A countercultural Advent message
A few years ago, Los AngelesArchbishop Jose H. Gomez described Advent as “a season of Mary”, and spoke of Advent as a time “to take Mary into our homes, into our lives.”
Dec 11, 2014

By Rhina Guidos
A few years ago, Los AngelesArchbishop Jose H. Gomez described Advent as “a season of Mary”, and spoke of Advent as a time “to take Mary into our homes, into our lives.”
In the Dec. 5, 2012 column for the Catholic newspaper The Tidings of the Los Angeles archdiocese, he urged others to “learn from [the Virgin Mary] how to act as God’s sons and daughters.
”No doubt, Archbishop Gomez, who was born in Mexico,grew up with the popularDecember 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebrated in grand fashion during Advent in his native country.
The account of the Virgin Mary as she appeared on Mexicansoil is that on Dec. 9, 1531, a peasant named Juan Diego saw an apparition on Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City. The apparition of the Virgin Mary is said to have asked him that a church be built at that site in her honour. He told this to the archbishop of Mexico City who told him to ask the “lady” for a sign.
She is said to have left an imprintof her image on his cloak, which Juan Diego then presentedto the archbishop. Ever since, the Mexican people, and growing numbers of Catholics worldwide, pay homage to Our Lady of Guadalupe during Advent.
It is a time when many Mexican families welcome strangers and friends into their homes. Whether they know them well or not, they gather to sing songs of sweetness and devotion as they venerate the virgin, often called by the familiar“La Guadalupana.”
Visit Mexico just before the Guadalupana’s feast day, and you’ll find hundreds of peopleon the road, in processions with the image of Mary, some on pilgrimages on foot to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupein northern Mexico City. It is easy to see, literally,why Advent is the “seasonof Mary.” It is also easy to see why Archbishop Gomez speaks of taking Mary “into our homes” because, some people literally do this as they carry a statue of the Guadalupanafrom one home to another in their neighbourhood. They offer friendship, faith and food to all who accompany the image.But they carry more than an image with them. They carry a message that is sometimesat odds in a culture that encourages public exhibition and recognition.
“One thing we notice about her life is that it is filled with silence and hiddenness,” ArchbishopGomez said. “All the events in her life that we read about — the Annunciation, the Visitation and the rest — they are all ‘off the radar.’ They were silent. Hidden. Nobody was there to see them or record them.”
In the experience of Mary, we have much to learn, especially those of us who live in a societythat encourages us to brag to our friends, and sometimes, even to strangers online, about what we’ve eaten, where we’ve travelled to, or what good deed we’ve just performed.
Mary’s example during Adventprovides a much differentmessage, as Archbishop Gomez explains.
“This is a lesson for us. Almostall of us lead quiet lives. The good that we do will only be seen and known by the small circles of those closest to us – in our families and neighborhoods;in the places where we work,” he said. “Like Mary, we can live as children of God – filling our days with quiet acts of faithfulness. Carrying out our daily duties with love and care for others. Sharing our joy and love for Jesus in simple and natural ways.”
A child of God lives in such a way, he said, not seeking exultation,praise, public recognition,but doing good and quiet deeds.
“Because she is the mother of Jesus, no one can help us more than Mary to grow in our awareness that we are children of God,” he said.
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