Christmas Eve 2015 Isaiah 9:2-7; Ps. 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20
The icon on our altar this Christmas Eve is of the Virgin of Guadalupe. As the patron saint of Mexico, she has been and continues to be for many a beacon of hope, healing, and protection--something we all might need a little more this Christmas. Her story begins in the early morning hours of December 9, 1531 as an Aztec farmer named Juan Diego walks along the path of Tepayec Hill on the outskirts of Mexico City. He’s on his way to church. Along the way, Juan Diego begins to hear beautiful music, and sees a beautiful lady who calls his name. She’s dressed in royal clothes and has a sash tied around her waist, meaning that she is with child.
Approaching him, she says to Juan Diego, "Know for certain, that I am the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. It is my earnest wish that a church be built here. Here I will give all my love, my compassion, my help and protection to the people. I will hear their weeping, their sorrow, and will lift all their sufferings." (And they were suffering, you see the Aztec Indians and the Spaniards were on the brink of war. If war had occurred, it would have been brutal.) But, Mary’s appearance changes everything. She tells Juan Diego to go tell the Bishop of her desire for a church to be built at the site.
Now the Bishop was a saintly man, just and compassionate. He built the first hospital, library and university in the Americas. He also was the Protector of the Indians, entrusted by Emperor Charles V to enforce his royal decree stating, "No person shall dare to make a single Indian a slave whether in war or in peace. Whether by barter, by purchase, by trade, or on any other pretext or cause whatever." Listening patiently to the Indian Juan Diego, the Bishop, doubting the story, says he will study the matter.
Juan Diego goes back to Tepayac, reporting to Mary the Bishop's response. Mary instructs him to try again. So the next day, off he goes. This time it’s more difficult to see the Bishop, but Juan Diego prevails, and the Bishop once more listens patiently. He then asks Juan Diego to bring back a sign from Mary to prove the story. Once again, Juan Diego reports the matter to Mary, who tells him to return the next day to receive "the sign" for the Bishop.
The next day Juan Diego is deterred from his mission, choosing to spend the day caring for his dying uncle, who asks Juan Diego to go and bring a priest to hear his confession and administer last rites. So before dawn the following morning, Juan Diego sets out again, but avoids Tepeyac Hill, ashamed he did not return the previous day as Mary had requested.
While making his detour, Mary stops him and says, "Hear and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little son: let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Also, do not fear any illness, anxiety or pain. Are you not under my shadow and protection? Is there anything else that you need?"
Mary then reassures Juan Diego that his uncle will not die; in fact, his uncle’s health already has been restored. As for the sign for the Bishop, Mary tells Juan Diego to go to the top of the mountain and pick some flowers. So he goes up the barren mountain where only cactus and thistles grow. And, there in that dry place, Juan Diego miraculously finds beautiful roses like those grown in Castille, in Spain. Gathering them in his tilma, his poncho, he brings them to Mary who arranges them for Juan Diego to take to the Bishop.
Juan Diego again proceeds to see the Bishop and when he does, opens his tilma, and the roses tumble out. The Bishop is amazed by the colorful flowers but also at the beautiful image of Our Lady of Guadalupe imprinted on the tilma. He weeps at the sight of Mary and asks forgiveness for doubting. He takes the tilma and lays it on the altar in his chapel. And by Christmas of that year, an adobe church is built atop Tepeyac Hill in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe. The church is dedicated on December 26, 1531.
To this day, the imprint of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe hangs in the Basilica in Mexico City and each year millions flock to honor her. And, although the Roman Catholic Church has never officially recognized this appearance of Mary—after all, why would the Virgin appear, not to someone important, but to an Indian peasant—the faithful all over the Americas believe, and today the Virgin is a beloved icon that stands for faith and hope, loyalty and protection, and unfailing loving kindness. Respect for her has cut across languages, ethnic prejudices, regional factions and religious divisions. And all because of the faithfulness of a poor Aztec farmer, Mary still stands as the in-breaking of salvation in the midst of sorrow and despair.
Mary appearing to the humble Juan Diego is not unlike the angels appearing to the shepherds when Jesus is born in Bethlehem. While all the world is rushing around to comply with the decree from Emperor Augustus that all should be counted, the shepherds “are living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Like migrant workers or the homeless who move from place to place largely unnoticed, these shepherds are not even worth counting. They are not summoned to Bethlehem by legal decree, but are there because an angel of the Lord chooses to appear to them, sharing with them the good news of Jesus’ birth.
To them…of lowly status, uneducated, outcast, considered dirty and of no account, they are God’s first choice to receive the in-breaking of salvation. They are the first witnesses of God coming to earth as a baby. This revelation of the Incarnation doesn’t come first to the high priest, to the rich and powerful, to those who have it all together; but, like in the story of Juan Diego, to the least and the lowly.
Which, for us, is very good news. Because in spite of our self-centeredness, our lack of self-control, our disobedience, our envy, jealousy and pride; our divisions and careless life-styles, God comes to us. In this Bethlehem-born Christ, God comes and speaks peace, forming us into a new people, freeing us from all which weighs so heavily on us, softening our hearts, opening our hands. This in-breaking of salvation is happening all around us. I have seen it many times this year.
A neighbor who brings his children to play on our playground walks by the church two weeks ago and asks why all the bags of Christmas presents are being brought into this church. The organizers of OAR (Offenders Aid and Restoration here in Arlington) explain that the presents are for children of the incarcerated. The man leaves and returns with a bag full of toys. The in-breaking of generosity and compassion for those in need.
After the shootings in San Bernardino several of us had an email exchange of what we could do to help bring an end to gun violence. We’ve since learned of an Anti-Gun Violence Gathering, on Sunday, January 24 from 5-7pm at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in DC and we’re going to go together. The in-breaking of doing something to combat our complacency.
Eight missioners, went to Haiti in April to meet the students and teachers of our partnership school, St. Peter’s in Berault. On foot and riding mules we traveled up the mountain to this remote impoverished village. Our hearts were changed. The in-breaking of caring for the poor.
This summer over a ton of food was harvested from our Plot Against Hunger garden to help feed the hungry in Arlington, and every month we gather downstairs in our kitchen to make 70 lunches for the homeless. The in-breaking of feeding the hungry.
Other in-breaking stories of salvation abound… Numerous backpacks donated for under-privileged children in Arlington. Hundreds of Christmas presents donated through Angel Tree for impoverished children. Members of this church going out of their way to minister to adult children who lost both their parents within a month. People of all ages coming here Sunday after Sunday to worship, pray, and to give generously of themselves, their money, time and talents. All because of a desire to do what it takes to give birth to Christ in us—to make a way for the in-breaking of salvation to happen in our midst.
And so this night, in the words of Phillips Brooks, “O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray, cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.” Like Juan Diego, may we look up, see, and believe.
Sermon sources: article by Rev. William Saunders, "Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady." Arlington Catholic Herald, 2004; Viva Guadalupe by Jacqueline Orsini Dunnington; commentary in Feasting on the Word by Robert Redman and Michael S. Bennett, Year C, vol 1 p. 116-120