This season of Advent that we are engaged in now seems all too short. Even though at most, as it is this year, Advent gives us four full weeks to prepare our hearts and souls for Christmas.

It is a time rich in themes of faith. The readings on Sundays from Isaiah call us to climb the Lord’s mountain. We are reminded not to fall asleep in our prayer, our faith, our charity and our moral lives as we await Christ’s coming again in judgment and glory.

Even to drive through neighborhoods at this time of year and see the placement of manger scenes in yards is a special reminder that Jesus came to be with us.

Of course the Advent season rightly gives great emphasis to Mary. During Advent, we recall the wondrous visit of the Angel Gabriel to the young girl of Nazareth. We pass the dark and cold days of December waiting with Mary for the birth of Jesus. As we wait, we reflect with her on the meaning of a human creature receiving God Himself. In a way, it is a reminder of the privilege we have to receive Christ in the Eucharist, and our obligation to do so reverently and worthily.

In the midst of Advent, we are blessed with one of the great reminders of Mary’s love for us. It is the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. So important was the event of Mary’s appearance in Mexico, and so powerful were her prayers and her presence, that Pope St. John Paul II entitled Mary at Guadalupe to be the Patroness of the Americas, North and South.

The story took place on Tepeyac Hill, near modern day Mexico City in 1531. St. Juan Diego was a poor and humble native of the area. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the local people were conquered and in shock. Their way of life had been overturned by these previously unknown powerful people. In many ways they were oppressed. At the same time, the Spaniards had brought as well the Good News and the faith in Jesus Christ.

Juan Diego shared his people’s suffering. But he had accepted the Catholic faith. In fact, on a cold December morning, he was on his way to Mass when Mary appeared to him. From that encounter, there are many lessons of faith.

First, there is the humility of Juan Diego. He had no social standing. He was poor and uneducated. Yet he was the one chosen to encounter Mary.

Mary was aware of the sadness and the brokenness of the local people. They were lost and uncertain. Still, it was her mother’s love that not only brought her to appear in Mexico, but to stamp that place with her lasting presence.

Mary instructed St. Juan Diego to go and speak to the bishop, telling him to build a beautiful church on the spot where she met Juan. We see in that command Mary’s love for the Church. She sought the involvement of the Church through the local bishop. She is the Queen of heaven and the mother of Jesus. Still, she, like Christ, works through the humanity, and even the human weakness, of the Church.

The bishop, Juan Zumarraga, met with the poor Juan. He sought to be prudent, but something kept open his heart to the strange request from the poor man. Juan twice returned to Mary in discouragement at his failure to succeed in the mission given him. The second time, he was actually trying to hasten past where Mary appeared, hurrying to summon a priest for his dying uncle.

But Mary broke through Juan’s worry and discouragement. Her famous words still echo to us through the centuries. “Juan, am I not your mother?” She gave him the convincing sign to take to the bishop, the roses of winter and the garment marked with her image still to be seen in the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico to this day.

The bishop was reassured. The church was built. Thousands converted to faith in Jesus Christ in astonishing numbers and in a short period of time. And the faith in Mexico has endured, through time and persecution.

Mary is in our midst, answering our doubt, our discouragement, our worry. Finally her prayers lead us to our faith in her son, Jesus Christ whose birth we will celebrate again on Christmas.

Make Mary part of your Advent preparations. Why not celebrate her appearance by going to Mass on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12? Above all, let’s join our hearts to the simplicity and faith of Juan Diego, remembering with him, is she not our mother?