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Theme:
The reign of Christ has arrived but not in plenitude.
The issue addressed:
We all need conversion to Christ. It is not enough to be baptized
as Christian; we need to be truly Christians, but conversion is a task
of our whole life. We need to be realistic: perfection is an ongoing process,
but we journey toward the plenitude of our life at the end of our terrestrial
pilgrimage.
Object: To convince ourselves that the reign of Christ is already here but that we need to convert ourselves to enter it, and that is a task of a lifetime.
Scripture readings:
Is.9:2-3b.4-7 or Is.60: 1-4.14.19-20 or Rom.13: 11-14; Ps.27; Mt.24:29-30
Alleluia: Alleluia, Alleluia. Come, Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: shine on those lost in the darkness of death! Alleluia.
Adapted reading from the Nican Mopohva (2:4-16.23):
On a Saturday of December 1531, Juan Diego, was on his way to Tlatelolco, while it was still night. When he passed by the small hill of Tepeyac, as it was dawning, he heard what seemed like the singing of different precious birds, which came from the top of the hill, toward the west. He halted, wondering what it was he was hearing and whether he was dreaming or was in paradise.Symbols in this context: Dawn, and the rose colored garment of Our Lady, indicating the new life that comes from the east. The appearance of Our Lady is the image of the arrival of the Christ's reign.
Suddenly, everything was silent and he heard that someone was calling him from on top of the hill saying: " dear Juan, dearest Juan Diego." He, without fear, started up very happily. On reaching the top, he saw a woman, who was standing. She told him to draw near.
Upon reaching her presence, he was utterly amazed by her surpassing beauty: her garments seemed like the sun and emitted rays . . .
Then she spoke to him and said: " Know and take to heart, my most forsaken son, that I am the ever-Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of The God of Great Truth, Teotl, of The One through Whom we Live, of The Creator of People, of The Owner of that which is Close and Near, of the Lord of Heaven and of Earth."
Symbols in this context: Dawn, and the rose colored garment of Our Lady, indicating the new life that comes from the east. The appearance of Our Lady is the image of the arrival of the Christ's reign.
Theme developed:
Guadalupe is the announcement that the reign of Christ has arrived. In
Him a new creation has dawned. The plenitude of the reign of Christ will
arrive at the end of time.
"A people who walked in the darkness have seen a great light." This
phrase of Isaiah resounds for peoples of all times. As we saw yesterday,
the people of Israel and all the people of that time experienced the fruit
of their sin in their midst. They lived in the 'night ' of their sin. Christ
arrives as the Light of the world, as the 'rising sun' to save us. Even
the Roman empire with all its oppressive power converts to Christ. As Isaiah
says, the rod of the oppressor has been broken (Is.9: 4) and they have
come to the light of God (Is.60: 2). Even the date of the 25th. of December,
which for the Romans was the feast in honor of the sun god Ra, is replaced
by Christ, the 'radiant sun' that reigns throughout the world. The dawn,
which is when the sun comes out and when a new day begins, suggests the
arrival of a new period, a new creation, a new beginning.
As we have mentioned yesterday, for the Nahuas, 1531 brings an end
to Aztec sun (Lafaye-1976: 61), Huitzilopochtli. The Nahuas associated
end periods with catastrophic signs. Here the tragedy experienced was the
Spanish Conquest.
But with the end of one age, a new one appears. The Nahuas were in
the process of rediscovering Ometeotl as their supreme God, symbolized
in the sun and linked to human life through Quetzalcóatl. This myth
the Nahuas inherited from the Golden Age of the Toltecs. The dawn of 12
December 1531 could be interpreted as the return of Quetzalcóatl
whom various Nahua nations were expecting. This meant the arrival of a
new creation, modeled on the myth of the creation of the Fifth sun. Expressions
like "while it was still night" and "suddenly everything was silent" in
the NM, are also found in the mythic stories of Ancient Mexico in the
creation of the Fifth sun. (Siller Acuña-1984/1989: 63), (León
Potrilla-1961/1989: 15-19). The Guadalupe event then would be seen as equal
in importance to the creation of the world and cosmos (Siller Acuña-1981:
38. cf. Rodriguez:1994). The radically new revelation though is that this
new sun symbolizes Christ who will replace Quetzalcoatl.
All this takes place on the hill of Tepeyac on which Tonantzin, mother
of Quetzalcóatl, was venerated. On the ruins of her temple appears
the virgin Mary, mother of Christ, presenting herself to Juan Diego as
the mother of the true God. For the Nahuas, the clothes of important people
carry important objects, signs and symbols that tell people, who the person
is and what they do. The NM says that Mary's clothes seemed
like the sun emitting rays, but the word 'sun' in the NM is in diminutive.
This would mean that she is not God, but has a lot to do with God and share's
God's experience. (Siller Acuña-1984/1989: 65). She symbolizes the
ideal of the reign that Christ wants to construct through his Church. As
a mother that loves all her children, she invites Amerindians and Spaniards
to be reconciled and together to form a new people. There is no room among
this new people for corruption, the violence of weapons, oppression or
hatred. That is of the past. That is to live still in the night. Now it
is necessary to walk in day light and follow the example of our mother
who is at the service of her Son Jesus and of his reign. It is a new day,
a new age.
Today we also walk in the darkness. Obscurity covers our homes, neighborhood,
nation and the entire world. No one should feel excluded. No part of the
world should feel that it escapes from the 'obscurity of the night'. However,
we are all called to conversion. All of us are called to approach the dawn
of a new day that is symbolized in the reddish color of the Virgin's garment.
It costs blood, sweat and tears. The redness of blood is a reminder that
one does not enter the reign, without dying to an old life of sin, and
that is costly and challenging. It is a true 'painful labor of childbearing'.
Here it would be good to invite people to identify the evils that exist
in the community, or mention some, depending on the environment. Then awareness
is created to the fact that one does not change completely from one day
to the next. The important thing is that we have changed radically at heart
and that we have entered the process of carrying on changing throughout
our life. It is the task of a whole personal life and of a whole human
history. The great dawn, the great birth will be at the end of time. Meanwhile,
we are in the labor of 'birth pangs'.
Questions: Are we open to be reborn in God through a sincere conversion, so that the Lord may be born in us? Are we participating in the building up of Christ's reign preparing for his return?
Prayers of the Faithful for the Second Day of the Novena:
Let us present now our petitions to the Lord responding: Lord, hear
our prayer.
1. For the Church, so that is will not obscure the light of Christ
,but instead, be itself a light, promoting constantly the growth of the
reign of Christ in the world according to the example of the Virgin. Let
us pray to the Lord.
2. For all Christians in the world, so that the Virgin, as image of
the reign, may irradiate her love in our midst. Let us pray to the
Lord.
3. For our own spiritual growth, so that we may be open to the rebirth
in Christ through a sincere conversion. Let us pray to the Lord.
4. For all nations, especially their leaders, so that they come to
recognize the superiority of the reign of Christ, and that they allow the
values of the reign to transform their earthly reigns. Let us pray
to the Lord.
5. For our neighborhood, so the Virgin helps us live united and in
harmony knowing how to respect and recognize the richness of the diversities.
Let us pray to the Lord.
Let us pray:
Our God, eternal Light, send us your Spirit so that we may be purified
from sin that obscures the light of Christ in us, and so that the values
of the reign may grow in us, coming to reflect in this way, the light of
Christ, in the example of the virgin Mary. This we ask through Christ Our
Lord. Amen.