Homily: Feast of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Feast of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Mt. 11:16-19) “God Lifts up the Lowly”

When we study Marian apparitions, we notice that the people who Mary appears to are usually the disenfranchised of the world. They are usually the poor or children.

Is it any wonder when we consider the words of the Magnificat in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 1:46-55). This is the only speech Mary makes in the New Testament. She says at one point:

“He has deposed the might from their thrones and raised up the lowly to high places. The hungry he has given every good thing while the rich he has sent away empty.”

If Mary would appear to a president or a king, it would be out of character. If she would ask for a spot on national television to make an announcement it would also be out of character. Mary was a poor peasant girl when she received the news of Christ’s birth. People did not believe her, but eventually she was heard and is now revered.

God, it seems, likes to tap unlikely messengers to carry the good news of the Gospel. Throughout salvation history God, in our human estimation, has done things the hard way.  Perhaps this is to show us that God’s plan will succeed no matter what obstacles arise.

Saint Juan Diego was a poor indigenous man who lived in Mexico when it was first being colonized. He was illiterate. He was ill-educated. But Mary chose Juan Diego to be her spokesperson to the native Americans and aristocrats who were fighting with one another.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is depicted in the picture that bears her name as a poor, pregnant, native American. Despite the improbable circumstances Our Lady once again moved people to be baptized believers in Jesus Christ.

Questions: 

1.    Should Jesus have spent his time with the rich and famous? Would spreading the Gospel been easier if he had?

2.    Do I dismiss people as irrelevant if they are poor? Can we find wisdom in unlikely places?

Dear Parishioners,

          This Sunday at our 9:15 a.m. Mass we will be commemorating the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe. We will have visitors who will dance during the Mass. We will also have a reenactment of the apparition that took place on Tepeyac Hill outside Mexico City. This is provided by children from our Religious Education program.

          Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas. Many of us know the story behind the devotion. Many of us do not. If you would like to know more why not come and join us on Sunday. We need Mary’s help more than ever. She is always ready to pray for those in most need.

          May Our Lady of Guadalupe watch over us this weekend.

          Fr. Mark