December 12 : Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin by Rose Ure Mezu The Feast of Our lady of Guadalupe celebrated every December 12 is accepted as the most major Marian devotion for the Mexicans and the Americas. Yet, its symbolism reaches beyond the Americas to embrace other areas of Christian evangelization. In Pope John Paul II’s Homily during Juan Diegos Canonization on July 31, 2002, the Marian Pontiff prayed, Beloved Juan Diego, the talking eagle! Show us the way that leads to the Dark Virgin of Tepeyac, that she may receive us in the depths of her heart, for she is the loving, compassionate Mother who guides us to the true God. Amen! The holy Pontiff describes the Lady that appeared to Juan Diego a “simple, humble Indian” as the “Dark Virgin.” The immediate result of this apparition to the inconspicuous Indian Juan Diego is the precipitous conversion to Christian Catholicism of Aztec1 Indians who hitherto had resisted and fought against the colonization and repression of the Spaniards, and their imposition of the Catholic religion on Mexicans. And when Pope John Paul II goes on to talk about the Lady’s colored complexion, “her mestizo (half Spanish, half Indian) face expresses her spiritual motherhood which embraces all Mexicans,” the holy Pontiff touches upon a significant universalist fact, namely that devotions to Mary as well as to the Church – Christ’s Body - form the umbrella unifying all God’s people of the Catholic Christian tradition, irrespective of language, culture or race. That the Blessed Mother of God appeared as a young 14-year old Mexican native - Mestiza – “the dark virgin, the little brown one” - conforms to what in succeeding centuries one would discern as being the all-cultures-embracing hallmark of Our Lady’s many apparitions: that the Blessed Mother of Christ would dress like, and take on the look, complexion, and cultural mode of the native women of the country in question as well as speak their tongue. It happened in Fatima – Portugal (1917), in Massabielle, Lourdes – France (1858), in Medgugorje, in Japan, and can happen anywhere else. Thus, believers see this as underpinning the universalism and oneness of all created beings as God’s children under the protection of the Mother of God. Thus, it can be said that the Church of God has no color, racial or cultural code, nor geographical, spatial or temporal boundaries It is for all times and for all believers everywhere. Therefore, all humanity is one under one God. Copyright of Excerpt by Dr. Rose Ure Mezu. ------------------------------------- guadalupewf.org/images/Virgen.jpg+of+Guadalupe
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:49:15 +0000
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