December 12 is the Virgin of Guadalupe Day. This Mary is the patron saint of Mexico and revered not only throughout Latin America but around the world. Up on the top of a rugged, blustery mountain outside of Pamplona, Spain, on the Camino de Santiago, there was a small shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe. She gets around.
As Protestants who worship God, not the Virgin Mary, and who don’t venerate the traditional Catholic saints, why pay any attention to the Virgin of Guadalupe? I was in a Protestant church here in St. Petersburg recently and there were 14 male images adorning the sanctuary. Sitting in the pew, one was surrounded by men. There were no female representations in the sanctuary. The setting did not feel very welcoming to me. I never have that feeling in a church in Mexico. Every church you go into has at least one representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe. There are always male and female images in the churches there. So one thing that is important to me about the Virgin of Guadalupe is that she brings a female image, a female representative, into a tradition that is dominated by male figures.
In the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe, she appears several times to Juan Diego. He is a poor, indigenous peasant. An Indian. In the midst of a religious tradition dominated and controlled by European men, the Virgin Mary appears to a poor, native person. She instructs Juan Diego to have the bishop build a church on a certain hill that is sacred to the Indians. She does not appear to the local priest or bishop, or to other church higher ups from Spain. She appears to the most humble of personages. I like that. I like it that her story involves including the witness of the native people. It shows that God is for/with everyone, not just church officials and those of European descent. God is the God of everyone and values everyone equally. That’s what I see in the Virgin of Guadalupe: A God of universal love creating a church with equal access for all.
These themes are present in the birth stories of Jesus. Jesus comes from the bottom of society born to parents who are not of high birth or status. In his ministry, Jesus creates a faith community inclusive of all people including women, sinners, rich, poor, Jew and Gentile. He embodies the universal nature of divine love. So let us join with the people of Mexico and around the world celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe – another representation of divine universal love.
But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.”
Luke 2:10
“Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego
Lakewood United Church of Christ 