Day 23: December 1 (Monday of the 1st Week of Advent) Introduction: We are seeking to better understand Mary under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially by addressing some common ways of reducing her and her role. Yesterday we considered how her true nature and mission is misunderstood both by those who have the honor of being Mexican and those who are from another culture. The effect in each case is the prevention of communion--a sterilization of the inherent fruitfulness of the Gospel. Another way Our Lady of Guadalupe is reduced is by considering only the superficial and temporal aspects of the hard sciences and history. Studies of the tilma which explore the symbolism of the flowers, the arrangement of the stars, the reflections in her eyes, even the musical score contained in her image (yes, that is also present), as well as the historical context which surround the apparitions are all very interesting and important. Yet they can also reduce the person of Our Lady to her image, and reduce her current participation in the mission of Christ and the Church to a thing of the past. And is this not what we do daily, when we reduce other persons to one of their traits (their physical beauty or deformity, the color of their skin, their ability to work, their possessions, etc.)? Yet Mary is of decisive importance now as much as then, not as an image on cloth but as a Mother who teaches us now how to be the Church. She teaches us how to be mestiza. The Church is a communion of persons, a family of people born from the same Mother. We do not choose our siblings or our parents; we receive them. We discover our identity through our relationships with them. Mary shows us that we all have a place in the Body, that each is important, and that only together is there beauty and peace. This dynamic is expressed in our parish structure, which is primarily geographical: we are asked to go to our neighborhood parish and recognize the people there as our brothers and sisters--and they are to recognize us in the same way. We are to recognize that we have a place in the Body (as do others) and that we also have responsibilities to each of the others. We cannot absent ourselves from the family without hurting our brothers and sisters, as well as our Mother. Nor can we stand idly by while others--our flesh and blood!--are outside, distracted by things that glitter, or hurt by our actions. And what of the others who do not belong to our family, yet long to belong? Pray: Pray a rosary sometime today. Meditation: From the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (On the New Millennium Beginning) by St. John Paul II (1/6/2001). “43. To make the Church the home and the school of communion: that is the great challenge facing us in the millennium which is now beginning, if we wish to be faithful to Gods plan and respond to the worlds deepest yearnings. But what does this mean in practice? Here too, our thoughts could run immediately to the action to be undertaken, but that would not be the right impulse to follow. Before making practical plans, we need to promote a spirituality of communion, making it the guiding principle of education wherever individuals and Christians are formed, wherever ministers of the altar, consecrated persons, and pastoral workers are trained, wherever families and communities are being built up. A spirituality of communion indicates above all the hearts contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us, and whose light we must also be able to see shining on the face of the brothers and sisters around us. A spirituality of communion also means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body, and therefore as ‘those who are a part of me.’ This makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship. A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God: not only as a gift for the brother or sister who has received it directly, but also as a ‘gift for me.’ A spirituality of communion means, finally, to know how to ‘make room’ for our brothers and sisters, bearing ‘each others burdens’ (Gal 6:2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy. Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would become mechanisms without a soul, ‘masks’ of communion rather than its means of expression and growth. 44. Consequently, the new century will have to see us more than ever intent on valuing and developing the forums and structures which, in accordance with the Second Vatican Councils major directives, serve to ensure and safeguard communion…” Examination of Conscience: Have I avoided my geographical parish without serious reason? Have I participated in my parish beyond Sunday Mass? Have I avoided anyone because of prejudice? Pray: The following Act of Entrustment to Our Lady of Guadalupe has been adapted from “A Priest’s Prayer for His Parish” by Père Philippe Perdrix and the collect for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A paragraph will be added each day during this week for our reflection, so that by the end of the week we may entrust ourselves more completely to Mary. God of power and mercy, You entrusted your Son Jesus into the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary to comfort, to teach, and to guide him as “He grew in age and grace.” You blessed the Americas at Tepeyac with the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. Now bless our parish of (insert your parish name here) again with her presence, as we entrust ourselves into her hands to comfort, teach, and guide us to you. O Most Holy Virgin Mary, we salute you as our Mother and our Queen. Patroness of the Americas and Star of the New Evangelization, we entrust ourselves willingly into your hands. From you the Word Incarnate took flesh. From you, He learned the ways of living in this “vale of tears.” He was formed by you in the home of Nazareth, the first and best “domestic Church.” O Mary, Mother of the Church, make of our parish a monstrance, a visible place of the Body of Christ, the Church—this immense people whom you love—so that we may continually come home to rest, to be refreshed and to pray with you to your Son. O Mary, Refuge of Sinners, make of our parish, in the words of St. John XXIII, “the village fountain to which each person can come to drink,” so that all those who enter our parish church feel at home. Make of our parish a place of true hospitality and dialogue, where everyone is welcomed in truth, and no one remains a stranger. O Mary, Mother of the New Advent, make of our parish a family where each of the baptized finds his place in the Body and grows to his full missionary stature, proclaiming the Word Incarnate through a life of joy and forgiveness. O Mary, Queen of Peace, make of our parish a school of communion. Teach us to abandon our violent and selfish instincts, so that in our prayer and in the liturgy we may encounter the Peace Who is your Son. Mother of Unity, teach us to radiate the light of that Peace with all we meet, and thus become agents of reconciliation… Penance: In preparation for Advent, read Chapter 1 of St. Lukes Gospel.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 08:00:00 +0000
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