Wednesday, December 12, Second Week in Advent
On December 9, 1511 (10 years after the Spanish conquests), Mary appeared to a native Aztec name Juan Diego along a country trail near present day Mexico City. The striking thing was that Marys features and clothing were Aztec, and she spoke to him in that language. Mary instructed Juan to tell the bishop to build a church on that site to replace a pagan shrine.
Juans efforts to convince the bishop failed. Finally, in her third appearance to Juan, Mary told him to take nearby roses (unusual at that time of year) as a sign. Juan put some in his cloak. When he came to the bishop and unfolded the cloak, imprinted on it was the painting of Mary that has since become famous.
Juan Diegos cloak now hangs in the huge church of Our Lady of Guadalupe built on that site. After nearly 500 years, the picture on the cloak shows no sign of deterioration and artists have been unable to duplicate the combination of materials used in the paint.
The feast of St. Juan Diego is celebrated on December 9.
Wednesday, December 12, Second Week in Advent
There are lots of different ways to pray. One way is to try to put yourself inside the person who is part of your prayer. We try to picture many of the things that arent described in the Gospel passage.
Mary Lived up in Nazareth, a three days walk north of Jerusalem. Nazareth back then was a small town up on a hill. Maybe 120 people lived there. They didnt have any big buildings; they didnt have any rich industry.
There came a day when Mary (like good Jewish people would do) went with her mother and father on a big trip to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. There, Mary saw great big buildings and the temple. People were dressed so well. And the food and clothes and stores and riches!
Thats when Mary realized she was from a small town. She wasnt one of the important people in the world. Thats when she realized she had an accent, Mary learned that.
On the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we remember when Mary appeared to Juan Diego. She spoke with his accent, she spoke in his language. She dressed in his native clothing, and she looked like Juan Diego and his people.
Not only does Mary care about me as one of her own, but Jesus grew up that way. He knows what its like sometimes to feel small.
He understands.