OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE – WHERE THE PIETY AND THE CRY OF THE POOR SEEKING LIBERATION MEET
By Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, O.F.M.
On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 12, our Immaculate Conception parish will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is a big deal for our Spanish-speaking community. However, we should be mindful that in 1945, Pope Pious XII crowned Our Lady of Guadalupe as Mother of All the Americas. By doing so, he held her up as a powerful symbol of unity among a diversity of languages and cultures present in the Americas.
In 1999, Saint John Paul II named Our Lady of Guadalupe the model of the New Evangelization. Our dark-faced Mother teaches us that an authentic proclamation of the Gospel must be incarnated in the history of the people, in the struggle of poor and disenfranchised for liberation from the powers and dominions that stand in the way of life in abundance promised by God.
In his apostolic exhortation, Church in America, St. John Paul II writes, “Love for the poor must be preferential…(and) political, economic, social and cultural sectors of society must be urgently evangelized. Formation of consciences on the basis of the Church's social doctrine must be insisted upon and… with renewed fervor and updated methods Christ must be announced to all.”
The Holy Father saw a strong connection between the new evangelization of culture and the mestiza face of the Virgin of Guadalupe. “Through her powerful intercession,’ the Pope said, ‘the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their cultures, transforming them from within.”
Those insights suggest that the image and story of Our Lady of Guadalupe must continue to be engaged with our contemporary culture so that we can all be inspired by their transformative power. And this is why I have invited our fellow parishioner, a renowned, local painter Cornelio Campos to display in the Gathering Space of our Church to of his contemporary paintings with the theme of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can watch a short interview with Mr. Campos on PBS at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSvj7l6p4kg
On Sunday, December 12, at 10:30 AM in the daily Mass chapel, Cornelio Campos will be with us for 20- 30 minute presentation and open discussion that I will moderate. I invite you to come and find out about the ways in which the image and the story behind Our Lady of Guadalupe may resonate with and strengthen your commitment to living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether you are involved in Durham CAN, Furniture Ministry, feeding the poor at the Urban Ministry of Durham, Laudato Si’ Action Platform, or other initiatives of our parish, you are likely to be enriched and inspired.
Allow me to end with a relevant quote from late Fr. Virgilio Elizondo:
“The call Our Lady of Guadalupe made to Juan Diego to build her a temple is not yet fully realized. It is because the true temple that she desires is one of justice and solidarity, a temple that is one America where there are no homeless people living on the streets, no abandoned children and elderly – one land in which all could enjoy the fruits of this rich land… Here in America, [Our Lady of Guadalupe] is the dynamic voice and power of the poor and oppressed of the Americas ‘groaning and travailing’ for a more humane existence. Her presence is not a pacifier but an energizer which gives meaning, dignity, and hope to the marginalized and suffering of today’s society.”
Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe can strengthen our commitment to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom of charity and justice for all. Like Saint Juan Diego, may you and I, continue to do our part in building a Church where the Mother of God and her divine Son empower others on the path of mercy and compassion, healing not just individual people but our Church, our society, and the earth itself.
By Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, O.F.M.
On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 12, our Immaculate Conception parish will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is a big deal for our Spanish-speaking community. However, we should be mindful that in 1945, Pope Pious XII crowned Our Lady of Guadalupe as Mother of All the Americas. By doing so, he held her up as a powerful symbol of unity among a diversity of languages and cultures present in the Americas.
In 1999, Saint John Paul II named Our Lady of Guadalupe the model of the New Evangelization. Our dark-faced Mother teaches us that an authentic proclamation of the Gospel must be incarnated in the history of the people, in the struggle of poor and disenfranchised for liberation from the powers and dominions that stand in the way of life in abundance promised by God.
In his apostolic exhortation, Church in America, St. John Paul II writes, “Love for the poor must be preferential…(and) political, economic, social and cultural sectors of society must be urgently evangelized. Formation of consciences on the basis of the Church's social doctrine must be insisted upon and… with renewed fervor and updated methods Christ must be announced to all.”
The Holy Father saw a strong connection between the new evangelization of culture and the mestiza face of the Virgin of Guadalupe. “Through her powerful intercession,’ the Pope said, ‘the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their cultures, transforming them from within.”
Those insights suggest that the image and story of Our Lady of Guadalupe must continue to be engaged with our contemporary culture so that we can all be inspired by their transformative power. And this is why I have invited our fellow parishioner, a renowned, local painter Cornelio Campos to display in the Gathering Space of our Church to of his contemporary paintings with the theme of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can watch a short interview with Mr. Campos on PBS at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSvj7l6p4kg
On Sunday, December 12, at 10:30 AM in the daily Mass chapel, Cornelio Campos will be with us for 20- 30 minute presentation and open discussion that I will moderate. I invite you to come and find out about the ways in which the image and the story behind Our Lady of Guadalupe may resonate with and strengthen your commitment to living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether you are involved in Durham CAN, Furniture Ministry, feeding the poor at the Urban Ministry of Durham, Laudato Si’ Action Platform, or other initiatives of our parish, you are likely to be enriched and inspired.
Allow me to end with a relevant quote from late Fr. Virgilio Elizondo:
“The call Our Lady of Guadalupe made to Juan Diego to build her a temple is not yet fully realized. It is because the true temple that she desires is one of justice and solidarity, a temple that is one America where there are no homeless people living on the streets, no abandoned children and elderly – one land in which all could enjoy the fruits of this rich land… Here in America, [Our Lady of Guadalupe] is the dynamic voice and power of the poor and oppressed of the Americas ‘groaning and travailing’ for a more humane existence. Her presence is not a pacifier but an energizer which gives meaning, dignity, and hope to the marginalized and suffering of today’s society.”
Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe can strengthen our commitment to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom of charity and justice for all. Like Saint Juan Diego, may you and I, continue to do our part in building a Church where the Mother of God and her divine Son empower others on the path of mercy and compassion, healing not just individual people but our Church, our society, and the earth itself.