A Reflection on Our Lady of Guadalupe
Below is the short reflection offered during the celebration of Holy Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, 2025.
+ En el nombre del padre, del hijo, y del espíritu santo. Amen.
¡Bendita fiesta de nuestra señora de Guadalupe!
Hoy celebramos el día cuando Nuestra Señora, la madre bendita de Cristo, se le apareció a Juan Diego en Tepeyac. Donde Santa María habló a ese hombre indígena, en su idioma nativo de náhuatl, y le dijo construye una iglesia aquí. El lugar donde Santa María le llamó a Juan Dieguito, que significa su presencia maternal hacía este hombre joven y asustado.
Hoy celebramos la realidad que el reino de dios es para toda la gente. Celebramos la realidad que Jesús Cristo viene a las personas de todos orígenes, de todas las raíces, viene para todos. Celebramos que Santa María demuestra, frecuentemente, la presencia de Cristo hacía toda la gente.
La aparición de Santa María a Juan Diego nos recuerda que María, y Dios que la mandó, une a toda la gente. Que en Cristo no hay división, no hay judío ni griego, esclavo ni libre, como San Pablo nos enseña. La aparición es un recuerdo de que los nativos estaban debajo de los españoles, y Santa María les reprende su orgullo.
Ahora en nuestro país, los pobres y los inmigrantes se quedan debajo del régimen de un gobierno opresivo. La aparición de Santa María nos recuerda que ella está cerca, que Cristo está cerca, incluso en medio del dolor y la tristeza.
Nuestra señora de Guadalupe nos llama a resistir la discriminación que sufren los pobres y los oprimidos. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe nos llama ser un pueblo de bienvenida a todos en el nombre santo y bendito de Jesús Cristo nuestro señor, como hizo ella con Juan Diego.
Por lo tanto, celebramos nuestra señora de Guadalupe hoy, porque en su testimonio ella trae la gracia de Cristo coma a la que estamos llamados todos como seguidores de Cristo, el dios encarnado, Jesús Cristo nuestro señor, nuestro salvador, nuestro redentor.
¡Santa María, madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros!
Amen.
English
Blessed Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!
Today we celebrate the day when Our Lady, the Blessed Mother of Christ, appeared to Juane Diego at Tepeyac. Where Mary spoke to this indigenous man, in his native language of Nahuatl, and told him to build a church there. The place where Mary called him Juan Dieguito, indicating her motherly presence towards this young and frightened man.
Today we celebrate the reality that the Kingdom of God is for all people. We celebrate the reality that Jesus Christ comes to peoples of all backgrounds, all races, all everything. We celebrate that Holy Mary often demonstrates the presence of Christ to these people.
The apparition of Mary to Juan Diego reminds us that Mary, and the God who sent her, gather all people together. That in Christ there is no division, no Jew or Greek, slave or free, as St. Paul teaches us. The apparition is a reminder that the natives were under the thumbs of the Spaniards, and the apparition of Mary to a poor native man was a rebuke of their pride and oppressive action.
In our country, even now, the poor and the immigrant remain under the regime of an oppressive government. The apparition of Mary reminds us that she is near, that Christ is near, even in the midst of pain and sorrow. Our lady of Guadalupe calls us to resist the discrimination that the poor and the oppressed suffer. Our Lady of Guadalupe calls us to be a people who welcome all in the holy and blessed name of Jesus Christ, just as she did in Juan Diego.
When we do this, we do what Christ commands us. We become the blessing to the poor, the hungry, the grieving all of whom Christ calls particularly blessed in the beatitudes from the Gospel reading today. We carry our crosses and become the very hands and feet of Jesus on this world. We become the blessing which Christ calls us to be in a hurting and dark world.
Therefore, we celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe today, because in her witness, she bears forth the grace of Christ which we are called into as followers of her Son, the incarnate God, Jesus Christ our lord, our savior, our redeemer.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us!
Amen.