The following story first appeared in the Winter 1999 Glenmary Challenge.
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Our Lady of Guadalupe
New Patroness for 'Church of America'
By Karen Hurley  

Pope John Paul II is inviting every U.S. Catholic to think about Dec. 12 in a new way this year-and to start celebrating!

In January the pope declared the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, long celebrated in Mexico, as a feast for the entire "Church of America." That means North Americans, Central Americans, South Americans.

Why? The pope sees in the "mestiza" (mixed blood) face of the Virgin who appeared to Juan Diego in  1531 "an impressive example of a perfectly inculturated evangelization." He presents her to us as the patroness—and the challenge—for a Church that must serve—and embody—the indigenous peoples of the New World as well as immigrants from the Old. She enfleshes the Good News for an American continent that has historically been, in the pope's words, "a melting pot of peoples."

Our Lady's appearance to Juan certainly came as a surprise to the Spanish elite who ruled both the Mexican Church and State. It was not just that she appeared, but that she did so to an "Indian."

When  they demanded proof,  Our Lady made roses bloom in December so Juan could fill his coat with flowers and take them to the bishop. When he opened his cloak in front of his doubters, not only did the roses appear, but imprinted on the cloak was her image. This is the mestiza face the pope refers to.

Our Lady's appearance to Juan has always been seen as a sign of respect for the native peoples and cultures of Mexico. Native Americans in the United States have also embraced her as "good news." A stained glass window (above) depicting the 1531 apparition provides the dramatic focal point for the Glenmary mission church in Cherokee, N.C.

Respecting and celebrating the variety of cultures in the home missions of the United States is what Glenmary has been about for 60 years. Latino Catholics, now increasing in numbers throughout the missions of the South and Southwest, offer this gift to non-Latino Catholics everywhere:  a love and devotion for a manifestation of God's mother in which we can see—and honor—the face of our melting pot "Church of America."