful thing it is that we will honor our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. We can learn much from the story and be inspired by it for our own time and our own families.

On that December day, Juan Diego was on his way to church when he heard a unique and heavenly singing of birds. When they finished, he found that they had announced to him the presence of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

She introduced herself, according to the accounts of the time, by describing her relation to God. It was almost another Magnificat.

In this Advent season, Mary always reminds us that it is never really about her, it is always really about God.

The circumstances of the time hold a certain echo for us when the challenges to faith in our day seem so overwhelming. The peoples of Mexico had been conquered by the Spaniards just a decade before.

As we know from history, the Spaniards’ arrival overturned the culture and civilization. Their arrival was marked by elements of cruelty and avarice as they sought gold to send back to Spain.

But they also brought the true faith and priests to ensure the administration of the sacraments.

For the indigenous peoples, however, it was a shock. And how could they understand and accept a faith so rooted in the symbols and explanations of Europe, of a completely foreign culture?

Pope Francis has constantly urged us to find ways to bring the true faith to those who are at the margins or beyond. And this is what Our Lady of Guadalupe did.

She had four conversations with Juan Diego, instructing him to go to the bishop with her request for a church to be built on the site of the present-day shrine in Mexico City. She said that through it, she would show forth her love, compassion, help and her protection.

Juan Diego went three times to the local bishop. Twice the bishop dismissed him gently, and who could blame the bishop? But the bishop clearly kept an open heart.

When Juan Diego returned the third time with his tilma filled with out-of-season roses, the bishop was said to have been moved to tears and embarrassment that he had been slow to believe.

Of course the story doesn’t end there. On the tilma was the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, called by Blessed Pope John Paul II, the Mother of the Americas.

There we behold her as the native peoples did — one of their own, dark skinned and adorned with native symbols now being used to bring them to her son.

If you have a chance to go to Mexico City to see the tilma, still existent and on display, you will be glad you did!

In the years immediately following Mary’s appearance, thousands were evangelized and converted in Mexico. The Guadalupe image of Mary is widely venerated even today, especially among the Mexican people. What a spiritual support and reminder it has been through the centuries.

When we hear Pope Francis’ call to evangelize, we may feel daunted and unsure. How can we possibly strengthen and convert the culture when so many influences are coming together to oppose the faith?

This story of Mary shows us that God’s saving grace and the love of our mother in heaven should give us courage. Like Juan Diego, we need to do the work. But the power and strength come from God.

Don’t forget to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe as part of your Advent preparation for Jesus’ coming!