Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a day that honors the 1531 appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Juan Diego, a poor indigenous peasant in the region of Mexico City. Our family used to attend the wonderful pageant performances of this story at the mission in San Juan Bautista, a musical play called 'La Virgen de Tepeyac.' The Virgin's word to Juan Diego, spoken in his Aztec language, is one of love, calling him to convey her words to the bishop himself. He does so, even though he is bewildered that she would choose such a lowly person as him to carry her message, and she entrusts him with her image imprinted on his cloak as a sign to the bishop. That famous image, Mary as a brown-skinned peasant woman, is now ubiquitous in Mexican iconography. Each time I saw the play, I was moved when she first appeared, singing out Juan Diego's name. 

So I was delighted when in New York one December morning I found that my morning running route intersected with the annual torch run of the Guadalupe, a relay pilgrimage of the Guadalupe's image from Mexico City to New York City. Yet again La Virgen was appearing to me. And now that we've moved back to California, she is everywhere. (Unsurprisingly, there are a number of events celebrating the Guadalupe this week throughout the San Diego area, including some this evening at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside.) More than a cultural tradition, the story of the Guadalupe is a profound one of God reaching out in love to the least of us, loving every one of us without regard to our status or achievement. What a lovely message to receive again this Advent season.