Rev 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10
Responsorial: Judith
13:18-19
Lk 1:39-47
Christ the King Catholic Church, Iowa Park, TX
Happy feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, named patroness of all
the Americas by Pope St. John Paul the Great! From the northernmost tip of
Nunavut, Canada to the islands of Tierra del Fuego off the southernmost tip of
South America, Catholics celebrate our common heritage as sons and daughters of
the Blessed Mother of Jesus Christ. The image of Our Lady on the tilma of St.
Juan Diego is an icon of the holy Gospel. It continues to take cultural root
and spread across all regions of North and South America. Our readings today
focus on Our Lady as the royal virgin daughter of the House of David, reigning
with her Divine Son over the whole world.[1] And in the appearance as
Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the Empress of the Americas.
Our first reading from Revelation paints a picture of our lady
that matches perfectly with the image of Guadalupe in the tilma of Juan Diego.
This is no coincidence. The reading opens with the proclamation that God’s
heavenly temple is opened and the ark of the covenant lies within. Immediately,
St. John describes his vision of the woman clothed with the sun and the moon
under her feet, her head ringed with a crown of 12 stars. This image is a
description of the ark – Mary is the ark of the New Covenant, the dwelling
place of God’s presence. She is both the spouse of the Holy Spirit and the
virginal mother of Jesus Christ. The 12 stars represent the 12 tribes of Israel
– she is the Queen of Israel, the Queen Mother of the house of David. Recall
that in ancient Israel, the king’s wife did not rule by the side of the king –
it was the queen mother who held authority and interceded with the king on
behalf of his people. Mary is revealed as the queen of the universe, clothed
and adorned with heavenly bodies of the sun, moon, and stars. The imagery
painted in Revelation of the woman and the dragon is symbolic of Christ's victory
over Satan through Mary. Many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas worshipped
bloodthirsty pagan gods who demanded constant warfare and human sacrifice. The
dragon imagery demonstrated how the woman and her son, by the power of God,
overthrows their pagan death cults. May the culture of death in our country
again be overthrown by the power of God working through Jesus and Mary!
In the Gospel reading where Elizabeth greets Mary, she addressed
her as ‘Mother of my Lord’, which is a title of the Queen mother. Elizabeth was
a wise and educated woman, the wife of a priest of the Temple. She recognized
Mary, through the Holy Spirit, as the first lady of the kingdom of Israel.[2] Elizabeth treated her as
such and venerated her as we do today.
In her appearance at Guadalupe, Mary forged a new people that
never existed before and led them to her Son, Jesus Christ. Indigenous and
Spaniards alike formed the new people of what is now Mexico. Under the auspices
of Our Lady of Guadalupe and through her intercession, over 10 million converts
were made in the following years. Devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe is strong
in the Americas. But it is important to remember that Mary never points to
herself. She always works to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ. In some
places in the Americas, the cult of the Virgin is stronger than the devotion to
Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Mary is not pleased with this, nor
should she be conflated with local pagan deities.[3] Mary is not a ‘mother
goddess,’ nor is she an image of ‘mother earth,’ nor is she a 'pachimama.' Mary is a human being, the
mother of our Lord, and the first disciple of Jesus Christ. Any honor she
receives she passes on to the Holy Trinity, as she proclaims in the Magnificat:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”
As we celebrate this feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, let us
put into practice what we learn from Mary. That we may reject the pagan gods of
money, pleasure, and power worshipped in today’s culture. That we come together
as one people, devoted to Jesus Christ through Mary, regardless of our skin
color or the language we speak. And that we always, with Mary, proclaim the
greatness of the Lord.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for Us!
[1]
John Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Mass Readings for
Solemnities and Feasts, (Emmaus Road:Steubenville, OH, 2021), 419.
[2]
Bergsma, 426.
[3]
Bergsma, 427.
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