In the year 1531, a lady from heaven appeared to the poor and humble Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill, just northwest of present-day Mexico City. She identified herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. She requested that a church be built on that site. The bishop did not believe, so he asked Juan Diego to bring him a sign that this was really the Blessed Mother. Mary sent him to the top of Tepeyac hill to collect roses to give to the bishop as his miraculous sign, since roses wouldn't normally grow there in winter. Juan collected the roses in his tilma, a type of poncho made from cactus fibers. When Juan Diego unfurled his poncho to give the roses to the bishop, an image of Our Lady was revealed to the world, miraculously printed on the poncho, an image that still appears on it today as it is on display in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, even though the cactus fibers from which it is made should have normally decayed in a short period of time.
Scientists have tested the image of apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe that appeared so long ago, with many tests having been made of this image to test its authenticity, but the image defies scientific explanation. Over the centuries, Our Lady of Guadalupe has appealed to the hearts of the faithful throughout the world. Many miracles and cures have been attributed to her healing power. Up to 20 million pilgrims visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City each year. Pope John Paul II visited her shrine on 4 different occasions. On his visit there in 1999, he declared December 12 to be a liturgical feast for the Americas in our Church's calendar.
The Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes wrote: “You cannot consider yourself a true Mexican and not believe in Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Her image is everywhere in Mexican American communities here in the United States, as a symbol not only of the Virgin Mary among us, but also a symbol of hope. Along with the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception that we celebrated earlier this week, this feast shows how important the Mother of our Savior is in the history of salvation. Just as Elizabeth called Mary blessed among women, we proclaim Mary blessed as well as we honor her in a special way on this feast day today.
Mary has appeared throughout the centuries in different historical periods and in different cultural settings. Today, in Mississippi and in our nation, we have a much greater Hispanic presence, and we are able to appreciate the gifts that the Hispanic community brings to our Church and to our parish. Some of us here today have been down to the diocesan mission in Saltillo, Mexico; many of our youth study the Spanish language and Spanish culture in school, and our Catholic faith has been touched in a special way by these visits to Saltillo. May the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the image of a poor native woman who will bear a child, speak to us today, especially as we prepare a place in our hearts for the upcoming birth of Christ into our world. May Our Lady of Guadalupe inspire us to work for justice in our community and in our world. May she be a symbol of unity for all of us who live in the Americas.
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