Gospel: December 12, 2023
(Tuesday) 2nd Week of Advent
Psalter: Week 2 / (White)
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Responsorial Psalm: Jdt 13: 18bcde, 19
You are the highest honor of our race.
1st Reading: Zephaniah 2: 14-17 (or Revelation 11: 19a; 12: 1-6a, 10ab)Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38 (or Luke 1: 39-47In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God, to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son; and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever; and his reign shall have no end.”Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative, Elizabeth, is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.” Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.Reflection:“Everything about her appearance showed God’s love.”
Today, much of the Church in the Americas celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe. The appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe sums up much of what we hope for in the kingdom of heaven. Mary appeared not to a king or a bishop but to Juan Diego, an indigenous peasant farmer. She appeared not as a queen but as a young pregnant woman, speaking the local language. Everything about her appearance showed God’s love for and raising up of the humble and the vulnerable.
As proof of her appearance, Our Lady gave Juan Diego two signs. In the depths of winter, she filled his cloak with roses in bloom and told him to show the roses to the bishop. The roses blooming out of season show the healing of the earth that the Lord’s coming will bring. When Juan Diego opened his cloak and the roses poured out, the second sign appeared: the Lady’s image on the cloak.Today as we celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe, let us recommit ourselves to bringing healing and hope, especially to the vulnerable and those on the margins.
