In 1531, almost 500 years ago, a lady from heaven appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill in Mexico. The lady identified herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. She requested that a church be built on that site. However, the bishop asked Juan to bring him a sign that this was truly the Blessed Mother. Mary sent Juan Diego to the top of the hill to collect roses to give to the bishop as his sign, where roses wouldn't normally grow in winter. Juan collected the roses in his tilma, a type of poncho made from cactus fibers. When Juan unfurled his tilma to give the roses to the bishop, an image of Our Lady was revealed, miraculously printed there. This image that still appears on the tilma today; it on display in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Modern technology cannot explain how that image of our Lord got on that tilma and how it has been preserved for so many years. Over the centuries, Our Lady of Guadalupe has appealed to the hearts of the faithful throughout the world. Miracles and cures are attributed to her healing power. Millions of pilgrims to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico each year. Even today, Our Lady of Guadalupe is an image of hope and liberation in Mexico and throughout Latin America.
This is the second celebration of Mary that we have had this week, as we celebrated our Blessed Mother on Monday in our country’s patronal feast, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. These celebrations show how important Mary is as the mother of our Church. Just as Elizabeth called Mary blessed among women, we proclaim Mary blessed as well as we honor her as our Mother.
Today, may we look to Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe as examples of faith speaking out to us from a time and place so different from our modern world. It is a message that still resonates today. May the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the image of a poor native woman who will bear a child, help us to prepare a place in our hearts for the upcoming birth of Christ into our world. May Our Lady of Guadalupe inspire us to help others in our community and in our world as a symbol of unity for all of us who live in the Americas.
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