Tuesday – 2nd Week of Advent A – Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

As most of you probably know, coming up on the liturgical calendar is a beautiful feast which commemorates one of the most well-known apparitions of Our Blessed Mother, sent by God from heaven in Guadalupe, Mexico. As many narratives have been circulating, I would like to focus on what is best known about Juan Diego, whose memorial we celebrate today, and which ushers in the great feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We base this account on the Nican Mopohua, the Roman liturgical texts, and the canonical declarations of Saint John Paul II.

We know that on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a recently baptized Indigenous Christian, was walking near Tepeyac Hill on his way to catechism and Mass. Notice here what a wonderful man we encounter: he has received the gift of faith, he has already been baptized, and now he is deepening that faith through catechesis and heading to Mass. Look at how wise this man is. He has found his pearl of great price. He has found his treasure hidden in a field.

As he was walking to catechism and Mass, he heard beautiful singing and saw a radiant young woman, who revealed herself as Mary, the Mother of the true God by whom we live. She spoke to him in his native Nahuatl language and asked that a church be built on that very place, so that she might show her love, compassion, help, and protection to all the inhabitants of the land.

This immediately calls to mind Our Blessed Mother as the perfect fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant of the Old Testament, which contained the presence of God. She who contained Jesus—God-with-us—in her womb. Wherever the Ark was present, blessings flowed upon households. We are told that Mary, the new and true Ark of the Covenant, stayed with Elizabeth for three months, and great blessings fell upon that home. Likewise, in the Old Testament, the Ark rested in the house of Obed-Edom for three months, and great blessings came upon that household.

Here Our Blessed Mother appears once again as the bearer of Christ. She comes carrying the gift of the Lord Himself. How fitting this is during Advent. What a providential detail in the story of Juan Diego and what he witnessed that day. On December 9, 1531, the new Ark of the Covenant—the living tabernacle—asks that a temple, a tabernacle, be built to house God, from which she would watch over her children entrusted to her by Jesus from the Cross.

The next day, Juan Diego went to the bishop and recounted what had happened. On December 10, the bishop asked for a sign to confirm the heavenly origin of the message. It is interesting: God once commanded King Ahaz to ask for a sign, but he refused. Here, however, the bishop asks for one. Juan Diego returned to the hill, where Our Blessed Mother appeared again and promised that she herself would provide the sign.

On December 11, Juan Diego’s uncle, Juan Bernardino, fell gravely ill. Juan Diego cared for him and missed his appointed visit with Our Lady. Yet on December 12, as Juan Diego hurried to find a priest for his dying uncle, the Virgin appeared again, reassured him about his uncle’s health, and spoke her famous words: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”

Here we see Juan Diego’s beautiful human side. He did not bypass the human in order to chase after the spiritual. He was not focused solely on visions and ecstasies. His uncle was suffering, and compassion took precedence over his own joy at encountering the Blessed Virgin. Wouldn’t most of us rush back to the hill no matter what? Yet Juan Diego chose love and responsibility. And instead of reproach, Our Lady reassured him.

She then directed him to climb the hill and gather flowers. Though it was winter, Castilian roses were blooming there. He gathered them in his coarse cloak, his tilma, and went to the bishop. When he opened the tilma, the flowers fell to the floor—and upon the tilma appeared the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, exactly as she had appeared to him.

Bishop Zumárraga immediately recognized the divine origin of the apparitions and placed the tilma in his private chapel until a shrine could be built. At the same time, Juan Diego’s uncle reported that the Virgin had appeared to him as well, healed him, and revealed her name as Santa María de Guadalupe.

A sanctuary was erected at Tepeyac, which soon became a powerful place of pilgrimage and evangelization. Indigenous peoples recognized in the image the signs of God’s closeness and maternal love. Thousands sought baptism and instruction, and in the years immediately following, more than ten million Aztecs converted to the Catholic faith.

My dear brothers and sisters, Juan Diego was known for his simplicity and holiness, and today we have also seen his humanity. He cared for his sick uncle. He lived charity before ecstasy. May we too have the heart of Juan Diego—a heart that attracts Our Blessed Mother: compassionate, merciful, outward-looking, ready to sacrifice itself to make another’s life even a little better.

Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a police officer, a doctor, a priest, a religious, or anyone serving others, ask Saint Juan Diego to intercede for you, that your love and charity may be perfected in the Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

And may Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.