1.
She is significant because she is a help when we are in difficulty, and she is so because she was first of all a help to Jesus. Since the Annunciation, she said yes to what was about to happen, putting faith above all else.
Then she visited her cousin Elizabeth, going to meet her, putting herself at her service.
She accompanied and presented her Son in the temple.
At Cana, without her intervention, the problem would not have been solved: it is she who urged Jesus to perform his first sign before everyone.
Mary followed her Son closely. She intervened in Jesus' passion, accompanying him, not altering his destiny.
When the disciples were disoriented, in doubt and did not know what to do, she supported them and stayed with them.
She believed in God by remaining consistent, celebrating and living what she believed. Her help comes from faith in a God who never abandons us.
2.
For Don Bosco, devotion to the Virgin Mary was linked to the context of the conflict and instability of his time. The twenty-first century does not seem very different, neither for society nor for the Church. Nor for young people, who are exposed to many things that threaten their lives. Mary is a mother, she cares, she protects. In the face of doubts and anxieties, she is a guide, a safe place to find help. We reach Jesus through her.
3.
At the end of his life, Don Bosco attributed everything he had done to the Help of Christians. It is part of the Salesian DNA. There are many of us who believe in the need for today's abandoned and endangered boys and girls to have experiences of tenderness, welcome and security. We can speak of Mary Help of Christians, but we can also invite you to look to her, to contemplate one of the many images that abound in Salesian houses. With her child in her arms, with her multi-folded mantle, just contemplate her.
4.
Mary is a mother, so she understands everything that happens to her children. And you “entrust” yourself to a mother, from the time you are little; that is, you abandon yourself into her arms: you smile when she is there, because she consoles you, makes you feel good. She gives you everything you need. And it doesn't matter, when you're little, what you believe or don't believe. The important thing is for her to be there and for you to let go. You can always be there, no matter what. Having such an experience in our world today is no small thing.
5.
“Help” does not mean just a “little bit of help” or an “urgent promise.”
We do not ask for “help” in every circumstance. Mary Help of Christians is the “Mother of difficult moments”, as it is for all of us when we need maternal support.
6.
She is a woman of her people who walks with us.
She is the Mother of Jesus and of each one of us.
She is a Queen, because she commands us to do good things.
She is a Helper, because she comes to us in difficult times.
7.
To older children I say that Mary Help of Christians has always been and always will be with them. Despite the mistakes, the problems, despite the fact that she can seem far away or visits them rarely, Mary remains. She is always there to take care of them, in a context of so many changes.
To take care of others it is also important to let ourselves be cared for by all those through whom Mary Help of Christians is present in our daily lives.
8.
Mary is a good woman, because on the cross she did not leave Jesus alone, she accompanied him and encouraged him to complete the work that God the Father had entrusted to him. She will not abandon us.
She is a woman of hope. Because the first disciples, cowardly and fearful after Jesus’ death, were encouraged by the woman whom God had chosen as the mother of his Son.
She is a woman of faith: “Blessed are you because you have believed.”
For twenty centuries she has always been present wherever God's people have needed her, to strengthen their faith, nourish their hope and commit them to love.
And the people are aware of it. How else to explain why there are more shrines and churches dedicated to her than to any other saint?
9.
We have “deified” the human being and his power through the use of reason and technology. Devotion to Mary Help of Christians opens us up to mystery, to understanding that we cannot do everything, that we are not omnipotent, but open to need. But beware, even what Mary “gives us back” is not an omnipotent response: it is a response of motherhood, of poverty, of tenderness. She shows the mysterious face of a God who is close to humankind.
10.
Mary continues to be important from the point of view of trust. She invites us to trust her because she trusted us first. Mary is the one who remains even when the Faith is gone, weakened. As we pray in the song Quiero llegar: “Please help with your maternal hand the sinner who trusts only in you”. Those who no longer find faith in God still have a thread of hope that binds them to Mary.
