Our Lady of Guadalupe

On his aerial image of the city of Tucson, Arizona, the artist Dennis McNally, S.J. superimposed digital images of Our Lady of Guadalupe at many sites, just as she is revered in every space in the Mexican community.

Our Lady of Guadalupe   December 2015

……From her first appearance to Juan Diego the Mother of Jesus as Our Lady of Guadalupe gave confidence to the Mexican peasant that their lives of difficulty were worth something.  She blessed their culture by accompanying her appearance to Juan Diego with signs well-known in his culture of song and flowers…..   

Many of us, of course, are blessed with women who have taken on Our Lady’s roles in our lives and in the lives of many we know.  The list is long in my middle-class upbringing and in my Jesuit life…..  Let me suggest that, absent her direct appearance to us, the presence of these women in our lives can be seen as a gift from Our Lady under her many titles.  

·       Many of our own mothers, or grandmothers taught us our prayers and told us about the saints.  They stand in for Our Mother of Good Counsel. 

·        I know a working woman in North Phila whose husband died suddenly in awkward circumstances having abandoned her and her family a few years before his death.   She made sure that her Catholic husband had a proper Catholic burial.  She stands in for Our Mother of Mercy.

·       How about the mother who watched her daughter descend into drug addiction and homelessness.  She fed her daughter a good meal whenever she showed her face and even took care of her several children.  Slowly with help she cajoled and prayed her daughter back into being clean of drugs.   She stands in for Our Lady, Untier of Knots.

·       And the women who take care of parents or children with severe health issues.  One I know did this for her son for 20 years and shed tears of sorrowful relief at his death, tears mixed with a joy that she could be with him over the years until his time finally came.   She and so many others stand in for Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

·       And how about the women in our parishes who take care of organizing the food for parish celebrations and for funeral repasts.   They stand in for Our Lady of the Feast at Cana.

·       For farmworkers and for immigrants from the South, Our Lady of Guadalupe herself shines on them as the Mirror of Justice.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is all of these women and many more.