OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

Advent III

On Monday Dec 12^th we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with Mass.  Under the guidance of Ms. Rosalies Toledo, students reenact the events of 1531 when Our Lady appeared, as brown skinned maiden, to a humble Juan Diego.  The image of Guadalupe on Juan’s tilma can is still on display in Mexico city.

Sr. Mary McGlone, SSJ, writes of this feast:

“ "La Morenita," as Guadalupe is called affectionately, is the patron of the Americas and undoubtedly our hemisphere's most beloved manifestation of Mary, the mother of God. The designation, morenita, refers to the fact that the image of Guadalupe depicts Mary as a mestiza, a person of both European and American ancestry, a divinely fashioned mixture of cultures.

Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared just over a decade after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. In a time marked by turmoil, abuse and prophecy, she epitomized the potential of the Gospel to bring ancient traditions together to create something that neither could imagine until they allowed grace to lead them into it. She embodied an American expression of John the Baptist's voice crying in the wilderness.

Our Lady of Guadalupe symbolizes divine love and God's desire that humanity create a community of love and justice. La Morenita incarnates the intercultural unity that is possible when we allow faith to lead us to a communion that respects and simultaneously goes deeper than our diversity.”  https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/scripture-life/third-sunday-advent-fiesta-love-and-liberation

Our Lady of Guadalupe shows that God cares for the poor and oppressed, wants all injustice and oppression to cease, and loves us as a mother loves her children.

This Advent, as we prepare for Christ to be born again in our hearts, our minds, our lives and our world, let’s meditate on the mystery and meaning of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  We are all called by God to incarnate the Gospel values of hospitality, openness to others, and a mighty striving for justice for all.