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Theme:
The reign of God is forged through pain.
The issue addressed:
Everyone is confronted with the realities of suffering and death, but not
everyone copes with them in the same way.
Object: To have a Christian approach to the realities of suffering and of death which set us free and strengthen the sense of sacrificial love.
Scripture readings:
Col.1: 24-29; Ps.126; Jn. 12: 24-26
Alleluia: Alleluia. Alleluia. Behold, the king will come, the Lord of earth, and he will set us free. Alleluia.
Adapted reading from the Nican Mopohva ( 2:27-29):
The Virgin said to Juan Diego: "...go to the palace of the bishop of Mexico and tell him how I sent you to declare to him what I very much desire, that here on the plain, he build me a temple: and you will tell him exactly what you have seen and wondered at, and what you have heard. Be sure that I will reward you well, and make you happy. You deserve very much to be rewarded for the work and the fatigue that you will encounter because of what I have entrusted to you. Look, my son, the most forsaken, you have heard my words; do all that you should."Symbols in this context: the Cross, the pregnancy (nagvioli flowers and black sash), the birth pangs, the reddish dress.
Theme developed:
Redemptive suffering has meaning. Suffering that comes because of individual
and collective struggle, for a better world, and in conformity to the plan
of God, will not be in vain.
When the Israelites were in Egypt, they suffered a lot in their slavery.
But God transformed this unjust situation in their favor, to forge their
hearts, just as the fire purifies the metals. When they passed through
the trial of living in the desert during many years, a time in which
God considered sufficient to form God's people, again it was through human
sacrifice and suffering that God brought maturity to the people. Both the
human injustices and the environmental inclemency failed to break their
spirits, but they were converted into instruments of purification, human
growth and of formation of a holy people.
The poor people of Israel in times of Christ had similar traits of
suffering. The Roman empire with its taxes, plus the taxes of King Herod,
and those for the cult, reached between 60 and 70 percent on the earnings
of the people, which led to a desperate situation for many. Many men, to
survive from misery, when they were not able to find jobs, would take to
assaulting and robbing travelers along solitary roads, while many women
got into prostitution, to get something to feed their children (Schreiter-1994:
Part II, C.1). In the midst of this situation, some small faithful people
called the Anawin, matured through suffering, were the ideal human environment
to embrace the Savior of the world. We know of the sufferings endured by
the holy family: the anxious situation over the mysterious pregnancy of
Mary, the lack of hospitality in Bethlehem, the persecution and slaughter
of innocents caused by Herod because of Jesus, the exile to Egypt, the
persecution, the civil and religious trial and condemnation on the cross
in the presence of Mary his mother. It is the life of Jesus that opens
for us the deepest sense of Christian suffering and death. He teaches us
how one can convert the fruits of sin into victory of God over evil. The
sinners in crucifying Jesus, thought they had a victory, but he managed
to obtain the victory instead, because he willingly accepted to die out
of love for us. For him, suffering and dying were the consequences of a
life committed to the truth, and a gift to us. That bothered those who
preferred to walk in the shadows. Jesus gambled his life for the
sake of the truth and paid the consequence for it. He compares for us true
love with a grain of wheat that has to die in order to live. The seed has
to come out of its selfish enclosure and open in consecration to God (vertical
love) and in service toward others (horizontal love). These two dimensions
of love are symbolized in the cross. The characteristic of Christian love
is the sacrifice implied in the consecration and service, and in the price
that one pays for the commitment taken. The author of the letter to the
Colossians even finds meaning in suffering on account of the Gospel. He
says that it is a reason to rejoice, because in this way, it permits
us to "complete what is lacking to the sufferings of Christ, for the good
of his body, which is the Church." (Col.1: 24)
In the light of this, we can understand, that the suffering that the
Aztecs endured under the persecution of the Spaniards was not in vain.
God converted it into a preparation of their hearts to receive the message
of salvation from Tepeyac through God's prophet Juan Diego. Juan Diego
himself went through a test 'of fire'. It must have been difficult for
him to be an Indian who had accepted the religion of the invading people.
Many Aztecs must have thought him to be a traitor, while many Spaniards
must have looked upon him as an uncivilized 'savage'. The Virgin herself
put him to the test when she asked him to go to the Spanish bishop to construct
a temple. One has to imagine the situation. Not only does he risks ridicule
by saying that he spoke with the Virgin, but the fact that he was
an Indian was going to make it even more difficult to have his experience
believed. Being a recent convert would have made matters even worse.
Symbolically, the sacrificial dimension of life is symbolized in the
cross that the Virgin of Guadalupe carries, and in the pangs of labor that
accompanies a new birth. If we want to advance, mature, be born into the
reign of Christ, we have to pass though the 'pangs of birth'. This reality
is also symbolized in the reddish garment. The Aztecs immediately
could make this association with the blood that was shed through human
sacrifices offered to Huitzilopopchtli, the god who gave and preserved
life (Elizondo-1989: 126). But God now wanted to replace those inappropriate
sacrifices for the sacrifice of love that has a lot of meaning in relation
to a life that is gifted to others. It is a sacrifice united with that
of the sacrifice of Christ, for the salvation of the world. The cross on
the icon reminds us of that.
None of us are alone when it comes to suffering we find in our life.
Being immigrant, being Hispanic in a country where the majority are not,
and being poor, brings much suffering. Family and community life brings
its trials and difficulties as well. The question though, is to ask ourselves
whether we are capable not only of finding Christian meaning in our
sufferings, but even of rejoicing on the occasion that we have to take
part in Christ's salvific action for the world (Col.1: 24). It is important
though, that we bear in mind that part of that suffering should be fruit
of the struggle against the causes of suffering as in the case of injustice.
It is not passive suffering, where I just let things happen to me, but
active suffering, consequence of a life committed to the truth of the Kingdom
of Christ. Sometimes one cannot avoid injustices done to one or others,
but at least we should try to do something so that they don't happen in
the future.
Consider now what might be a good example of what would be a healthy
way of suffering in a Christian sense, and what would be a negative way.
Questions: Are we willing to 'break' ourselves for others in the following of Christ, accepting our quota of the cross of Christ? Are we willing to assume joyfully the sufferings that may come to us, as participants, of the Paschal Mystery of Christ?
Prayers of the Faithful for the Seventh Day of the Novena:
Let us now present our petitions to the Lord responding: Lord, hear our prayer.
1. So that the Holy Spirit transforms our interior, in such a way that
not only may we find Christian sense to suffering, but that we may possess
the inner joy and peace which only God can give us. Let us pray to the
Lord.
2. So that the suffering taken onto ourselves may not be used as an
excuse to take a passive stance in life, but may be the consequence of
our struggle for a better world. Let us pray to the Lord.
3. So that those who suffer exceptionally in these moments may receive
relief from God in their pain, and so that pain will find redemptive value.
Let us pray to the Lord.
4. So that the whole Church may know how to take on its role in committing
itself fully for Christ and his reign specially for the most needy, without
dishonest alliances with the powers of this world. Let us pray to the Lord.
5. So that our brothers and sisters who are near death may repent from
their sins and may deliver themselves confidently into the loving arms
of God. Let us pray to the Lord.
Let us pray:
Humble and compassionate God, hear the prayers that today we present
to you. May we all have the courage of Juan Diego to place total confidence
in providence, committing ourselves to your reign even when it brings us
suffering. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.