Guadalupe

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asylum, Aztec, Blessed Mother, distress, Juan Diego, love, migrants, Our Lady of Guadalupe, poor, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

This evening the Sophia Center for Spirituality is sponsoring a prayer service in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas. (see details at http://www.thesophiacenterforspirituality.org) In this endeavor we recognize the appearances of Mary to St. Juan Diego, a poor native of a small village near Mexico City in the 16th century. Disbelief of Juan’s experience by church officials to whom Juan was directed led to amazement when he opened his cape to reveal a gift from “the Lady” – an abundance of roses. In addition was the image of Mary imprinted on the cape which has endured intact since 1531 and has been venerated by millions of people. Mary had appeared as an Aztec woman as a reminder of the need to accept all people, especially at that time, the poor indigenous population being treated cruelly by the conquering Spaniards.

On this day we gather to pray for the native peoples of Central America who still suffer and are in danger in their own countries and so turn to the United States to find safety. As I write, there are thousands of migrants at our southern border who have walked hundreds of miles seeking asylum. While immigration is a complex issue for our country at this moment in time, this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us of God’s preferential option for the poor. Mary reached out to Juan Diego in a simple gesture of love. Must we not do the same for her children in distress? Won’t you join us today in prayer?

An Extraordinary Visitor

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apparition, blessed, faith, humility, Juan Diego, miracle, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Lost and Found, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My sister gave me a book a long time ago entitled, Our Lady of the Lost and Found. A work of fiction, the story is about a middle-aged writer who (the book jacket explains) “on a typical Monday morning, enters her living room and finds a woman standing by her fig tree. the woman is wearing a blue trench coat, white Nikes and a white shawl over her hair. She is holding a purse and a suitcase. She is the Virgin Mary…”

At first blush one might think this a comedic, irreverent story but as it turns out, it is an opportunity for the narrator “to examine life’s big questions and her own capacity for faith” and provides the same opportunity for readers, believers and non-believers alike.

On this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I am reminded of this book because it describes an apparition not dissimilar to that of Juan Diego, the “hero” of the story of the apparition of the Blessed Mother that we celebrate today. A 57-year-old widower, he lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, while walking to Mass by a hill called Tepeyac, he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. “A radiant cloud appeared, and within it stood an Indian maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico to say that the bishop was to build a chapel in the place where the lady appeared.” (www.franciscanmedia.org)

The story goes on and is clearly miraculous. My point today, however, is to note that any one of us might be chosen to receive an extraordinary message from the divine realm, whether or not we think we are worthy. The narrator of the book I mentioned first describes herself as follows. “If you passed me on the street, you wouldn’t notice me. This does not especially bother me. I have outgrown the need to draw attention to myself and have no particular desire to stand out in a crowd.” Juan Diego, although a devotional Christian, was a poor peasant who had no reason to expect such an extraordinary favor from God.

The lesson here is, I think, one of humility and of a trust in God that helps us to consider ourselves blessed, regardless of our life circumstances. We never know when we might be called to do great things for God. Perhaps we already are so called. Or perhaps, as Mother Teresa says, We may not be called to do great things, but only small things with great love. Are you listening for that call? Are you already living it unaware?

 

 

 

 

 

Roses in December

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Blessed Mother, feast day, Gospel, Juan Diego, Mexico, Native Americans, Our Lady of Guadalupe, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

It’s always fascinating to learn something new when I am reflecting on the named feasts of Christianity. Today, as I read the familiar story of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I was surprised to learn that the main character was a convert to Christianity and was given the name Juan Diego at the time of his baptism. A poor native living in a small village near Mexico City, his Indian name was Cuauhtlatohuac (“Singing Eagle”). I suppose this isn’t an earth-shattering revelation and it certainly is easier to spell and pronounce a name that means “John James” rather than his Indian name, but for me it emphasizes what is written in the reflection for today from franciscanmedia.org. Fr. Don Miller says that Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary and the God who sent her accept all people. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for Native Americans.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only the named patron of Mexico by the Roman Catholic Church, but also of the entirety of the Americas – both North and South. As I consider the treatment of Native Americans in my own country even to this day, I think it an appropriate moment for all of us to contemplate the conclusion of Fr. Miller’s reflection. In these days, when we hear so much about God’s preferential option for the poor, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God’s love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe

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birth, Christ, God, Juan Diego, Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, roses, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Virgin Mary

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a very popular feast of the Virgin Mary. Perhaps it is the story of the apparition itself that has caught the imagination of people everywhere. It was reportedly on December 9, 1531 that a Mexican peasant named Juan Diego saw a beautiful young lady on a hill outside his village. She asked him to build a church on that spot and he recognized her as the Blessed Mother of Jesus. He went to the bishop to ask the favor and the bishop sent him back to her for a sign of authenticity. The miraculous sign given to him was a beautiful and plentiful blooming of roses of a type not found in that region – and certainly not in December. Diego gathered them and returned to the bishop where, when he opened his cape, the roses spilled out all over the ground and their impression was left on his cape. That Mary chose this humble man for this miracle is reminiscent of God’s choice of her to bring forth the Christ into the world. The pilgrimage spot at Guadalupe is the most visited one in the world today and Our Lady of Guadalupe has become the patroness of the Americas.

Today I am grateful for all those people whose trust in God is in itself miraculous and is an example to me. I am thankful as well for mothers who daily birth God into the world with their devoted love. And I rejoice daily for roses, the beauty of which overwhelms the senses and warms the heart. How magnificent a choice for this manifestation of the Virgin!