Homily: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Lk 1:39-47) “God Intervenes”
There have been apparitions of Mary throughout the centuries and each one seems to be unique. Mary appeared to a native American (Juan Diego) in 1531 near what is present day Mexico City.
Several things are striking about the appearance. Mary appeared in the form of an Indian woman. Her features are not what we normally see in religious art. She has black hair and brown skin. We could argue that this is more indicative of what Mary looked like. She also appears as a woman who is pregnant. I can think of no other apparition of Mary when this is the case.
How do we know what she looked like. It is because she left behind physical proof of her appearance. She left her picture on Juan Diego’s cloak. The image has been examined by scientists who cannot explain how it was made. The cloak does not seem to be painted. Also, if you look into the eyes of Mary, you can see the image of Juan Diego reflected in the pupils of her eyes.
Why did Mary appear to Juan Diego. The indigenous people were undergoing great trial at the hands of those who were colonizing Mexico. The Christian religion was viewed with suspicion by some native people. It was the religion of the colonizers who wanted to exploit the land and wanted to use the native population as a cheap form of labor. The Christian faith was being remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Mary obviously wanted to save the reputation of her son. She wanted to show that Jesus and she would always stand with the poor. Mary could have appeared to the bishop directly or the governor perhaps, but she appeared to a poor devout man. He was the one who carried the news that the miraculous had happened. To this day, one of the fundamental principles of the church in the Americas is that we must always exercise a fundamental option for the poor. Our Lady of Guadalupe, we could say, introduced this concept to the New World.
Reflection Questions:
Does the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe have relevance today? In what ways?
Where does the church need to advocate for the poor today? Are we doing that?
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Dear Parishioners,
At Sunday Mass we had a celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the 9:15am Sunday Mass. The celebration reminded me of the Mass that was a celebrated a couple of months ago at Christ the King with the Togolese community. There was a lot of pageantry and some dancing that took place. Mostly there was a joyful atmosphere.
We are reminded by these events of the diversity of the church in the Quad Cities. This diversity is energizing, and it is challenging. The history of our parish is a history of immigrants. As each immigrant group passes through our parish, we are challenged to show the love Jesus has for all.
I would like to thank our Hispanic Ministry Committee who put so much work into Sunday’s celebration. This group has made a good impact in a short time.
May Our Lady of Guadalupe continue to pray for our Parish.
Fr. Mark