La Morenita opened her motherly arms and whispered, “Do not be afraid.” She said this to Juan Diego. She says this to you.
To her divine Son, she gives our hearts. Daughters and sons to her, with our Lord and hers, all of us are her children. God’s Mother, our Mother, the Mother of Mexico, the Mother of the Americas: this is what brings us here today, this gathering of the family of Jesus Christ—all of us, brothers and sisters, with our brother Juan Diego, all of us children of Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s a family, this Church of ours, that knows no borders, no walls, no documents, no prejudice. No hatred, no politician will ever conquer this family; this family is stronger! It’s the family of the Catholic Church, the bride of Christ, Holy Mother Church, your Church. This mystery was so beautiful; what Juan Diego saw was so beautiful. It remains beautiful, as beautiful as it’s ever been. It’s the beauty that’s brought us here as our hearts drum like matachines in a rhythm of love that holds us and makes us strong.
But hear what I’m saying. What Our Lady of Guadalupe whispered to Juan Diego, she whispers to you: “Do not be afraid.” St. Bernadette was nothing, just a little girl. But Our Lady chose her to speak. That’s what Our Lady likes to do sometimes, to find the small and weak to speak to the great and strong. Juan Diego was an indigenous peasant, but Our Lady wanted him to speak to the powerful. Our Lady chose the peasant to speak about the future of the Church—build here, she said. The weak spoke to the powerful, the indigenous to the conqueror—not in hatred but in reconciling truth. Our Lady doesn’t really go for top-down government; she prefers to speak through the lowly (she was lowly). Do you understand what I’m saying? The mystery, the truth of Our Lady of Guadalupe remains. Our Lady whispers to you too. Because she wants you to speak; because she wants you still to speak to the future of the Church. May you be Juan Diego. Maybe that’s what we need today, a new Juan Diego—someone who hears the music, who looks to her, who smells the flowers, who speaks up. Saint Juan Diego, pray for us! May we see saints like you again!
Sisters and brothers, the lesson is simple but shocking. If any of this is to mean anything, like Juan Diego we must be willing to listen to Our Lady, willing also to do what she says. We must be willing to speak up, to be those voices our Church must hear. We must be willing to listen; you must be willing to speak. What Our Lady of Guadalupe has done in this world, in these Americas, is tremendous. But the mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe is not over; Juan Diego’s sons and daughters still have work to do. Our Church, our parish, is still being built. And so, we need you, those willing to be like that talking eagle of a saint, new Juan Diegos, new children of Mary, to speak about that beauty, those flowers, those eyes, those stars. For the sake of the beauty of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of all of us—all of us—dancing together to the rhythms of heaven. Dancing we’ve begun here tonight; may we always dance, world without end. Amen.
© 2022 Rev. Joshua J. Whitfield
