495 Years Later, Our Lady Is Still Calling Her Children Home

There is something extraordinary about walking up Tepeyac Hill. With every step, your heart begins to slow down (opposite of what happens in a typical uphill workout), and your eyes take in the place where heaven touched earth. It is almost impossible not to reflect on the generations of pilgrims who have climbed this same hill before you.

Nearly 495 years have passed since Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego with a message that would forever change the history of the Americas. By today’s standards, that seems impossibly long ago—almost twice as old as the United States itself, especially as we recently celebrated our nation’s 250th anniversary. Yet after spending these past few days in Mexico City with more than 300 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, I left convinced of something I perhaps knew before, but experienced in a new and more urgent way:

Our Lady’s message has never stopped being spoken.

She is still calling her children closer to Jesus.

She is still reminding us that we belong to God—that we are His beloved sons and daughters.

She is still inviting divided families, anxious hearts, and weary souls to discover the peace and healing that only her Son can give.

There has never been a greater need for unity and hearts drawn back to Christ. And there is no one better than a mother to lead us there.

The question is not whether Our Lady of Guadalupe is still at work today. The question is whether we are willing to let ourselves be embraced by her love.

As part of the LA Catholics digital team, I spent much of the pilgrimage listening. I listened to pilgrims sharing stories before and after Masses and in sacred spaces across Mexico City. I also read social media comments from people following our pilgrimage from home.

Again and again, I heard pilgrims tell stories about their grandmothers.

Not because we asked them to. But because whenever people began talking about how they first came to know and love Our Lady of Guadalupe, they almost always began with the same person. Their grandmother.

Pilgrims shared stories of women who quietly kept the faith alive in their families. They were the ones who invited their children and grandchildren to annual celebrations honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe in Los Angeles. They kept images of Our Lady in their homes. They prayed through hardships their families may never have fully understood.

Many of those grandmothers have now gone home to the Lord. Yet their faith is still bearing fruit.

That realization stayed with me throughout the pilgrimage.

For years we have heard concerns about younger generations drifting away from the faith. Yet today we are also witnessing something remarkable. Young adults are searching for truth and returning to the faith. Families are looking for hope. Churches are welcoming people home. There is a genuine hunger for something deeper than the endless noise our culture offers.

I believe Our Lady of Guadalupe is once again gathering her children.

But every generation has to answer her invitation.

As I reflected on the faith of those grandmothers, I found myself thinking about today’s young women.

If you are a young mother, your children may never fully understand the impact of the small, ordinary choices you make today. Every prayer before dinner, every invitation to attend Sunday Mass, every act of forgiveness, every moment you teach your children to trust God is helping shape generations you may never meet.

One day, perhaps your grandchildren will tell stories about you the way today’s pilgrims spoke about their grandmothers.

What an extraordinary calling! Be the kind of mother who becomes the matriarch future generations thank for introducing them to Jesus.

And if your vocation looks different—if God has called you to a life that does not include biological motherhood—Our Lady is calling you just as intentionally.

Throughout Christ’s ministry, women stood beside Him. They remained faithful when others fled. At the foot of the Cross, women stayed.

Our Lady sees every woman’s heart.

She sees the dreams fulfilled and the dreams still waiting.

She knows every longing.

She also knows that spiritual motherhood has always been part of God’s plan.

Whether you are raising children in your home or nurturing souls in your workplace, neighborhood, or family, I believe Our Lady of Guadalupe is inviting you to become a living tilma.

The tilma carried her image into the world. Your life can do the same.

Let your words reflect a mother’s tenderness. Let your actions reveal God’s mercy. Let your life become a visible reminder that every person is deeply loved by the Father.

When people encounter you, may they be drawn—not to you—but to the Heart of Jesus.

Our world desperately needs young women who will live this way.

The Church needs your “yes.”

When Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego, she entrusted her message to an ordinary layman whose greatest concern that morning was his sick uncle.

He wasn’t powerful. He wasn’t influential. He simply trusted his Mother.

That simple act of faith helped open the hearts of millions. In the years that followed, countless people came to know Jesus through the loving presence of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The miracle did not end with the tilma.

The miracle continues every time someone says yes to God’s invitation.

Perhaps that is why this pilgrimage felt so hopeful.

I watched strangers become friends. I witnessed people carrying not only their own intentions but also the hopes of loved ones back home—more than 45,000 handwritten prayer intentions, along with countless others carried quietly in the hearts of our pilgrims.

Faith creates family.

It reminds us that we are never walking through life alone.

Long before us, our ancestors built churches brick by brick because they believed future generations deserved places where people could encounter Christ. Grandmothers faithfully passed on their devotion to Our Lady because they believed their children and grandchildren needed to know the love of Jesus. They understood something our world desperately needs to remember: faith is not meant to be kept. It is meant to be shared.

Now it is our turn.

We only have today.

We are one chapter in a story that stretches back centuries and points toward eternity.

Nearly 495 years ago, Our Lady asked St. Juan Diego, “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”

She is still asking that question today.

May we have the courage to answer by entrusting ourselves to her care, allowing her to draw us ever closer to the Heart of her Son, and becoming living witnesses of the hope our world so desperately needs.

May we become the generation that future generations thank for faithfully passing on the greatest gift we have ever received: the love of Jesus Christ.