This past summer, my new wife and I went on a short trip to Mexico from our home in Florida. The trip was originally planned for last October, but we missed our flight due to poor timing (my wife says it’s my fault, and she is right). But it turns out that if you call Aeromexico’s customer service line enough times, you can find someone caring or maybe just lazy enough to bend the rules and rebook your non-transferable flight. This was the beginning of what we perceive as Mary guiding us to herself through different faces throughout this trip.

The first faces we encountered upon arrival were those of my college roommate from 14 years ago, Jamie, and his new wife, Ana. They live in Querétaro and offered a warm welcome to us by picking us up at the bus stop and promptly taking us to their favorite taco joint. Even though we do not see each other or talk often, we had a desire to share our lives with one another in an intimate way. They later took us to the church that they had gotten married in and we were able to sit together and pray for one another’s new marriages, while still all discovering what it even means to be married. We left a short 36 hours later feeling very known and loved by our friends.

From there we traveled to the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and we were struck by two things. Seeing the face of Our Lady on the tilma filled my heart with a burning sensation that I can only attribute to being in awe of her very real presence there. More surprisingly, the face of a man, Rene, who met us there struck us as well. We had never met him before and we knew nothing about each other besides that we have a mutual friend, Claudia, and belonged to the Movement. It was strange for me and my wife to be searching for a face in the crowded basilica of someone whom we didn’t really know. When we met, we quickly realized that my Spanish is terrible, and his English isn’t fluent. Nonetheless, he gave us a full tour of the basilica and everything seemed to be communicated and understood. We were bowled over to discover that he had taken off the day from his work as an architect to meet us there and share his affection for Our Lady. After the tour of the basilica and some time in prayer, Rene drove us to his neighborhood across the city and took us to dinner with his friends, Daniele and Caesar. It was a birthday dinner for Caesar, yet they were happy to welcome us into their small gathering! We experienced real companionship over delicious pizza and a trilingual conversation that none of us completely understood. There was in that moment, and still is, a familiarity and unity between us that I cannot explain.

Why would we be cared for so well? How could it be that someone could care for us with such generosity? We don’t live in the same country, we don’t speak the same language, we don’t even know if we have the same hobbies or professional interests. The things that often determine a shared life in secular society were lacking, but a bond and companionship that are mysterious and eternal were present in the flesh. I think it was Our Lady and her Son that we saw in each other’s faces that drew us together.

Even if my life is at times incoherent, the mysterious unity with those faces in Mexico remains. To be united by a common affection for a person, rather than a shared affection for a thing, has made trips such as this and my life in general more rich, messy, and meaningful. And the only person I’ve seen capable of holding such relationships in existence is Christ.

Jaime, Ana, Rene, Daniele, and Caesar all gave me and my wife an opportunity to see their faces as the means for Our Lady to love us and experience her generosity, hospitality, and care in the present, just as Juan Diego did so many years ago in the very same place.

Kyle, Tampa, FL