Rejoice! Today – 10 Dec. 2012 – is another opportunity to
share the Good News: God loves all people!
¡Tenga alegría!
Hoy – 10 dec. 2012 – es una oportunidad para compartir la Buena Noticia: ¡Dios
le ama a cada ser humano!
Podemos aprender
por el ejemplo de Santo Juan Diego, a quien la Virgen María (la Virgen de
Guadalupe) habló el 9, 10, y 12 dec. 1531. (Detalles en inglés en el sermón que sigue.)
We can learn from the example of Saint Juan Diego, to whom
the Virgin Mary (the Virgin of Guadalupe) spoke on 9, 10 & 12 Dec. 1531.
(Details below in sermon “Rose Sunday: The Blush of Anticipation – A Vision of Wonders”.)
Rose
Sunday:
The Blush of Anticipation
– A Vision of Wonders
Homily By The Rev. Deacon Marcia McRae
For Advent 3, Dec. 12, 2010,
at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA
Year A – RCL Isaiah 35:1-10; Canticle 15 (Magnificat); James
5:7-10; Matthew11:2-11
Beloved brothers and sisters, we have wonders to
explore today! Visions to see anew! Stories to hear of lowly people who say “Yes”
to God!
Rose
Sunday marks the half-way point in our Advent journey to Christmas, and this
year it falls on a date significant for many Christians in this
hemisphere. Dec. 12th is the day we remember the appearance of La
Virgen de Guadalupe, The Virgin of Guadalupe. Our Lord’s Mother, Mary, is
depicted as she appears on the cloak of the peasant Juan Diego[1].
The date of that appearing is Dec. 12, 1531.
This story of The Virgin appearing to Juan Diego is close to us in time
and space – less than 500 years ago and not far across our southern border. Today’s
Scriptures take us back 2,000 years ago to far away Palestine to ponder young Mary’s joyful
response to the miraculous appearing by the Angel Gabriel. Mary says “Yes” to
his shocking good news.
Across the ages, across the globe, God keeps reaching out to God’s
creation, reaching out to all people to draw them into God’s love. Being drawn
into that love brings joy and rejoicing.
When Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth and sings her Magnificat, the two
women are caught up in praise and joy, as commentators note. Young Mary carries
Jesus in her womb. Elizabeth in her old age will
soon give birth to John the Baptist – the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Like John, Juan Diego certainly is among the least living in Mexico so soon after
Christianity comes there. It is only 12 years after the Spaniard Cortez conquers
the Aztec empire. Those fierce Aztec warriors practiced human sacrifice and
can’t grasp God who would die[2].
Spain
rules. The Church says Jesus died and rose again.
This appearance of our Lord’s Mother to a new convert IS a thing of wonder. It is no
wonder that the Church hierarchy does not immediately let Juan Diego give his
message to the Bishop of Mexico. He first tries to speak with the Bishop Dec. 9th
when Our Lord’s Mother appears to him on a hillside where cacti grow among
rocks. She asks Juan Diego to be a messenger and ask the Bishop of Mexico to
build a church on the hillside as a place to show God’s love.
Juan Diego returns to the Bishop’s palace Dec. 10th after she
appears again on that hillside. The Bishop is impressed by his brave
persistence and this time listens. Like most of us might do, the Bishop asks
for proof – some token from Our Lord’s Mother. Why would you immediately
believe one of the least among conquered people? (It’s easier to SAY the Good News of Jesus is for everyone than to live that
truth.)
Juan Diego again encounters the Virgin Mary on that barren hillside Dec.
12th and reports the Bishop’s request. Our Lord’s Mother tells Juan
Diego to pick the flowers – – roses suddenly blooming among the rocks.
Today Isaiah tells us: “The desert...shall blossom abundantly, and
rejoice with joy and singing.”
I wonder if Juan Diego sings as he wraps the roses in his cloak and returns
to the Bishop’s palace. People notice the beautiful scent of roses. In front of
the Bishop, Juan Diego opens his cloak and the blossoms tumble down, becoming
the image of Mary as they fall.
Every detail of this picture carries meaning for the conquered Aztecs.[3]
The stars on her heavenly blue cloak, the sun’s rays around her, flowers and
leaves on her gown, her knee bending in adoration are symbols that speak of
God’s creative power and love for all people – even the least.
Her brown skin and the placement of her hands contrast to the
iron grip of the white hand of Spanish rule. Her sash is tied like a native woman
expecting a child.
God who dies on a cross is difficult for the Aztecs to accept. A virgin
mother who gives birth to God’s Son is a concept they grasp with this simple
picture.
It is a simple picture? Like God’s Mystery, it defies total
comprehension. Church leaders and others have explored it almost 500 years. The
20th century brought scientific testing to Juan Diego’s cloak, even
by a NASA scientist, and the use of high-tech optical devices.[4]
Here’s what we know[5]:
The cloak is made of fibers from the maguey plant. Scientists cannot explain
the cloak’s lack of discoloration, lack of deterioration, or lack of insect
damage. Scientists have been unable to explain the source of its colors. They do
know the colors are not from animal, mineral, or vegetable sources.[6]
One thing experiments do show is about The Virgin’s eyes[7].
Optical devices reveal a reflection deep within the pupils. It is the figure of
a native man looking at her. Some believe it is Juan Diego.
Juan Diego is his Spanish name – probably given at Baptism. His name in
his native language means “The eagle who speaks.”[8]
Juan Diego lives up to that name in 1531 when the Eagle gently speaks truth to
those in power. His faith to be a messenger lets all know that Jesus comes for
everyone – for all peoples.
In 2002 the Church names him Saint Juan Diego[9]
– this man who says “Yes” to God. “Yes” is what Our Lord’s Mother Mary says as
the Angel Gabriel appears with shocking good news.
Mary, Juan Diego, you, me – God asks not that we become other than who
we are, but that with joy and wonder we say “Yes” to be God’s messengers of
Good News in this time and place.
We have a message of Good News to share: Jesus is risen and works among
us and through us. Jesus’ working through us (as our Gospel today says) means the
blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead live
again, and the poor have Good News.
And blessed is anyone who takes no offense
at our message. Amen.
Bibliography
Barclay,
William. The Gospel of Luke. Philadelphia:
The Westminster
Press, 1975.
Barclay,
William. The Gospel of Matthew: Vol. 2. Philadelphia:
The Westminster
Press, 1975.
Barclay,
William. The Letters of James and Peter. Philadelphia:
The Westminster
Press, 1976.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary. General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers,
1988.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha. New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1989.
Howard,
Katherine L. Waiting in Joyful Hope: Daily Reflections for Advent &
Christmas 2005-2006 Year B. Harrisburg: Morehouse, 2005.
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1224
accessed Dec. 11, 2010.
New
Oxford
Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Herbert G. May, Bruce M.
Metzger, eds. New York: Oxford University
Press, Incorporated, 1977.
Rodriguez,
Mario B. the Spirit of Spanish America.
New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1957.
Toor, Frances. A Treasury of Mexican
Folkways. Mexico,
D.F.: Mexico Press, 1947.
Villapando, José Manuel. La Virgen de Guadalupe: una
biografía. México, D.F.: Editorial Planeta Mexicana. 2004.
[1]
Depiction of Juan Diego with Virgin of Guadalupe appearing on his cloak is from
www. photobucket.com/images/St+Juan+Diego.
Accessed: 10 Dec. 2012.
[2] Note: As I have learned through various
studies and conversations (including in Mexico) and in several texts listed
in the bibliography.
[3] Note: As I have learned through various
studies and conversations (including in Mexico) and in several texts listed
in the bibliography.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Villapando. Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8]
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1224
accessed Dec. 11, 2010.
[9]
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1224
accessed Dec. 11, 2010.
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