tilma of our Lady of Guadalupe

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Friday, 9 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scriptures the contradictions from the ways of the Lord and the expectations of this world, as the Psalm we sung today show how different is the path of the wicked from the path of the just and the righteous. It is a reminder for us that as Christians, many of us should wake up to the reality that not all of the ways of our faith are acceptable and easily welcomed by the standards of this world.

But many of us often live our lives oblivious to this fact, and often it is because we are not living our faith in the manner it should be done. We are often lukewarm in our faith, and we are not practicing what we believe, but rather we follow the norms of this world, even though some of these ways and norms may be contrary to what we believe in our Christian faith.

It is a question that we should ask ourselves in this time of Advent, as we come to prepare for our celebration of Christmas. Are we living our lives in this world out of routine and just trying to do what this world is expecting us? Are we just following the motions and follow what this world has shown us? Have we ever stood up for our faith in the Lord and dared to be different by living our faith genuinely, even when others around us disapprove, ridiculed us and even rejected us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to challenge ourselves in how we live our lives in faith. We cannot be lukewarm and ignorant any longer, for those who have professed to believe in the Lord and yet their actions showed otherwise, these will be found wanting by the Lord, as those whose faith are not living, but dead, for faith without good works, as St. James said in his Epistle, is as good as dead.

Perhaps, we should follow the example of the holy man whose feast we are celebrating today. St. John Diego or St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was one of the first saints of the Americas, then known as the New World. He was one of the first natives of the New World to convert to the faith, after it was brought there by courageous missionaries who delivered the word of God and His Good News to those people still living in the darkness and ignorance of God.

Through his newfound faith in God, he was inspired to live an upright and honest life in accordance with God’s ways, and he was devoted to good works and charity, caring especially for his sick uncle with devotion. And it was told that this upright and devout man received a vision and apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God, what is now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

St. John Diego received the apparition of Mary at a hill known as Tepeyac, where now the great Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located at. He saw the Blessed Virgin clothed in the traditional cloth of the natives known as the tilma, and then related the experience to his local bishop. The bishop doubted this vision, and he did not believe at first that Mary had appeared to him.

For several times the apparition appeared again and again to St. John Diego as he went about carrying out his works among the poor as a lay member of the Franciscan religious order. And eventually the bishop asked for a sign that this vision is truly an authentic and trustworthy one. The Blessed Virgin appeared to St. John Diego with an instruction to go to the hill of Tepeyac, and there he found many white flowers that are not usually found in that region.

St. John Diego gathered the flowers in his own cloak or tilma and hurried back to the bishop to show him the flowers he had gathered. However, what surprised the bishop most was not the flowers, but rather what he saw was printed inside the tilma of St. John Diego, which is none other than the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe herself.

And ever since then, many people were saved because of the inspiration of St. John Diego, through the vision of the miraculous cloak or the tilma upon which the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is printed, which is now enshrined in the great Basilica, and through the messages that Our Lady passed on to St. John Diego, which he disseminated among the faithful.

From his example, we should be inspired by his dedication to the Lord, his upright and just ways, and despite the opposition and ridicule from others, in this case, from his own bishop and from his relatives, he nevertheless continued to persevere on nonetheless, and as a result, brought many others to salvation and liberation from sin.

May all of us be able to follow in his footsteps and be good and devoted disciples of the Lord ourselves. May He bless us and strengthen our faith, so that in all the things we say and do, we will always bring glory to Him and to His Name. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us all sinners. Amen.

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Friday, 9 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)
Matthew 11 : 16-19

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain : ‘We played the flute for you, but you would not dance. We sang a funeral song, but you would not cry!'”

“For John came fasting, and the people said, ‘He is possessed.’ Then the Son of Man came, He ate and drank, and people said, ‘Look at this Man! A glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet the outcome will prove Wisdom to be right.”

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Friday, 9 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)
Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Friday, 9 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)
Isaiah 48 : 17-19

Thus says YHVH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel : I, YHVH, your God, teach you what is best for you; I lead you in the way that you must go. Had you paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants would have been like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their names never cut off nor blotted out from My presence.

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Saturday, 12 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the second feast of this month celebrating Mary, the mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, that is Mary, who appeared approximately five hundred years ago to a simple and devout servant of God, St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin at what is known now as the site of Guadalupe, where a great Basilica now stood, the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Mother of our Lord appeared to St. Juan Diego in a series of visions, all of which related the concerns which she had for mankind, for the people of our Lord, her own adopted children by virtue of our Lord Who had entrusted us to her, and how she wanted as many as possible to repent from their ways of sin, and she showed that as our mother, she cares for us and wants for us to be saved and not fall into damnation.

The story of the devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe began with St. Juan Diego himself, who received the visions from the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the place where now stands great the Basilica dedicated to her. She herself asked that a church ought to be built at that site, and this was truly a premonition of the time to come, when countless peoples would pass through its gate, and how through her, many were saved.

St. Juan Diego related what he had seen and heard, the visions he received, and how miraculous things had happened, including the miracle healing of one of his relatives, but the governor and the Archbishop would not believe the visions that St. Juan Diego had received. He asked for a sign and a proof. And when St. Juan Diego related the request to the Blessed Virgin, he was instructed to gather rare flowers that then miraculously grew on the site, and place them into his tilma of cloak.

And after he had returned to the Archbishop, he laid down the flowers before him, and not only that those flowers did not belong among the local flowers, but also that, the tilma that St. Juan Diego wore became imprinted with the image of the mother of God herself, which since then had been known as the image and the icon of our Lady of Guadalupe.

And today, as we commemorate that moment, some of us may ask why we gave so much honour and attention to Mary, even though she was just a human being like us, similar in flesh and blood, and having the same Spirit of God dwelling in us. However, we honour her because firstly, as we have just commemorated another of her feast a few days ago, she was special, for she was conceived without the taint of sin, pure and immaculate since the day of her conception.

She had been prepared ahead by the Lord to be the vessel and the bearer of our Lord, as the Ark of the New Covenant. But it was not just because she was conceived without sin that she is honoured, but because of her actions, where she faithfully carried out her duties and all that has been expected of her and even more, carrying herself properly and faithfully as inspiration for many others.

By looking at her and what she has done, how she had lived her life, how she had loved her Son, Jesus our Lord and Master, and correspondingly, how she also loves all of us her adopted children, as proven by her numerous and countless apparitions to men, in various places and at various times, pleading and calling on them to repentance and to change their ways lest they be swallowed by sin and darkness.

The celebration of our Lady of Guadalupe today is a reminder for us, and a wake up call for many, that all of us ought to reflect on our own lives, on our own actions and deeds. Have we been faithful in what we say, in what we do and in what we commit ourselves in our own lives? Or have we been rather disobedient and following our own hearts’ desires as the first men were, and thus risking falling into sin and damnation.

Let us realise how important it is for us to seek God’s forgiveness for our sins, and for us to do that, we need to have genuine repentance and change of heart, or else, we will remain in the trap of sin, and we will remain in darkness forever. And in this, we have a great ally in the mother of our Lord, Mary, our Lady of Guadalupe. After all, which good and faithful son does not listen to his mother? And Jesus too will surely listen to His mother praying for our sake. Now what matters is, for us to make the effort for the change for the better.

Let us all devote ourselves, our time and our works for the sake of the salvation of our souls. Let us no longer be filled with sin, evil and darkness, but instead replace these with obedience, faith and light. May God Who loves His blessed mother Mary, will love us all too, who devote ourselves with equal love to her. Amen.

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Saturday, 12 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe)

Matthew 17 : 10-13

At that time, the disciples of Jesus asked Him, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?” And Jesus answered, “So it is : first comes Elijah to set everything as it has to be. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but they did not recognise him, and treated him as they pleased. And they will also make the Son of Man suffer.”

Then the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.

Alternative reading (for the Mass of our Lady of Guadalupe)

Luke 1 : 39-47

At that time, Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and Blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

And Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour!”

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Saturday, 12 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe)

Psalm 79 : 2ac and 3bc, 15-16, 18-19

Listen, o Shepherd of Israel, You who sit enthroned between the Cherubim. Stir up Your might and come to save us.

Turn again, o Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, and protect the stock Your hand has planted.

But lay Your hand on Your instrument, on the Son of Man Whom You make strong for Yourself. Then we will never turn away from You; give us life, and we will call on Your Name.

Alternative reading (for the Mass of our Lady of Guadalupe)

1 Samuel 2 : 1, 4-8

My heart exults in YHVH, I feel strong in my God. I rejoice and laugh at my enemies for You came with power to save me.

The bow of the mighty is broken but the weak are girded with strength. The well-fed must labour for bread but the hungry need work no more. The childless wife has borne seven children, but the proud mother is left alone.

YHVH is Lord of life and death, He brings down to the grave and raises up. YHVH makes poor and makes rich, He beings low and He exalts. He lifts up the lowly from the dust, and raises the poor from the ash heap; they will be called to the company of princes, and inherit a seat of honour. The earth to its pillars belongs to YHVH and on them He has set the world.

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Saturday, 12 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Memorial of our Lady of Guadalupe)

Sirach 48 : 1-4, 9-11

Then came the prophet Elijah like a fire, his words a burning torch. He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number. Speaking in the Name of the Lord he closed the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire. How marvellous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal?

You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. It was written that you should be the one to calm God’s anger in the future before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live.

Alternative reading (for the Mass of our Lady of Guadalupe)

Isaiah 7 : 10-14 and Isaiah 8 : 10c

Once again YHVH addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from YHVH your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of Heaven.”

But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put YHVH to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : The Virgin is with Child and bears a Son, and calls His Name Emmanuel, for God-is-with-us.”

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Tuesday, 9 December 2014 : Second Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the Lord who is our Shepherd and Guide. We heard about how the Lord loves us so much, that He uses all in His power to look for us and search for us, His lost sheep, who had wandered into the darkness of this world. He wants us not to die, but to live with Him forever in glory, and to receive the joyous inheritance which He had intended for us from the beginning of time.

Yes, we mankind were not meant to suffer terribly in this world and to suffer the ignominy and pain of death, but we have sinned and therefore, those sufferings and death became a part of us, as the punishments for our sins. Yet, the Lord our loving God and Father desires that all of us be freed from this punishment, by the turning of our hearts and bodies away from all those sins and back into the embrace of the Lord.

He does not want us to be lost anymore, and He desires for us to be found and to be safeguarded through His Son, Jesus Christ, who came into this world as one of us, to suffer pain and death, which are the just punishments for the sins we commit, bearing all of them upon Himself, so that we who believe in Him, will no longer suffer those consequences, but through our faith in Him, we may be brought to our everlasting joy in Christ.

The first reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah was from the prophecies of Isaiah the prophet, who lived during the latter years of the southern kingdom of Judah, hundreds of years after the division of the original kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of David and Solomon. The people of God had been scattered since then, each finding their own way, and each following their own pagan gods, the gods of their neighbours, and forgot all about the Lord, committing all sorts of wickedness and evil.

That is why God was angry at them, for not following His ways and for walking down the path of sin. Yet, He still loves them and wants them saved. That was why He sent them many helpers and reminders, through the prophets and leaders He had made and appointed throughout time. He showed His power and love to His people, and yet, many of them were still lost in the midst of the darkness of the world.

Yes, our Lord has given us many opportunities and chances to turn our lives from one filled by sin, into one that is filled with the grace and blessings of our Lord. This Advent is a time for preparation, the preparation of our soul, our mind, our heart and our body for the eventual coming of the Lord. Advent is a time of expectation, of waiting for the glorious coming of our Lord, who will come to deliver us from this world of darkness.

What is then, our response? Are we to accept His offer of mercy and forgiveness, or are we to continue living in sin, ignoring Him and His love? It is indeed more difficult for us to do the former than the latter. It is easy to continue to live as we have lived, to embrace human desires, possessions, material goods, greed, lust and all other human emotions and the temptations of the flesh and soul, but it is difficult to live according to the ways of the Lord.

But if we give in to the world and all its temptations, then we shall be lost forever to the darkness of this world, and we will be forever lost to our Lord. Without our Lord, we are nothing, and we will end up with nothing, no matter how much we possess in this world. Instead, the way for us is to welcome Him with open hands and open mind, allowing Him to come into our lives to transform us from beings of darkness to the children of the Light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, or also known in his original Spanish name, St. Juan Diego, the very first saint from the New World, then part of the Spanish America, in what is now Mexico. He was an Aztec, who was converted to the true Faith when the Spanish came to the New World in the early sixteenth century. After he was baptised St. John Diego lived a very pious and holy life, devoted to the Lord in all things.

He changed his ways from the ways of the old worldly things, abandoning human greed and desire, and instead, seeking the fullness of the Lord’s love and grace, devoting himself completely to the Faith he had found after having lived for a long time in the darkness of ignorance of the Lord. And for that, he was blessed to be given the opportunity to witness a great apparition of the Blessed Mother of God, Mary, who appeared to him at the place now known as the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe.

Through St. John Diego, the Blessed Mother Mary requested that a chapel be built at the site of the apparition, so that through her, many would be able to be helped in finding their way to the Lord, and therefore be saved. The bishop was skeptical at first, looking down at St. John Diego and his low background, but after the insistence of Mary and through a sign, the Blessed Mother Mary left her image as an imprint with flowers in St. John Diego’s cloak, also known as tilma in the local language, which from then on became the centre of veneration, of what is now known as our Lady of Guadalupe.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, through the example of the life and actions of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, we can see that God has called us back to His love, and if we do so, then He can transform our lives, from a life filled with sin, into one that is filled with holiness, hope and also grace for others. St. John Diego found a new lease of life in God, and through his newfound devotion, he brought the grace of God, presented through Mary His mother, for countless souls who were then saved because of that.

In the same way therefore, we too should follow his footsteps, and walk in the ways of the Lord, courageously and fearlessly becoming His witnesses, and in that way, we will be richly rewarded with grace and blessings when He comes again. Therefore, brethren, this Advent, let us make best use of the time to prepare ourselves and to be ready. Deepen our devotion to our Lord, and also to His Blessed Mother Mary, who is our greatest ally against the darkness of the world.

Let us all embrace the Lord, our Good Shepherd, who wants us His lost sheep to return to Him and be found forever in His loving embrace. St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin and our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us sinners, that we may come to realise the depth and gravity of our sins, and thus seek ways to be closer to our Lord Jesus, to be saved and to be prepared for His second coming into the world in glory. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/08/tuesday-9-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-memorial-of-st-john-diego-cuauhtlatoatzin-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/08/tuesday-9-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-memorial-of-st-john-diego-cuauhtlatoatzin-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/08/tuesday-9-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-memorial-of-st-john-diego-cuauhtlatoatzin-gospel-reading/

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Tuesday, 9 December 2014 : Second Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White

Matthew 18 : 12-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you : when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it than about the ninety-nine, that did not get lost.”

“It is the same with your Father in heaven : your Father in heaven does not want even one of these little ones to be lost.”

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/08/tuesday-9-december-2014-second-week-of-advent-memorial-of-st-john-diego-cuauhtlatoatzin-homily-and-scripture-reflections/