Homily for December 12, 2009
La Virgin de Guadalupe
December 12, 2009
Every year on this day we gather to celebrate a great gift of God. The gift is the visit of a pregnant indigenous woman to a poor man in the land that belonged to the Nahuatl people. The only name she gave herself was “Mother.” His Nahutl name meant “the talking eagle.” His Christian name was Juan Diego.
She was dressed in the manner of an Aztec goddess, speaking the Nahuatl language that was forbidden by the Spanish occupiers. The woman was short and her skin was dark as were his people. Clearly she was one of them.
She was a Mother bearing a child who was the Son of God. And to the astonished Juan Diego, she said “I am your Mother too”
Each year we retell this wondrous story because it is our story. Juan Diego represents all those in need who suffer sadness, loss, poverty, danger and discouragement. God’s surprising gift is his own Mother to be our spiritual Mother.
This woman visitor from heaven comes to us pregnant in order that her son may be born in our hearts. Like her Son, she is a person of great compassion. She comes to live with us, to encourage us, to weep with us and to rejoice with us in our journey of life.
As a reminder of this gift, she left her portrait on the poor man’s blanket-like coat. We carry her portrait among all the other photos of our family, because she is the Mother of all our families.
One of the important memories I have of growing up at my home was ending each day at prayer. I joined my mother and four brothers and four sisters before bedtime to recite the rosary followed by the litany of Mary.
My mother recited the litany from memory. The litany of Mary is a list of fifty titles given to Mary. To each of them we responded “Pray for us.” I still remember some of the titles. “Refuge of sinners….Cause of our joy….Comforter of the afflicted.” She is all of these things to Juan Diego and the rest of us.
Recently I discovered another litany of Mary with forty different titles. Such as “Mother of the homeless….Liberator of the oppressed….Mother of the dying.” Titles that bring comfort to people in great need – the homeless, the oppressed, the dying. These are titles that Juan Diego would agree with.
In her prayer of praise at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, Mary spoke of God’s mercy for the poor and the humble. She said, “He lifts up the lowly…He fills the hungry with good things.”
We thank God for the gift of La Virgin de Guadalupe. She represents God’s mercy to all the lowly and hungry of our world.
Tonight I think of two of her titles from the litanies I have mentioned. They are “Holy Mother” and “Woman of wisdom.” She is our loving Mother and our wise Latina.
