Those eyes, those eyes.... Seeing into Advent.

They say when you look into a person’s eyes, you can see into their soul.  These eyes in particular lead into the very soul of Christ, for it was in her own womb that the son of God made his home.   These eyes also show forth two important characteristics of Mary, characteristics that we who look to her as the first disciple, can follow her Son more closely.  They are her motherhood, and her virginity.

Mary is Mother-lets not kid ourselves, there is no more important person than a mother. Not to put down fathers but the mother does extra duty.  She houses the child in her own body for almost a year, building a strong relationship with that child.  The laughter, friendships, challenges that she experiences are also experienced by the child living in her womb.  This is the beginning of what we know as “communion”…relationship with the other.  We owe Guadalupe the honor of being the bearer of Christian community which we are a part of.  Not only is she the dark virgin of the native Aztec people, but she is the mother of us all-in the two American continents.  We are bound to each other through her communion with her son.

Mary is Virgin- a quality all people can strive for.  While we know she was pregnant, as the image shows, but we also believe that she remained forever a virgin. She offers to us a virginity that is more than a physical condition but a spiritual state of moral purity.  Striving always for the good. And while we struggle with the great moral questions we face, her purity reminds us that we can obtain it in our thoughts, words, and actions.  For thoughts of seeing others as objects for gratification and or seeing others as somehow inferior or unworthy are immoral.   Seeing the other as sister, brother, fellow disciple keep us morally pure and undefiled, untouched by the snares of the devil and full of God’s life always being born in the places where we dwell.  Let us guard this purity of heart against those who would seek to divide us, and we know the devil loves division.

So may we honor her Son by imitating these two qualities as they are His own teachings.   And may we continue, through the Eucharist we will receive, through the food and fellowship that will follow, to commit to a real communion with each other regardless of language or nationality.  And may we treat each other as would Christ, with pure motives and a clean heart.  After all she is the mother of us all.  Viva La Virgin De Guadalupe!