OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE (FEAST)

He will dwell among you. 

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that God dwells among us, despite the numerous stories of saints and miracles that show he has done just that. Today, on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we celebrate one of those miracles. It was on this day in 1531 that God sent our Blessed Mother to Juan Diego, a native Mexican and a devout Catholic. Mary told Juan Diego that she wanted him to give a message to his bishop:

I want very much to have a little house built here for me, in which I will show [my son], I will exalt him and make him manifest. I will give him to the people in all my personal love, in my compassion, in my help, in my protection: because I am truly your merciful Mother, yours and all the people who live united in this land.

It’s a familiar story after that: the bishop was slow to believe Juan Diego’s message, so Mary performed a miracle. She directed Juan Diego to a spot where roses were growing (they weren’t in season), arranged those roses in his cloak, and sent him back to the bishop. When Juan Diego unfolded his cloak, the roses spilled out, leaving behind a beautiful image of Mary as a pregnant native woman radiant in glory. Convinced, the bishop built a shrine as Mary had requested. This shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, is said to be the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world.

Mary’s words to Juan Diego showed her eagerness to reveal her son to the native inhabitants of the New World. She wanted them to know without a doubt the same thing that millions of people in other parts of the world already knew: that God was with them. The miracle of Juan Diego’s cloak, and the presence of the shrine that still houses that cloak, are an ever-present testimony to that fact.

God is with you no matter where you go. He has made you into his dwelling place, and he wants nothing more than to show you his love and mercy each and every day. So let him prove his faithfulness to you today.

“Lord, thank you for the gift of Our Lady of Guadalupe! Thank you for never abandoning me!”

Zechariah 2:14-17
(Psalm) Judith 13:18-19
Luke 1:26-38