Monday, December 12,
2016
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Every year, on the Feast of Our
Lady of Guadalupe, our Gospel passage is the story of the Annunciation of the
angel Gabriel to Mary, telling her that she was to be the mother of Our Lord
Jesus Christ. Mary was a young Jewish girl from Nazareth.
The image of the Virgin of
Guadalupe mysteriously imprinted on the rough fabric of Juan Diego’s cloak
shows her Indian features and her dark skin. Juan Diego was a Mexican Indian,
and so she appeared to him in a way that would help him see that even though
his people was impoverished and downtrodden, he had a certain dignity and
stature in her eyes and in the eyes of her Son. Notice that she didn’t appear
to the bishop; she send Juan Diego as an emissary to the bishop, the poor insignificant
man to a man of power and prestige. He was skeptical, as Bishops are wont to be
when someone tells them of having seen a vision—nothing strange about that at
all—but when he asked for a sign, Our Lady sent him a sign that was miraculous
(roses in winter!) and magnificent and that removed any doubt.
This tale is especially poignant
this year as Pope Francis continually speaks about the need of the Church and
of society to be particularly devoted to the needs of the poor and downtrodden,
and to the essential need in our time for economic justice. This isn’t a new
message; no, not at all; but its urgency at this moment in our time has been
emphasized by the teaching and preaching of our Pontiff.
A couple of questions that you
might ask yourself, or perhaps ask Our Lady:
--What can you do that you are
not doing now to become more sensitive to those who are subjugated, impoverished,
downtrodden or forgotten by the powers-that-be in our societies?
--If the Blessed Mother appeared
to you, in what guise do you think she would appear?
--Are you able to see the beauty
in the faces of those who are so very different from you in so many ways?
Three last thoughts today: many
modern theologians are scoffing at the notion of the perpetual virginity of
Mary and interpret scriptural texts in such a way to prove their viewpoints.
But here, in this wonderful tale of an extraordinary Marian apparition, Mary
herself identifies herself as an “eternal virgin.”
The church Our Lady asked to be
built was to be built on an ancient shrine to the pagan mother goddess. What do
you make of that?
And finally, noting Our Lady’s
special compassion and concern for the poor, might it be possible for us to
pray today for the poor among us who perhaps are not able to pray for
themselves and to offer them to the Blessed Virgin so that she could take them
into her care?
God bless you!
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