2nd Week of Advent, Friday, Dec 12th; Our Lady of Guadalupe
Isaiah 48:17-19 / Matthew 11:16-19
I am your God; I will show you the path to follow.
In The Upper Room, David McIntosh tells this story about a dream his uncle had. In the dream, his uncle's four-year-old son had grown up to be a teenager. The boy was walking down a road when, suddenly, he disappeared down a dark path. As he did, he called back, “Daddy, you never showed me the right path to follow." The dream was so vivid that his uncle woke up from a sound sleep. He was so disturbed by the dream that he woke his wife and told her about it. Together they knelt down on the spot and prayed for their young son. They also resolved to teach their son how to walk always in the light of God's Word.
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Do we realize that God often guides others, especially the young, through us? "It would be better for him if a large millstone were tied around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” Lk 17:2
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“If you had only paid attention to what I have said,” complains the Lord through the prophet, for God wants our own good. Jesus complains that there are people who behave in a childish way when John the Baptist preaches repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah: they are like girls who refuse to dance when the flute plays joyful tunes or boys who refuse to mourn when people are weeping. The Lord is among us and asks for commitment so that we can lead the world to life and justice and happiness. What is our faith worth, if we do not practice it?
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We are coming to the end of the 2nd Week of Advent and this coming weekend is called "Gaudete Sunday" or "Rejoice" Sunday, and the rose-coloured candle of the Advent wreath will be lit. That means that we have come to somewhere about in the middle of the four weeks of Advent. And it is also a good time to do a check and reflect on where we are in our Advent preparation and what have we done so far.
Most of the Advent period is spent on putting up the decorations like the Christmas tree, the wreath, the Crib and getting presents for our loved ones and friends. If we find a spiritual meaning in doing that, then that is well and good. But Advent is also a time to turn back to the Scriptures and to reflect on the Word of God and how He had fulfilled the promise of salvation.
The period of Advent is to prepare us to re-encounter the Word-made-Flesh, the Emmanuel, God-with-us, the promise of God fulfilled. May we reflect deeply on the Word of God and make it our Word for life. Through the Church, God has already taught us what is good for us. Let us be alert to His commandments and our happiness will flow like the waters of a river at Christmas.
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Opening Prayer
Lord our God, too often we are deaf to your voice and to the presence of your Son among us, his people. Inspire us by your prophets and your Spirit that now is the right moment to change and to commit ourselves to the kind of life and to the justice demanded by the kingdom. Help us to make people see that your Son is alive among us and that he is our Lord forever. Amen
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Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast Day December 12
On December 9, 1531, a 57-year-old Aztec, Juan Diego, saw the Blessed Mother on a hill in Mexico City. She told Juan to have a church built in her honor. When Juan went to ask Bishop Zumarraga about this, the bishop did not understand the Indian dialect—and he did not believe in the vision Juan described.
Three days later, on December 12, Mary appeared again to Juan Diego, and this time she gave him a sign for the bishop. “Take these roses to the bishop,” she said, as she arranged in his cloak beautiful roses she had Juan Diego pick from the hillside although it was winter. When he was admitted into the bishop’s room, Juan Diego opened his cloak, and out dropped the roses. On the cloak there remained an image of Mary as she had appeared to Juan Diego.
The image of Mary on the cloak is known as Our Lady of Guadalupe for an interesting reason. On that same day, Mary appeared to Juan’s uncle and cured him, giving him a message for the bishop, saying that she would “crush the serpent’s head.” The bishop did not understand the Indians’ language. The Indian word for “crush the serpent” sounded to him like “Guadalupe,” the name of Mary’s shrine in Spain. Thinking that the Virgin wanted the new shrine to have the same name, the bishop called her Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Mary appeared to Juan Diego dressed as an Aztec woman to show her love and compassion to an oppressed group of people. Mary had heard the prayers and pain of these people, and she came to give them hope.
Mary’s visit to Guadalupe is a reminder that God will remember his mercy for all people. In Mary’s song of joy, the Magnificat, she praised God because he has put down the mighty, exalted the lowly, filled the hungry, and sent the rich away empty. People honor Our Lady of Guadalupe because they recognize her motherly concern for them.
