Our
Lady of Guadalupe is sometimes referred to as the Blessed Mother of the
Americas. The story of a poor man receiving this vision of Our Lady and
the accompanying miracle is one that has inspired many of the faithful
in the Americas. The simplicity of Juan Diego’s faith is truly
inspiring. His faith and trust in God is worthy of imitation.
All
of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother are designed to foster faith
in Jesus. Today’s apparition paved the way for many of the native people
of the Americas to become Christians. It is important for us to
remember that it is by the fruits of an apparition that we will know its
authenticity. This is assuming, of course, that there is nothing
theologically wrong with the message (if any) of the apparition.
Why
does God choose Mary to appear to the people more often than any other
saint? I do not know the answer to this question but perhaps we can
consider the following. Mary is the closest human person to Jesus – she
knows Him best and would have understood His character and desires
better than most, if not all people. Mary always points us to her Son.
She is not interested in any self-aggrandizement. Any hint of this would
throw the apparition’s authenticity into doubt and cause the Church to
distance itself from the apparition.
Jesus
acknowledges the special place of Mary in our lives when He entrusts
her to the Beloved Disciple in John 19. It is crucial that we realize
that this entrustment is paralleled with another whereby we are
entrusted to Mary’s care through the image of the Beloved Disciple being
allowed to call Mary his mother. The simplicity of this image is its
power. We cannot dismiss it from the Scriptures and so we have to seek
and understand it as best as we can in order to remain faithful to it.
REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you heed the messages given by Our Lady during her miraculous apparitions?
Jesus,
You are the only way to the Father. Help me to surrender my life into
Your hands so that I can focus my life on Your will and how it is that
You ask me to live my life.
