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On Dec. 9, we celebrated the feast of the beautiful "evangelizer of our continent," Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The feast day falls within the season of Advent, which focuses on the image of a woman awaiting the birth of her child. Our Lady of Guadalupe is a symbol of humanity and all creation groaning in travail as it moves towards its full and total release in the kingdom of God (Rev 12:1-2; Rom 8:22-23).

The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 shows how God sometimes works subversively to accomplish His purposes. In the story, God used two marginalized people - a woman and a campesino - to evangelize the powerful, showing a preferential option for the poor.

Juan Diego, a campesino, was sent to evangelize the first bishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumárraga. Twice, he hesitantly told the bishop about the mysterious appearances of Our Lady on the hill of Tepeyac.

On Juan Diego's third visit, Our Lady's image suddenly appeared on his tilma (cloak) and roses fell to the floor. Mary was wearing a black band around her waist, an Indian custom indicating that she is pregnant, bearing new life.

This is the only apparition of the Virgin pregnant in our Christian faith. The bishop then believed, and instructed that a basilica be built on the spot where the apparitions had occurred - a hill where the Aztecs worshipped the goddess of motherhood.

Through the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin of Tepeyac, we hear echos of the Magnificat: how the humble confound the proud, the poor confound the rich, the marginal proclaim God's word to the wise.

The Aztec people were at their lowest point when Mary appeared. They were conquered, their land taken, women violated and temples destroyed. They prayed to their gods for death.

It was in this darkest moment of their history that the dark-skinned face of "La Morena" appears. Our Lady of Guadalupe is one like them. She speaks in their language: "Listen, my least son: Put it in your heart; be not afraid; don't I know what afflicts you, and disturbs your face?

"Put in your heart: Fear not; am I not here, I who am your mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are not you in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything else?"

It is as if, in the holy womb of Maria de Guadalupe, we are all born anew.

What the Spanish missionaries could not accomplish in their attempts at evangelization was accomplished after this apparition. Millions of indigenous converted to Christianity within a decade.

This was a resurrection of a defeated people. They began to play music and dance. Again, they were living life.

In the serene face of this woman, a mestiza, migrant workers far from home can feel her power. The undocumented, crossing borders, carry her image seeking protection on their perilous journey through the desert.

All who struggle for their daily bread, for human dignity, can place their faith in Our Lady of Guadalupe, who knows their needs.

Many Latin Americans have come to the United States for economic reasons, but here, their afflictions persist. Many are discriminated against, made to feel like non-persons, which can cause them to become passive within our society.

The Church wants them to be proud of their ancestry. They have much to offer our society and Church. Celebrating the feast of Guadalupe can remove the blindness that can come from reading the Gospel from a social location of power and influence.

Like the first bishop of Mexico, we can learn lessons of faith from those whom society consider "non-persons." Words taken from a folk song by Woody Gunthrie express a sad reality of our time:

"The radio tells me they're just deportees/ Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita/ Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria/ You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane/ All they will call you will be deportees."

The celebration of la Señora del Tepeyac can serve as a reminder to look out on our society with the eyes of compassion on those whose lives count for little or nothing because of their race, religion, culture or economic status.

Opting for the poor means protecting the human dignity of all people and fostering the conditions necessary for human development in all aspects of their existence.

This feast can inspire transformative action: working for a more just society by lobbying Congress, writing elected officials for more just immigration legislation. It can move us to volunteer opportunities in our communities.

Her presence can change attitudes of hostility against others different from ourselves into places of hospitality where foreigners and strangers are welcome.

(Father Broderick heads the Albany Diocese's "Pueblo to People" sister parish program.)

(12/16/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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