RBWords

     For most of my life until I entered the Dominican Order in 1964, the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe took a definition back seat to Our Lady of Fatima or Our Lady of Lourdes.  It wasn't until Cesar Chavez and the grape-pickers strike in California in the late 1960's that the importance of Our Lady of Guadalupe as more than just one other "Our Lady of........." entered my consciousness and probably that of other people who were not Mexican in origin.  Her famous image led the banners of workers demonstrating for a more just wage and better working conditions.  If Our Lady of Lourdes came to symbolize healing, Our Lady of Guadalupe has come to symbolize, at least in the USA and Mexico, Mary's care for the poor and those seeking a more just and welcoming society.

     The devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe focuses on the famous image that appears on the cloak that St. Juan Diego brought, filled with roses, to his bishop.  She appears as a young mestizo (mixed Spanish and Indian) woman who is pregnant.  Her maternal care is the prominent message.  Since Latino immigration is transforming the face of Roman Catholicism in this country, Our Lady of Guadalupe seems to be overshadowing many of the other titled apparitions in the USA.  Ask any pastor who compares the attendance at Mass on December 8th (Immaculate Conception), a holy day of obligation, with the attendance on December 12 (Guadalupe), which is not a holy day of obligation, let alone any of the other liturgically observed titles of Mary (Lourdes, Fatima, Miraculous Medal, Aparecida, Charity of Cobre, etc.) in this country.

     By whatever title we may choose to call Mary (I recommend reading Diane Schoemperlens' Our Lady of the Lost and Found), the Gospel According to Luke presents her as the woman of faith.  The faith that she attracts through her title and image as Our Lady of Guadalupe is powerful and speaks to millions of Catholics in our land.  AMEN