Third Sunday of Advent
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
SUNDAY, Dec. 12th Lk 3: 10-18 FEAST DAY OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Alleluia Verse: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.”
Jesus came to bring glad tidings to the poor. His Mother Mary also brings glad tidings to the poor in her apparition as Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego near Mexico City.
Part 1: OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE’S TREASURE BOX by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
Part 2: “God intervened through Our Lady of Guadalupe to evangelize the Americas,” explains Guadalupe expert, Msgr. Chavez. Read this astonishing account!
PART ONE:
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE’S TREASURE BOX by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
One of the most famous and loved of the approved Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary is Our Lady of Guadalupe. “The Patron of the Americas” (so named by Pope Saint John Paul II) appeared near the City of Mexico to Saint Juan Diego.
Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego in the course of four days on four separate occasions—from December 9th to December 12th, 1531. These apparitions to the humble, simple, child-like Juan Diego would radically transform the face of the earth and the Catholic world. Millions of Mexicans would be converted to Catholicism due to these apparitions! This monumental miracle of massive conversions has never been equaled in the history of the world, in the history of Catholicism.
Juan Diego, living with his elderly uncle Juan Bernardino, would travel on foot frequently to the City of Mexico for the following important reasons: 1) To continue his formation in the Catholic faith (Juan Diego was an adult convert); 2) To attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; 3) To receive the Sacraments.
What a great model for adult Catholics today! Adult Catholics urgently need to build upon their catechetical formation. To attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is essential. And of paramount importance, in fact it is indispensable, the frequent, fervent and worthy reception of the Sacraments, especially Confession and the most Holy Eucharist.
This brief reflection will not center so much on the happenings, the appearances of Our Blessed Mother and the person of Saint Juan Diego (much has already been written on these all-important topics); rather, we would like to accentuate and highlight the extraordinary fruits that have blossomed and flourished as a result of the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Loving Mother, coming to visit us. In truth, the abundant fruits of her appearance and presence cannot be measured in their magnitude and far-reaching extension. Let us abound in thanksgiving to Jesus, the Son of Mary, for having sent His Heavenly Mother to us, showering us with a deluge of graces and blessings.
1. MARY’S TENDER AND LOVING MOTHERHOOD. To Saint Juan Diego, and to each and every one of us, Mary calls herself Mother. Saint Therese of Lisieux stated: “Mary is Queen, but more than Queen, Mary is Mother.” Saint Augustine with flaring eloquence asserts: “Put all the love of all the Mothers of all times and places together, the love of Mary for each and every one of us is much greater.”
2. MARY HEALS! The great dilemma of Juan Diego as he hurried along heading to Mexico City to fetch a priest was the health of his elderly uncle, Juan Bernardine. Mary appears to Juan Diego and reassures him not to worry about his uncle, and she heals him immediately. So we can turn to Mary in our illnesses, as well as the illnesses and infirmities of our loved ones, and entrust these sicknesses to her. Among the many titles given to Mary is “Health of the sick.”
3. MARY TELLS US NOT TO WORRY. Our Lady of Guadalupe told Juan Diego not to worry, that he, Juan Diego, was in the crossing of her arms, in her shadow, and in the opening of her garment (tilma). How many of us have worries, fears, doubts and many anxieties! Mary wants us to entrust our cares to her maternal care and protection. As we pray in the Memorare: “Never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.” Right now, let us cast our cares, worries, fears and anxieties in the Heart of Mary. She will never forget us!
4. MARY AND THE CHURCH. Then there is the ecclesial aspect of the Appearances of Our Lady of Guadalupe. With great insistence and determination, Our Lady commanded Juan Diego to inform the Bishop Juan Zumarraga that she wanted a Church built where she appeared to Juan Diego. Another clear message of Our Lady of Guadalupe is ecclesial. Mary is the Mother of God, she is the Mother of the Church, and she is the Mother of each and every one of us. Mary loves the Catholic Church and she encourages us all to attend Church, love the Church, pray for the Church, and to be precious, living stones in the structure of the Church. The Second Vatican Council proclaimed Mary as “Mother of the Church. (Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium Chapter VIII)
5. MARY AND HOLY MASS AND HOLY COMMUNION. Furthermore, Mary as Mother of the Church desires most ardently that we attend Mass frequently and participate in the Holy Mass fully, actively and consciously. By this is meant, to be well-prepared to receive the Sacred Body and Blood of Her Son, Jesus in Holy Communion. Mary always leads us to Jesus. Her last recorded words in Sacred Scripture, in the context of the Wedding Feast of Cana, were: “Do whatever He tells you.” (Jn 2:5)
6. MARY AND CONFESSION. In the present Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe many Masses are celebrated every day. Still more, during the course of the day, from the opening of the Basilica until its close in the evening, there are confessors attending lines of pilgrim people reconciling their souls and their lives to God through a Sacramental Confession.
7. MARY AND CONVERSION OF SOULS TO CHRIST. In the history of the world never has there been recorded such a massive conversion in numbers to the Catholic faith as resulted from the Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Guadalupe expert, Msgr. Eduardo Chávez Sánchez, who holds a doctorate in Church history, has published more than 28 books and articles and was the postulator for the cause for the canonization of Juan Diego, said that by 1539, only eight years after the apparition, almost nine million Indians had converted with the help of a small group of Franciscans. Imagine Pentecost every day for 8 years! The numbers literally stagger the imagination! Now it is the country with the highest number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the world! Thanks to Jesus who sent His loving Mother to Mexico in 1531!
8. OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE AND THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT. Of critical importance in the modern world is the presence, power and purpose of Our Lady of Guadalupe as an icon against the greatest moral evil of our times: the reality of abortion. The black ribbon around her waist points to the fact of her pregnancy. She is carrying the baby Jesus in her womb—Jesus who is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. The Pro-Life Movement has adopted Our Lady of Guadalupe as their patron against the onslaught and murder of innocent babies!
9. OUR LADY AS MISSIONARY, EVANGELIST, AND STAR OF EVANGELIZATION—POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II. One of the most frequently visited pilgrimages for Pope John Paul II was Mexico and the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This great pontiff had in mind the massive conversion of Mexico in the mid 1500’s and the present need for evangelization. Our Lady was proclaimed as the Patroness of the Americas and the New Star of Evangelization. May Our Lady of Guadalupe motivate all of us to leave our comfort-zone and do our part to drop the nets into the deep (Duc et altum) and haul in an abundant catch of fish, an abundant harvest of souls. “The harvest is rich but the laborers are few.” (Mt 9:37)
10. OUR LADY CARES FOR ALL, BUT ESPECIALLY FOR THE POOR, ELDERLY AND ABANDONED OF SOCIETY. Our Lady of Guadalupe showed tender care for the elderly and almost-dying Juan Bernardino. She desired that the Basilica be built, first for the Sacraments and to house the Eucharistic Presence of her Son in the tabernacle, and second, so that all (not just a select few) could come to her with their problems and she would be there to help them in all in their needs. Mary is the universal Mother, but she has a very special love for the poor, the elderly, the sick, the marginalized, the abandoned, the downcast and those who seem to have lost all hope. She is that shining star in the midst of the dark clouds, storms and tempests in life. Indeed, Our Lady of Guadalupe, as in the prayer the Hail Holy Queen, is: “Our life, our sweetness and our hope!”
In conclusion, our humble little literary exposition is simply an invitation for all of us to get to know, love, pray to, and entrust our lives, fears and cares to Our Lady under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Read about Our Lady of Guadalupe. Make a pilgrimage, if possible, to her Basilica in Mexico. Purchase a beautiful image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and enthrone it in your home. Invite many, starting with your family, to pray the Rosary in front of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Never forget the words that she addressed to Saint Juan Diego, as well as to you and to me: “My little one, do not worry. I have you in the very crossing of my arms”, that is to say: you are hidden in the very depths of my Immaculate Heart. Let us find our sure refuge in two places: the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
PART TWO: “God intervened through Our Lady of Guadalupe to evangelize the Americas,” explains Guadalupe expert, Msgr. Chavez. Read this astonishing account!
INTRODUCTION:
God intervened through Our Lady of Guadalupe to evangelize the Americas, explains Guadalupe expert. Msgr. Chavez said that by 1539, only eight years after the apparition, almost nine million Indians had converted with the help of a small group of Franciscans.
Imagine Pentecost every day for 8 years!
ARTICLE:
Phoenix, Ariz., Aug 11, 2009 / 05:03 am (CNA). This past week, Msgr. Eduardo Chávez Sánchez told an audience gathered at the Marian Congress, that the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe was a “salvation event” specifically directed to evangelize of all of the Americas.
Msgr. Chavez, who holds a doctorate in Church history, has published more than 28 books and articles and was the postulator for the cause for the canonization of Juan Diego. He addressed a crowd gathered in Phoenix, Arizona last Thursday and remarked that Mary’s apparition in Mexico in 1531 was more powerful than most realize.
The monsignor began by noting that after the Spanish had defeated the Indians in Mexico and ended their ritual human sacrifices, a small group of Franciscan missionaries began to evangelize the new world.
He explained that there were complex tensions between the missionaries and Spanish that complicated the missionaries’ evangelization effort. Not only did the missionaries not know the native language, but they also struggled to try and protect the Indians from exploitation by the Spanish. The conflict grew so serious that the local bishop, Juan de Zumárraga, was almost assassinated by the Spanish.
Historians do not “doubt that during the first evangelizing effort in Mexico, the work of the missionaries was extraordinary,” Msgr. Chavez said, but “the task was more than they could handle.”
The situation grew more difficult for the missionaries as they tried a “thousand different ways to make themselves understood,” but had little success. Bishop Zumárraga became so concerned that he told some of the missionaries, “If God does not intervene to provide an instant remedy, this land is on the verge of being lost forever.”
“And God intervened through the being He loves the most, His own Mother, who chooses a simple and humble Indian to be her faithful messenger, her completely trustworthy intercessor: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin,” Chavez remarked.
In 1524, soon after the first Franciscan missionaries arrived in Mexico, Juan Diego accepted the Catholic faith and was baptized.
Chavez recounted that “on Saturday, December 9, 1531, Juan Diego was on his way to Tlatelolco to attend catechism when the Mother of God appeared to him. She asked him to be her messenger.”
She asked Juan Diego to go to Bishop Zumárraga and ask for a little temple to be built in dedication to her in the valley of Tepyac. Zumárraga received Juan Diego, but asked for a sign from the Virgin Mary to prove her message.
Juan Diego, whose uncle had been sick, tried to avoid their next meeting, but the Blessed Mother still appeared to him. Msgr. Chavez said, “The Virgin asked him to go to the top of the hill, where he would find beautiful flowers to cut and put in his tilma (cloak). Just as she said, Juan Diego found on that dry and rocky hilltop, a place of death, the most beautiful and extraordinary flowers.”
He filled his tilma and brought the roses to the bishop as was requested. When he approached the bishop, he opened his tilma to reveal the beautiful image of the Virgin Mother as a “mestiza” (a woman of mixed race), wrapped in the sun with the moon at her feet, her robe studded with stars. “Her message and will is the spreading of the love of God and that is why she asked for a temple, to offer His love to persons of every lineage who trust in Her.”
She told Juan Diego that her name was “Santa Maria de Guadalupe.” Chavez explained that “Guadalupe” is a name of Arabic origin that means “the river bed,” “the one that carries the water;” it can also be translated as “river of light.” She takes us to the living water.
Finally, Msgr. Chavez argued that Juan Diego’s humble tilma had four essential meanings to the Indians: First, the tilma was used as cover for protection against inclement weather. Secondly, it was also used to carry things, thus contributed to the support of the family. Thirdly, within the Indian society, the tilma was an indication of the status and social condition of a person. Only noblemen could have their garments decorated. And lastly, the tilma was so important that during Indian weddings the man’s tilma was tied into a knot with the huipil, the woman’s dress, as a symbol that their lives were united.
The image, Chavez argued, is a code that the Indians understood perfectly.
Soon after the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, “conversions began occurring at an astounding rate.” The missionaries were in awe of what was happening: “the Indians were coming from everywhere, from faraway lands asking for the sacraments.”
Chavez said that by 1539, only eight years after the apparition, almost nine million Indians had converted with the help of a small group of Franciscans.
The message for us today, Msgr. Chavez concluded, is that “God intervenes by means of his own Mother…to allow every human being to become a participating part of [her Son]. She is the first disciple and missionary who manifests and delivers to us the message of salvation.”
