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Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Zechariah 2:14-17 or Revelation 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB
Judith 13:18BCDE, 19
Luke 1:26-38 or 1:39-47
Summary
I have been given an honor. The gospel readings for today, for the Feast of
Our Lady of Guadalupe, are the basis of my favorite prayer, the Hail Mary.
In these readings, the Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary and announces her
impending pregnancy and the birth of our Lord. When Mary visits her
cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s baby moves with joy at the sound of Mary’s
voice, and Elizabeth acknowledges that Mary’s baby is the Lord.
Reflection
So many things that are learned in rote as children, and that stay with you
throughout your adulthood, achieve different meaning when seen through
the lens of experience. The Hail Mary was one of the first prayers I remem-
ber learning. My mother and father taught me to say it with my nighttime
prayers (remember those?) and we recited it during rosaries and for innu-
merable other occasions, including during our Advent Wreath family gather-
ings at home. For a very, very long time, to me, they were just a simple
grouping of words whose familiarity gave me some modicum of comfort.
And, to be truthful, often gave me frequent boredom. (Any adult who tells
you they were never bored in church is not being wholly truthful.) But, mi-
raculously along the way, I discovered that those forty one little words strung
together really meant something. They were the words of an angel, words of
pronouncement, descriptions of a miracle, the harkening of the beginning of
the Christian faith.
And also, they were words that opened a monumental change for Mary in
her simple life. Can you imagine her feelings
of joy, yet her fear? I absolutely get the fear.
How does a young Jewish girl explain this to
her parents? Her betrothed? Each time I
was expecting my children, I was occasionally
overcome by fear, and I had all the ad-
vantages a woman could hope for during
those times in my life. Mary was, among oth-