OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE “Our Lady of Guada- who?” You would think this offensively naive question came from someone outside the Catholic Church, right? From some diehard Protestant or another Christian fundamentalist sect, right? Wrong. It was asked by a Catholic I know—who prefers to stay ignorant by choice. Indeed, it is disheartening to know and realize that many among us Catholics, even those among us who profess knowledge of the Blessed Mother, actually “choose to ignore her.” That’s how Deacon Zuniga, who gave the homily during our celebration of the Immaculate Conception last Monday (Dec 8), that’s how he described them who call themselves Catholic yet do not consider the blessedness of having Mary as our Mother, the Mother of the Church, our Advocate, Protector , Model of Virtue, Most Gracious Lady, Mother of our Creator , etc. (These are just a few of the 79 titles ascribed to the Blessed Mother! See evangelicaloutreach.org/marytitles.htm) Who does not feel blessed by her presence? Full of Grace, Mary should be esteemed, honored, and venerated by the Church—not just generally, but by all its members. How incongruous it might sound that we believe in Jesus, the Son whose Mother some of us yet “ignore”! For instance, even devout Catholics may at times frown upon news of Marian apparitions and quickly dismiss them as frauds or fanciful tales. Reasonably enough, though, because Marian apparitions (or the supernatural appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary) sometimes come from doubtful sources and questionable circumstances. But the legit or genuine Marian apparitions, those approved and recognized by Church authority, namely the Holy See, are a different story altogether. These apparitions, that of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego for example, are our strongest argument why Catholics, and other Christian sects besides, should stop ignoring and instead start turning their gaze and heart toward Mary, the Mother of God. “By all accounts, when Juan Diego, age 57, reported the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico in 1531, he did not receive a lot of attention in Rome, since the Church was busy with the challenges of the Protestant Reformation of 1521 to 1579 and perhaps very few Cardinals in Rome had ever heard the details of Mexico and its environs. Yet, just as a large number of people were leaving the Catholic Church in Europe as a result of the Reformation, Our Lady of Guadalupe was instrumental in adding almost 8 million people to the ranks of Catholics in the Americas between 1532 and 1538. The number of Catholics in South America has grown significantly over the centuries. Eventually with tens of millions of followers, Juan Diego had an effect on Mariology in the Americas and beyond, and was eventually declared venerable in 1987. Juan Diego was declared a saint in 2002. Furthermore, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico is now the third largest Catholic Church in the world, after Saint Peters Basilica in Rome and the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil. Recent reported apparitions such as Medjugorje have also attracted a large following.” (See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_apparition.) Let us accord our Blessed Mother the esteem, honor and veneration she deserves. On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec 12) and everytime we need to, let us thank God for giving us Mary, Mother of Life, and let us proclaim in our most jubilant collective voice her being THE HIGHEST HONOR OF OUR RACE! ♪♪♪♪-------------------------------------- HIGHEST HONOR OF OUR RACE Song 42 from The Purple Psalmody by Arcadio Morada, Jr. / accomp Chester Arizmendi . Antiphon: You are the highest honor of our race, You are the highest honor of our race! . 1 Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, Above all the women on earth; And blessed be the Lord God, The creator of heaven and earth. (Ant.) . 2 Your deed of hope will never be forgotten By those who tell of the might of God. (Ant.)
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 03:04:28 +0000
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