Friends and Neighbors

Dec. 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today we celebrate the Marian apparitions that occurred nearly 500 years ago in Mexico, the first time she appeared in the Americas. Juan Diego reported seeing her to his local bishop, who demanded proof. Mary then showed Juan a field of roses (out of season at the time), which he gathered in his cloak as a sign. Unfurling his cloak for the bishop, Juan revealed a miraculous image of the Virgin wearing a black maternity belt and bearing the jasmine flower over her womb.

While recognizably the Virgin Mother, this depiction also included Aztec symbolism, which showed Mary’s unborn child to be the divine center of the cosmos. The Church is universal, and Mary is everybody’s mother. Both find ways to reach out to her children wherever they are, in whatever culture and situation they may be.

Reading 1

Zec 2:14-17

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD. Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land, and he will again choose Jerusalem. Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD! For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

The western hemisphere wasn’t even known to exist¹ at the time of the writing of this passage. But the prophesy is still truer than Zechariah could have imagined—through Mary, many nations have joined themselves to the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Jud 13:18bcde, 19

R. (15:9d)  You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God, 
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.

At first, Judith and Mary would seem very dissimilar. Judith, after all, beheaded a guy.

The thing is, when Judith rescued Israel from its enemies, she did it as a woman, using feminine wiles, not by attempting to behave like a man. Mary, likewise, participated in humanity’s salvation in a way only a woman can.

They’re both exemplars of feminine strength in different circumstances.

Alleluia 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise;
from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I sometimes wonder if Mary, who is sinless and therefore humble, is sometimes a little embarrassed by what a big deal we make of her. The way most moms get on Mother’s Day, I think. And like with our Earthly moms, it’s okay, we’ll just keep doing it anyway.

Gospel

Lk 1:39-47

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Mary just found out she’s pregnant, not just with an unexpected child, but the most unexpected child—the Savior of humanity! During that same annunciation,² Gabriel also told her some exciting, albeit less Earth-shattering news—her elderly cousin Elizabeth was also pregnant.

Given these two pieces of information, what does Mary do? She goes to help her relative. Because Mary isn’t worried about herself; she puts others first. Even when she’s pregnant, she goes and helps another pregnant woman. Her charity knows no bounds!

When we pray to Mary for her intercession, we can be confident she will respond with motherly love (even if we embarrass her a little with a whole rosary’s worth of Hail Marys.)

1. Ancient Greek astronomers were only just figuring out the Earth is round at about this time.

2. Lk 1:36