By Rodrigo Fernández de Castro, LC
It was Holy Saturday, April 11, 2009. I was at the novitiate in Monterrey during the vocational retreat. In my heart there were doubts about whether or not to go to the candidacy, whether to continue with my university career or to take the test to enter the novitiate. I felt that God was asking me for something more, but I did not understand what that “something more” was: more prayer, more apostolate, or even the total surrender of my life? That morning I approached the grotto of Our Lady of the Candidate and entered into an interior dialogue with Mary, asking her in more or less similar words:
«Mother, perhaps Jesus has already told me clearly what He wants of me, whether to enter the novitiate or not, but I do not understand Him. I ask you to listen to him for me and, like a mother who is breaking up the food so that her son can eat it, tell me in parts what Jesus wants for me».
Hours passed. I did not expect such a quick response, for I had heard that the things of God have a different rhythm from the things of the world. But then, in the evening, at the Mass of the Easter Vigil, the unexpected happened: in my heart I felt the voice of God answering my doubts and clarifying my path. Jesus, the light of the world (cf. Jn 8:12), came into my heart and enlightened it with his clarity, inviting me to follow him in this vocation, to give him my life completely.
Then I remembered what I had asked Mary hours before; she had not failed me! Mary had come to Jesus and had interceded for me, just as she had interceded for the bride and groom at the wedding feast at Cana. If at that time she had said to Jesus “you have no wine” (Jn 2:3), this time she had said to him about me “you have no light” and then he had given me his clarifying light.
Every time I pass by a grotto of Mary in any of our homes I remember: Mary is my mother. And as a good mother, she worries about me, that I am well, that I am happy, that I am on the right path. She is a close mother, who listens to her children, who takes upon herself their worries, difficulties and anxieties, and presents them to Jesus, never resting until she obtains from Him a grace, a blessing.
Since we entered the ECYD or to Regnum Christi we have been told about love for Mary. This month of May should be a good time to renew it. If it is extinguished, like the embers of a fireplace, let us throw in some straws and we will find that the fire will light up again. If it is already burning, let us throw in more logs, so that the light and warmth coming from us may reach other souls. How many people are in need of Mary's tenderness, closeness and mediation! Let us go to her every day, before going to sleep, to ask her for the wine that our life needs: peace, serenity, greater dedication, the heart of an apostle... and, in our last hours, a good death.
https://soundcloud.com/user-653013727/en-la-gruta-de-la-virgen
