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     It would be difficult to overestimate the influence of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico and the USA!  Her image appears in any parish church that has parishioners with connections to Mexico, no matter how long those parishioners may have lived in the USA.  The liturgical calendar reflects this importance.  The feasts of Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Lourdes are considered "optional" memorials.  The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a compulsory memoria.  The cultural connection is important because there are many other titles bestowed on Mary.  Once, when I was a campus pastor, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was approaching.  So, I asked one of my Hispanic parishioners what he might suggest as a way of observing it.  He responded, "I don't know.  I'm from Nicaragua.  She's not OUR Lady!"  (Turns out, they observe the feast of the Immaculate Conception with the same solemnity!

     The importance of a symbol as expressing the meaning, history and aspirations of a people stands forth here.  Although the Mary in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the same "person" as the Mary in the nativity scene we set up for this season, she clearly serves a different purpose in the minds and hearts of those who look to her for inspiration and help.  The fact that she is portrayed as pregnant in the image anticipates the birth of Jesus.  But even more than that she appears as a mestizo (mixed race) woman, whose nickname La Morenita (little brown one) connects her with the entire history of the Mexican nation and, by extension, with all Americans of Mexican descent.

     One may wonder if the young Jewish woman giving birth in a stable had any idea of what lay ahead of her.  Her soul clearly magnifies the Lord!  AMEN