How beautiful that we have so many images of Mary, the mother of Jesus! How wonderful that in every nation, language, and culture where the good news has been heard, we can call upon her, our mother, by her many names.
This week, we call upon Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and upon Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Each feast day is unique in its focus and feel, and the respective devotions familiar within each community should be honored.
This week, we call upon Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and upon Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Each feast day is unique in its focus and feel, and the respective devotions familiar within each community should be honored.
On these days, we highlight cherished images, whether the fair-skinned Madonna robed in pale blue and white or the brown Virgen wrapped in rose and a mantle of stars. But by whatever name we call her or way we imagine her, let us remember a few things about this singular person.
She was not blond and blue-eyed, neither speaking English nor praying the rosary. She was not made in our image but in God’s alone, who made her to be a first-century Jew, practicing her Jewish faith and handing it on to her Jewish child. She saw that child arrested, wrongly accused, and executed by the state, and she could not stop it. But as her child was dying, she was given to us all to be our mother in faith that we might know and believe that everyone belongs in the household of God.
Image credit: Fabian Monano.
Read more reflections on the Sunday readings here:
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