When Pope Francis was in Mexico in February 2016, he asked to be alone with the Virgin of Guadalupe for a few minutes. He later explained that he had asked her that priests be true priests. It was the request of a son who knows better than anyone the situation of the Church, and sees it as a priority of our time that we priests fulfill our mission well, and respond to what God expects of us.
P. GUSTAVO ELIZONDO ALANÍS - Priest.
Mexico City
A few months after that trip I had the opportunity to write for Palabra (January 2017, pp. 68-69) an article about a group of women in prayer for the holiness of priests, which had formed in my parish to second that request of the Pope to Our Lady. Very soon they began to speak of "spiritual motherhood for priests". Without knowing the seriousness of this real vocation, I realized that there is in women an instinct of motherhood which, when one has faith, is channeled directly towards the Christs, who require the close assistance of the Mother of God, like Jesus on the Cross, in order to be able to give their lives, sustained by the strong presence of the one who also gives her life for her son, with one heart and one soul.
It helped a lot to consolidate this prayer group of spiritual mothers that it all began in the Year of Mercy, since it was not only about praying for the holiness of priests, but also about living with them, as mothers, the 14 works of mercy. The Pope recently said that "whoever truly wants to give glory to God with his life, whoever really longs to sanctify himself so that his existence may glorify the Holy One, is called to become obsessed, worn out and tired trying to live the works of mercy" (Gaudete et Exsultate, n. 107). Many of them have commented that they felt this strong call to the spiritual motherhood of priests, but did not know how to live it, until they came across "The Company of Mary", which is the name by which it is now known, according to the local bishop, and which makes it clear that it is about accompanying the priest, sharing the divine motherhood of Mary, to serve the Church, as the Church wants to be served.
