Our Lady, our mother
A mother has such an important role to play in a family. She is usually the nurturing, patient, loving, kind, compassionate, always there when you need her and even when you don’t kind of person, right? A mother seems to know you better than you know yourself; wise in ways that keep us on track, especially when we are young and any moment when we are most vulnerable.
Today, we celebrate the mother that we all share, on this the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a day that commemorates Mary's appearance to a peasant man, Juan Diego, on Tepeyac Hill (near Mexico City) while on his way to mass one morning in December of 1531.
Mary appeared to him as a native princess and had a beautiful voice. She told Juan Diego to visit the bishop and ask that a church be built on the site of her appearance. Our Lady said she wanted a church there to hear the petitions of the people of Mexico and heal their suffering. Juan Diego did as Mary commanded him to, but the bishop refused his request doubting Juan Diego’s motivations and sanity. Juan Diego, defeated, returned to Tepeyac Hill hoping to see Mary again.
She appeared a second time, as radiant as the first time, and told Juan Diego to seek the bishop’s approval a second time. He did as she instructed only to be turned away a second time and told to bring back a sign of the validity of what he claimed. Juan Diego made a promise to the bishop that he would return with a sign…but instead he went home. When he arrived home, he found his dear uncle gravely ill and with a very high fever. Fearing that the uncle would die, Juan Diego stayed with him for two days trying to save him. Finally, he left his uncle in search of a priest who could prepare his uncle for death.
Juan Diego, frantic, upset and afraid set out on the road. While on the road he was greeted a third time by Our Lady who said to Juan Diego “Am I not here? Am I not your mother? Are you not in the crossing of my arms and in my protection? Do not fear that sickness. Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.” Juan Diego was ashamed for having doubted Our Lady, and at the same time felt emboldened by her appearance and so asked for the sign that the bishop had requested.
Our Lady instructed Juan Diego to climb to the top of Tepeyac Hill where he would find flowers, unlike any he had ever seen before. He was to pick them and wrap them in his tilma (cloak). Our Lady particularly told Juan Diego not to open his tilma to look at the flowers until he was in the presence of the bishop. Once again doubting Our Lady, Juan Diego was skeptical because it was December and what flowers could be growing at the top of the mountain in the cold??
Regardless, Juan Diego did as he was told and found beautiful flowering roses which he quickly gathered into his tilma. He made his way to the bishop, unfolded his tilma and both men witnessed a cascade of roses that revealed an image of Mary on the tilma exactly as she had appeared to Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill. The bishop, convinced, built the church as Our Lady had asked. (The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City 1622/1709)
Mary’s appearance to a humble, simple man should remind us of God’s option for the poor, but also of the role of a mother. Our Lady is our comfort, a caress, a hug, and gentle finger tips on our cheeks when we feel defeated, ill, overwhelmed, alone…The Lord is our Shepherd, Mary is our mother sheep. She whispers the breeze of God’s everlasting word on which we build our families, homes, schools, communities and peace. Even when we wander astray, Our Lady is waiting for us when we return “home.” Never judging. Just waiting. Patiently… with open arms to once again wrap us in her comforting love.
Let us pray.
Author: Madeline Maggard, Language Department
Today, we celebrate the mother that we all share, on this the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a day that commemorates Mary's appearance to a peasant man, Juan Diego, on Tepeyac Hill (near Mexico City) while on his way to mass one morning in December of 1531.
Mary appeared to him as a native princess and had a beautiful voice. She told Juan Diego to visit the bishop and ask that a church be built on the site of her appearance. Our Lady said she wanted a church there to hear the petitions of the people of Mexico and heal their suffering. Juan Diego did as Mary commanded him to, but the bishop refused his request doubting Juan Diego’s motivations and sanity. Juan Diego, defeated, returned to Tepeyac Hill hoping to see Mary again.
She appeared a second time, as radiant as the first time, and told Juan Diego to seek the bishop’s approval a second time. He did as she instructed only to be turned away a second time and told to bring back a sign of the validity of what he claimed. Juan Diego made a promise to the bishop that he would return with a sign…but instead he went home. When he arrived home, he found his dear uncle gravely ill and with a very high fever. Fearing that the uncle would die, Juan Diego stayed with him for two days trying to save him. Finally, he left his uncle in search of a priest who could prepare his uncle for death.
Juan Diego, frantic, upset and afraid set out on the road. While on the road he was greeted a third time by Our Lady who said to Juan Diego “Am I not here? Am I not your mother? Are you not in the crossing of my arms and in my protection? Do not fear that sickness. Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.” Juan Diego was ashamed for having doubted Our Lady, and at the same time felt emboldened by her appearance and so asked for the sign that the bishop had requested.
Our Lady instructed Juan Diego to climb to the top of Tepeyac Hill where he would find flowers, unlike any he had ever seen before. He was to pick them and wrap them in his tilma (cloak). Our Lady particularly told Juan Diego not to open his tilma to look at the flowers until he was in the presence of the bishop. Once again doubting Our Lady, Juan Diego was skeptical because it was December and what flowers could be growing at the top of the mountain in the cold??
Regardless, Juan Diego did as he was told and found beautiful flowering roses which he quickly gathered into his tilma. He made his way to the bishop, unfolded his tilma and both men witnessed a cascade of roses that revealed an image of Mary on the tilma exactly as she had appeared to Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill. The bishop, convinced, built the church as Our Lady had asked. (The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City 1622/1709)
Mary’s appearance to a humble, simple man should remind us of God’s option for the poor, but also of the role of a mother. Our Lady is our comfort, a caress, a hug, and gentle finger tips on our cheeks when we feel defeated, ill, overwhelmed, alone…The Lord is our Shepherd, Mary is our mother sheep. She whispers the breeze of God’s everlasting word on which we build our families, homes, schools, communities and peace. Even when we wander astray, Our Lady is waiting for us when we return “home.” Never judging. Just waiting. Patiently… with open arms to once again wrap us in her comforting love.
Let us pray.
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| Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego |
O God, Father of mercies,
who placed your people under the singular protection
of your Son's most holy Mother,
grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe,
may seek with ever more lively faith
the progress of peoples in the
ways of justice and of peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
For more information of celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Patron of the Americas; pro-life movement) go here: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=968
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