The Woman shows the Way

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today include extra Scripture choices that underline the experience of the Church that the call to God often comes through people who are outside the privileged classes.

Full moon on 12/12

The reading from the Prophet Zechariah praises daughter Zion.

* [2:15] Many nations…my people: a way of expressing God’s relationship to people in covenant language. The covenant between God and Israel (see Jer 31:33; 32:38) is here universalized to include all nations.1

The passage from the Book of Revelation is the vision of the battle between the Woman and the Dragon.

* [12:1–6] The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Gn 37:9–10) symbolizes God’s people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Rev 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Rev 12:6, 13–17); cf. Is 50:1; 66:7; Jer 50:12. This corresponds to a widespread myth throughout the ancient world that a goddess pregnant with a savior was pursued by a horrible monster; by miraculous intervention, she bore a son who then killed the monster.2 

The response from the Book of Judith celebrates a daughter, blessed by the Most High.

* [13:12–20] Elements from chaps. 8–9 are echoed here. The assembly of the people at Judith’s return parallels the meeting of the town officials summoned by Judith in 8:10. Uzziah blesses Judith in 8:5 and again in 13:18–20.3The simple conclusion from these and other details is that the work is historical fiction, written to exalt God as Israel’s deliverer from foreign might, not by an army, but by means of a simple widow.4 

In the Gospel of Luke, Mary Visits Elizabeth and sings a hymn of praise.

* [1:45] Blessed are you who believed: Luke portrays Mary as a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah (Lk 1:20). Mary’s role as believer in the infancy narrative should be seen in connection with the explicit mention of her presence among “those who believed” after the resurrection at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:14).5 

Luis Rodriguez, S.J. comments that God writes straight with lines that to us may look crooked as he shares how our ignorance of colonized cultures is ironically showing the blessing of America in Our Lady of Guadalupe.

There exists in Midwest Spain a centuries old shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe (my own mother’s name was Guadalupe) and that was all that Juan de Zumárraga, bishop of Mexico, knew. So, when he asked Juan Diego for the name of the Lady that had appeared to him and he heard in the Nauatl language the name Coatlaxopeuh (translated crushes the serpent and pronounced Quatlasupe), the non-exculturated bishop, who knew only of Spain’s Guadalupe,  felt a need to “correct” Juan Diego: “you, ignoramus, it has to be Guadalupe”. And the non-inculturated name sank roots locally and beyond.6 

Friar Jude Winkler shares the presentation of God as not distant but in our midst. Revelation gives two visions of God protecting the Holy Child and the Church. Friar Jude shares the link of Mary to the new Ark of the Covenant.

Bishop Robert Barron reflects on his visit to Guadalupe during the filming of the CATHOLICISM series in Mexico: (https://youtu.be/j9QmxmZBSR4 ).

The post by Franciscan Media outlines the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century. Chronicles of that period tell us the story.

 Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary—and the God who sent her—accept all peoples. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for the indigenous population. While a number of them had converted before this incident, they now came in droves. According to a contemporary chronicler, nine million Indians became Catholic in a very short time. In these days when we hear so much about God’s preferential option for the poor, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God’s love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself.7

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Ron H., a beloved staff member at the Center for Action and Contemplation, who shares from his own experience how humility and honesty are needed throughout the Twelve Steps.

About five years into my recovery journey, I got to know a man in Los Angeles named Pepe. Like so many we get to meet in the rooms, he was a compelling character. His stories were spellbinding and masterfully delivered, his wisdom was simple and always rang of truth, and his heart was out there where you could see it, humble, genuine. When he told of how he took his wheelchair-bound teenage son Tony, dying of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, to the river to go fishing, the entire room would hang on every word (no matter how many times we had heard the story). Completely bereft as he watched Tony painfully work to get his line in the water, Pepe began to cry. “Dad,” Tony said, “Why are you crying? There’s nothing wrong with me. It’s just my Earth suit that is having trouble. Nothing is wrong with me.”8

Messengers telling of their experience of the Divine may not be speaking in the language of the dominant culture, the powerful gender, and physically attractive.

References

1	(n.d.). Zechariah, chapter 2 - United States Conference. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/zechariah/2
2	(n.d.). Revelation, chapter 12 - USCCB.org. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/12
3	(n.d.). Judith, chapter 13 - United States Conference. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/judith/13
4	(n.d.). Judith — introduction - USCCB.org. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/judith/0
5	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 1 - USCCB.org. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/1
6	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved December 12, 2019, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
7	(n.d.). Our Lady of Guadalupe - Franciscan Media. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/our-lady-of-guadalupe/
8	(2019, December 10). Twelve-Step Spirituality: Part One Archives — Center for .... Retrieved December 12, 2019, from https://cac.org/themes/twelve-step-spirituality-part-one/

Mother of the Church

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the role of Mary as the Mother of the Church.

Path to St Mary's

The reading from the Book of Genesis describes the actions of Adam and Eve leading to the Expulsion from Eden and image of the battle between the Church and the serpent.

* [3:15] They will strike…at their heel: the antecedent for “they” and “their” is the collective noun “offspring,” i.e., all the descendants of the woman. Christian tradition has seen in this passage, however, more than unending hostility between snakes and human beings. The snake was identified with the devil (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9; 20:2), whose eventual defeat seemed implied in the verse. Because “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8), the passage was understood as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind, the protoevangelium. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. A.D. 130–200), in his Against Heresies 5.21.1, followed by several other Fathers of the Church, interpreted the verse as referring to Christ, and cited Gal 3:19 and 4:4 to support the reference. Another interpretive translation is ipsa, “she,” and is reflected in Jerome’s Vulgate. “She” was thought to refer to Mary, the mother of the messiah. In Christian art Mary is sometimes depicted with her foot on the head of the serpent.1 

In Psalm 87 the bond between the exile and the holy city is praised.

* [87:5–6] The bond between the exile and the holy city was so strong as to override the exile’s citizenship of lesser cities.2 

In the Gospel from John during the Crucifixion of Jesus, Mary is given a role as the mother of Christians.

* [19:26–27] This scene has been interpreted literally, of Jesus’ concern for his mother; and symbolically, e.g., in the light of the Cana story in Jn 2 (the presence of the mother of Jesus, the address woman, and the mention of the hour) and of the upper room in Jn 13 (the presence of the beloved disciple; the hour). Now that the hour has come (Jn 19:28), Mary (a symbol of the church?) is given a role as the mother of Christians (personified by the beloved disciple); or, as a representative of those seeking salvation, she is supported by the disciple who interprets Jesus’ revelation; or Jewish and Gentile Christianity (or Israel and the Christian community) are reconciled.3 

David Kiblinger, SJ, shares his research in the Jesuit Post into Mary: Mother of the Church.

while promulgating the completed Lumen Gentium (or, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), Pope Paul VI proclaimed Mary “Mother of the Church” in a discourse closing the third session. The pope thus made this title official, certainly to the delight of those on the losing side of the narrow vote, who generally supported expanding Mariological doctrine to its maximum extent.4 

Mark Latta comments on Jesus' words “Woman behold, your son” and to his beloved disciple “ Behold your mother” as an example to us to love our families and that in that love we have responsibility for them.

While Jesus was clear on our priorities: 1) God first, 2) our families 3) our service to the His kingdom. Serving Christ first however doesn't mean that we are free to neglect our other priorities --  it means only that we must organize our priorities in the proper relation to each other. We should have faith that God will give us wisdom to work this out. Sometimes our families misunderstand or disapprove of decisions we make. In those moments we are called to walk towards them in love, not away.5 

Don Schwager quotes “God borrows Mary's flesh to lead humanity to glory,” by an anonymous early author from the Greek church.

"The virgin mother, when wine was lacking, wanted Jesus to do a miracle. She was at once answered, 'Woman, what have I to do with you?' as if to say plainly, The fact that I can do a miracle comes to me from my Father, not my mother. For it was from the nature of his Father that he could do miracles but from the nature of his mother that he could die. When he was on the cross, then, in dying he acknowledged his mother whom he commended to the disciple, saying, 'Behold your mother.' And so, when he says, 'Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet come" (John 2:4). he is in effect saying, In the miracle, which I did not from your nature, I do not acknowledge you. When the hour of death shall come, however, I shall acknowledge you as my mother, since it is from you that I can die." (excerpt from LETTER 10.39.27) 6 

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 19:25-34 shares a story that shows how God has given mothers a unique ability to tend to their children’s hearts and heal their woundedness. This is, actually, one of the things that Pope Francis emphasized last year when he instituted today’s feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. In his decree, he said he wanted to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church.” In a homily on last year’s feast, Pope Francis explained that tenderness is a hallmark of Mary and of all motherhood, including the motherhood of the Church.

A young mother stood in line at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Holding her children’s hands, she wondered what to expect as the motorized sidewalk carried her toward the miraculous image of Mary on St. Juan Diego’s tilma. She had never had a particular devotion to Mary, but her own mother had died years earlier, and she wondered what place Mary might have in her life now. As she looked up at the tilma, the words Mary spoke to Juan Diego sounded clearly in her mind: “Am I not here who am your mother?” The words touched her heart, and she began to weep as the tenderness of Mary’s maternal love overwhelmed her.7 

Friar Jude Winkler notes the separation between God and us, between ourselves, and ourselves and Nature that are the consequences of sin in Genesis. The Church becomes the brother of Jesus expected to raise up children for Jesus in the Gospel as Mary is declared Mother of the Church. Friar Jude shares the symbolism in the piercing of Jesus on the cross that connects to Eve.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes Mirabai Starr as he shares that in mythic imagination, he thinks Mary intuitively symbolizes the first incarnation—or Mother Earth. He is not saying Mary is the first incarnation, only that she became the natural archetype for it.

 When Christianity collided with indigenous religions around the world, a kind of nuclear fusion unfolded between the Earth Mother and the Mother of Christ. The apparition known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, from the Valley of Mexico, is a particularly potent example. This hybrid of Mother Mary and Tonantzin, the Mother of the Corn in Aztec tradition, appeared on the exact spot where the Nahuatl people had been worshiping the fertility goddess for millennia, and she spoke first to an indigenous farmer in his own language. Her skin was dark like their own, yet her features were European. She wore the traditional pre-Columbian maternity sash and also a mantle of stars, like the Virgin Mary. She made it clear that she was the Mother of All People and that her task and her delight was to love us, to give us shelter, to comfort our hearts, and to protect us.8

The apparition of Mary to Juan Diego is witness to the Mother of the Church drawing people together as brothers and sisters of Jesus.

References

1	(n.d.). Genesis, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 87 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/87
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 19 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/19
4	(2017, November 9). Mary: Mother of the Church | The Jesuit Post. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://thejesuitpost.org/2017/11/mary-mother-of-the-church/
5	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
6	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
7	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/06/10
8	(2019, June 10). The First Incarnation — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-first-incarnation-2019-06-10/

Handmaid proclaims the greatness of the Lord

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe are rich for contemplation of the change in our personal spiritual experience and the impact of faith on entire cultures of humble surrender to the will of God.


The Prophet Zechariah describes how the Covenant between God and Israel will be extended to include all nations.

* [2:15] Many nations…my people: a way of expressing God’s relationship to people in covenant language. The covenant between God and Israel (see Jer 31:33; 32:38) is here universalized to include all nations.

In the Gospel from Luke, chosen by the CCCB, the Mary visits her pregnant cousin Elizabeth and they rejoice in the role she has surrendered to proclaim the glory of God as the handmaid who will be Mother to Yeshua (Yahweh saves).

* [1:46–55] Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary’s pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v. 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God’s favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker.

Eileen Wirth recalls, after attending an interfaith service remembering people slain in the synagogue in Pittsburgh, having a palpable sense that night of people from many “nations” joining together under the Lord. No matter what we call God or how we worship him, we are part of his common human family.

In a similar vein, today’s feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe speaks powerfully to me of uniting with people different from myself because of tragedy unfolding on our southern border and the efforts of the Sisters of Mercy to alleviate it.
Recently my friend, Sister Catherine Kuper RSM, appealed to our Saturday night Mass community at St. John’s to help the Sisters of Mercy assist asylum-seeking migrants in El Paso, Texas. The sisters are collecting funds, gift cards, toiletries and other necessities for the migrants, most of whom have only the clothes on their backs. Many carry a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, their protector.
It was as if Mary, herself, was asking us to help protect her children.

Bishop Robert Barron comments on Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe that we do not sufficiently engage this great feast if we simply wonder at a marvelous event from long ago. We must announce to our culture today the truth of the God of Israel, the God of Jesus Christ, the God of nonviolence and forgiving love. And we ought, like La Morena, to be bearers of Jesus to a world that needs him more than ever.

What followed the apparition at Tepeyac is, of course, one of the most astounding chapters in the history of Christian evangelism. Though Franciscan missionaries had been laboring in Mexico for twenty years, they had made little progress. But within ten years of the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, practically the entire Mexican people, nine million strong, converted to Christianity. La Morena had proved a more effective evangelist than Peter, Paul, St. Patrick, and St. Francis Xavier combined! And with that great national conversion, human sacrifice came to an end. She had done battle with fallen spirits and had won a culture-changing victory for the God of love.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 1:26-38 urges us to pray “Lord, help me to be as willing as Mary and St. Juan Diego to say yes to you!”

God could easily turn hearts and change minds by simply calling out from heaven in a big booming voice. But that’s not how he works. Throughout history, he chooses humble people to make his message heard and to change the world.

Friar Jude Winkler selects the USCCB optional texts from Rev. 11.19; 12.1, 3-6, 10 and Luke 1:26-38 to connect the events of the Annunciation and the Visitation to much of Roman Catholic understanding of Mary as Ark of the Covenant and predestined one as Mother of God. Friar Jude underlines that this was not an act of power but an act of surrender, love and humility.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, cites Thomas Keating about Centering Prayer that is a method designed to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to receive this gift. . . . It is at the same time a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. This method of prayer is a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him.

As you practice Centering Prayer, you begin to experience the value of inner silence, which reveals the true self. The presence of God can also be experienced through the love of nature, deep friendship, conjugal love, generous service of others, or the discoveries of genuine science. There are many roads leading to the awakening of the original endowment that God has given every human being, of which the gift of contemplation is one. Contemplation . . . is a gift that has already been given. You have got it! What you have to do is to allow it to awaken within you.

In our prayer communion with God, we seek the ability to surrender to His Will and be open to action that changes everything.

References

1	(n.d.). Zechariah chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 12, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/zechariah/2
2	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 1 - United States Conference .... Retrieved December 12, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke
3	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 12, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
4	(2015, December 11). The Challenge of Our Lady of Guadalupe | Word on Fire. Retrieved December 12, 2018, from https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/article/the-challenge-of-our-lady-of-guadalupe/5010/
5	(n.d.). Our Lady of Guadalupe (Feast) - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved December 12, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
6	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 12, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

Made Aware of His Presence

Unity across culture

Mexico brings faith which Trumps poor leadership

Our Lady of Guadalupe challenges us to be present

The "yes" of the vulnerable to the will of God

Present Him

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary direct our attention to the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The proclamation of the Prophet Zechariah that the Lord God will draw all nations to Him is lived out in Mexico as a result of the conversion of the nation in response to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Fr Robert Barron, from the outstanding video series Catholicism, comments on the effect of the change of heart on the lives of the Mexican people. The images of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe invoke the desire to be silent before the Lord as instructed by Zechariah. The Gospel from Luke tells of the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. The will of God to announce Jesus to the world is in the action of Mary. This action is not the leadership of the Petrine Church or the preaching of the Pauline Church, it is the Presence of the Word made Flesh in the person of a woman open to allowing her spirit to magnify the Lord. We find the path to the unity so needed in the people of God in the simple action to be His Will in life. Mary shows the Way for all believers. Thefirst question raised by Fr Barron in the Catholicism series is the interrogation by Jesus of his followers at Caesarea Philippi. The answer to His challenge “Who do you say I am?” is evidenced in lives like Mary which Present Him.