Mary stood near the Cross (cf. John 19:25)

We are in Lent and soon we will enter the Holy Week. I propose that we live this period towards Easter in Mary’s hand, in order to be reborn through her, with Jesus, to a new life.

As WUCWO women we are entering a new period, which requires the best of each one of us and of our organisations, to follow the steps that our Holy Father Francis is tracing in the Church and in the world. He tells us today: “In the heart of the Curch, Mary shines forth” (Christus Vivit, March 25, 2019).

The Marian dimension or principle has always been rooted in the Church - together with the unifying Petrine principle - and is fundamentally based on the “yes” of Mary, which has been maintained since the Annunciation, it gains density at the foot of the Cross, when Mary, in the person of John, accepts us as daughters and sons, and continues in the history of humanity, in the “yes” of the whole People of God.

Which “yes” are we called to pronounce in this period, echoing Mary’s “yes”? First of all, the “yes” of our priority 2018-2022, which reflects the very purpose of WUCWO: Yes to holiness for the evangelisation of the world and integral human development. Let us hold hands with one another on the path where we so often fall, to rise and grow upward on the vertical beam of the Cross, towards the bosom of the Trinity. None of us can “cast the first stone”… Let us pray to Mary and help one another to live a spirituality that tends to holiness.

With the gaze of Mary’s heart, which is that of the Church of today, let us make an examination of conscience about the other “yes” to which we committed ourselves as WUCWO at the Dakar General Assembly.

We have said: “Yes, the health of our planet is also our responsibility.” How much we have to thank the Lord for this Earth that He has given us so that we care for and cultivate as our common home! What do we do as an organisation for integral ecological education and the implementation of projects that reduce toxic waste and promote recycling? Do we feel sorrow, at the foot of the Cross, for not having contributed enough for drinking water to reach everyone and technology to allow the protection of the planet and the inclusion of those who are “discarded”?

We said: “Yes, let’s take care of the family in difficult situations, especially of its most vulnerable members.” Let us thank God for so many families, “home churches”, that form the basis of a healthy society. And, as an organisation, do we get involved in the following of women with vulnerable pregnancies; in actions for needy households, for theneeds of those with different physical or mental abilities, for divided families; in responsible sex education; in the prevention of abuse and/or in raising awareness of the appropriate use of new technologies by minors?

We have said: “Yes, let us eliminate violence and discrimination against women.” Let us be grateful for the wonderful gift of being women, with equal dignity and a different identity from men, with so much to contribute! And let’s ask ourselves, standing up, looking at the Cross, what are we collaborating in as an organisation for the education of men and women to eliminate all kinds of discrimination against women? Or, what laws and public policies are we promoting in this sense? Or, what actions are we developing against human trafficking? Or, what welcome and integration for migrant women, young people and girls are we implementing?

I wish you that at this coming Easter, we will identify ourselves with Mary’s sorrow at the foot of the Cross so that we can also rejoice with Her for the Resurrection of Jesus, which has the power to renew our lives and our organisations.

May WUCWO receive the Easter grace of rising to new life!