Word to the Wise
Thursday, December 12, 2013 - Dec. 12 - Our Lady of Guadalupe
[Zech 2:14-17, or Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab and Luke 1:26-38, or Luke 1:39-47,800]Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord. Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. [Zechariah]
The words of the prophet Zechariah go to the core meaning of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a humble peasant named Juan Diego. God has not abandoned the poor of Latin America. God's care is expressed in the appearance of Mary as a "mestizo" woman expecting a child, and that appearance is "permanently" symbolized in the famous image on a cloak that is displayed in Mexico City. She is nicknamed "La Morenita," the little brown lady.
However, some observances take on a bigger life and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of those. [Watch out for the Vietnamese observance of Our Lady of Lavang!] That bigger life is a social and political phenomenon! [Note all the talk about the "Hispanic vote!"] Cesar Chavez's campaign for the rights of farm workers prominently displayed the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in its demonstrations. In San Antonio, where I spent about nine years in three different assignments, her image appears on an amazing variety of surfaces! The only liturgical day that could compete with her attraction to church for Latino parishioners was Ash Wednesday! Rare, indeed, would be the parish church in Texas without a copy of the image somewhere on the premises.
Some will celebrate this feast simply because it is a Latino celebration. Others will find it an occasion to speak out about our deplorable immigration policies. Some Latinos from Central and South America will shrug and say, "She's not OUR lady!" American bishops who decide which days are holy days of obligation in this country find that December 8th (the Immaculate Conception] is being totally eclipsed by December 12th (Our Lady of Guadalupe)! There's something for everyone in this feast!
I, for one, prefer to go back to the "core meaning" from Zechariah, which I think is the meaning of ALL Marian apparitions: God has come to dwell in our midst and cares for humanity from the poorest to the richest, from pauper to pope. However, the church in the United States should learn from today's celebration and every December 12th, that the Latino presence in our country has also come to dwell in our midst! AMEN