The gentle mastery of Christ

JESUS said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

REFLECTION

COME TO ME. On this day in the year 1531 the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a poor farmer who lived in a hill that has since become a suburb of Mexico City. Mary spoke to Juan in his own dialect, and she requested that a church be built in her honor on that particular spot where they met. When the Bishop balked at the idea, Mary sent him a bunch of red roses, an oddity at that time of the year when no rose could survive in mid-December. Aside from the roses, the Blessed Mother also left an image of herself on the tilma or cloak of Juan Diego, and this image has drawn many people, in Mexico and across the globe, to put their faith in Jesus.

The icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe is Mary’s image this Advent season. First of all, Mary is heavy with child, and neither her complexion nor her facial form is fair or mestiza, as she is commonly depicted in art. She appears in the complexion of the native people in that area who usually work beneath the heat of the sun.

Mary stands behind rays of gold, to indicate how Mary reigns supreme over the pagan sun-god. On her feet, Mary steps on the moon, depicting the pagan moon-god crushed by Mary’s God-given power.

The big ribbon around Mary’s waist symbolizes her virginity although she appears like a woman about to give birth.

Mary is mother of all the weak, and she made the native people of Mexico realize that God is on the side of the poor and the oppressed.