Reflection for December 12
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and what a variety of readings and intentions there are for our prayer today!
Writing as a Sister of Mercy, one of many throughout the world, we, Sisters of Mercy, celebrate the founding of our congregation in Dublin, Ireland. On December 12th, 1831, our foundress Catherine McAuley and her companions professed their religious vows and began their lives of service to the poor as Sisters of Mercy.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is revered throughout the Catholic world. It is fitting that on this day the church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a day when we remember when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 on Tepeyac hill, in present day Mexico City.
God speaks to us through presence in scripture and the presence of Our Lady today.
Mary, who had such an incredible faith that, even despite the uncertainty of being asked to be the mother of the Savior, believed that God cared for her. Mary believed that the Lord would be with her, accompanying her throughout this journey into the motherhood of the Savior of the world. She says, “May it be done to me according to your word.”
God also speaks of God’s presence to all humanity through Our Lady of Guadalupe and the universe. Signs and symbols of the universe are observed within this apparition. There was music that first drew Juan Diego’s attention, stars of the sky were evident on Mary’s garment, and flowers appeared in bloom in an unexpected season.
Today, like Juan Diego, we stand in awe of God’s creation, the cosmos, and the ongoing revelation of God. We are called to remain responsive to God’s signs from Our Lady that announce the presence of God in our midst. We are called to the attentiveness of both Mary and Juan Diego which allows us to stand in awe of God’s revelation, the vastness of the cosmos, the fragility of marginalized peoples and cultures, and our call to holiness. We are invited as Mary and Juan Diego were to participate with God in being a messenger of change for humanity, the earth, and the universe.
Do we have that same strength of faith as Mary and Juan Diego? Do we believe that God is present in this moment of our lives? Do we believe God dwells among us in the vastness of the universe and in our daily relationships with others? Do we believe that—in the uncertainty of our lives and the world—God is always there with us?
Let us pray for each other and our world that it may be so.
Sr. Ruth Kelly, R.S.M.