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J.M.J.
December 12, 2012
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Dear Family of Mary!
"Am I not here who am your Mother?" (Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego)
Today is the beautiful Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Especially for those of us in the Americas, this feast is central, for it was through Our Lady of Guadalupe that our hemisphere was won for Christ. What would have taken centuries for missionaries, took only a few years for Mary. She converted and saved millions of her children through her image on the tilma of Juan Deigo!
Here is a brief account of that miraculous event which changed the Americas forever:
Two days later, on December 12, as he was going to the Church at Tlatelolco in order to bring a priest to his dying uncle, Juan Diego was stopped by the Lady, who had come down from Tepeyac Hill to meet him in the road. She listened quietly to Juan's excuse for not having kept his appointment with her the day before. When he had finished speaking she said, "It is well, littlest and dearest of my sons, but now listen to me. Do not let anything afflict you and be not afraid of illness or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Are you not in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need? Do not fear for your uncle for he is not going to die. Be assured... he is already well."
Having heard these words, Juan Diego rejoiced and asked for the sign he was to take to the Bishop. He was told to climb to the top of the hill where she had spoken to him on three previous occasions. She said he would find many flowers blooming there which he was to cut and bring to her. Juan Diego did as he was told though he knew no flowers had ever bloomed before on the stony summit. He discovered a marvelous garden of dew-fresh blossoms which he cut as she had asked. Placing them in his rough cloak, or tilma, he brought the flowers to the Lady who rearranged them and told him to take them to the Bishop; that this was the sign to persuade him to carry out her wishes.
When Juan Diego, radiantly happy, stood before Bishop Fray Juan de Zumarraga and told him of the fourth encounter with the Lady, he opened his tilma to show the Bishop the sign; the flowers cascaded to the floor - but to the astonishment of the Bishop and Juan Diego, there appeared upon the coarse fabric of the Indian's mantle a marvelously wrought, exquisitely colored portrait of the Blessed Virgin, just as Juan Diego had previously described her.
(http://www.queenoftheamericasguild.org/BriefHistoryNew.html )
Coming on the heels of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, this beautiful event shows the power and compassion of Mary, the Mother of God. The Immaculate One came to save her little children in Mexico, and no one could stop her! Today she comes anew, to save her children, now throughout the whole world, and again, no one can stop her. Like Juan Diego, we should be radiantly happy as we stand before our families and communities, with the sign of Our Lady of Medjugorje not on our tilmas, but in our hearts and on our faces. That sign is the peace and love of God!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
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