In this video, Msgr. Joseph Gentili, STD, Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, discusses the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe and reflects on how we can embrace the Blessed Mother’s example during Lent.
Transcript:
So, in 1531 Our Blessed Mother appeared to a Juan Diego, a very simple peasant man indigenous to the people of Mexico. The importance of her appearing to him continues to be of importance to us, almost 600 years later. And I think it’s important to understand the context in which she appeared to Juan Diego. It was in a time in history when Spain sent the conquistadors, the soldiers, over to conquer Mexico. So the Spanish soldiers and the royal family decided to send Franciscan priests over to assist them in sharing the Gospel with these people, especially to help them come to an appreciation of the value of life.
So one of the success stories of the Franciscans was Juan Diego. He was a faithful peasant man who learned about this new Catholic faith and the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mother, and the importance of the Catholic faith and one day the Blessed Mother decided to appear to him. As he was going to Mass one day, and trying to get the help of a priest because of his sick uncle, that’s when the Blessed Mother appeared to him.
She presented herself as one of the indigenous peoples, and gave him the message. And one of the words that she said to them is, “Do not fear. Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” The beautiful words, encouraging words of the Blessed Mother. “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” And she gave him the message to go to the bishop and have the bishop build a shrine in her name. Juan had to go back for a sign, and the sign was, ultimately, the flowers that were growing on the hill, that the Blessed Mother told him to collect, into his tilma (cloak), and interestingly enough, it was December when roses do not usually bud that season of the year in Mexico. The roses themselves were the sign, at first glance, but as Juan Diego unfurled those roses to the bishop, embossed on his tilma was this image that is behind me. That image of the Blessed Mother, which became so famous to the people, was what started attracting the people that were indigenous to that area in Mexico, to the Catholic faith.
The message of the Blessed Mother in Guadalupe is that the Lord can come into our lives, even if we’re simple Juan Diego, she continues to appear and come to us in very special ways, mysterious ways. And Lent, and our observances of Lent, are very very important in putting others first, and we allow the Lord’s grace to start to enter into us.
Thank you for sharing Mary’s story! Beautiful! I never tire of it!
Blessings on your Lenten Season journey with Mary, the Mother of God
Sister Jane Burger, D.C.