Retablo de la Virgen Indigena ~ J. Michael Walker ~ 1995
Months before Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Virgin Mary Guadalupe to be Patroness of our Hemisphere, my parish placed a beautifully framed photograph copy of Juan Diego's tilma in a wide niche in our church. Father Elizondo's hand lettered Guadalupe Litany was placed left and right of the image. The shrine quickly became a much-visited place of candle-lighting and prayer. Some weeks after the shrines creation, I visited an elderly parishioner at her home, and in the conversation said, "Have you seen the new Guadalupe Shrine in our church?" She answered, "Oh, I don't even go back there; she's for the Mexicans." Kind of pathetic, heh — a long lifetime of being Catholic and still thinking like that.
Now I have stumbled on (and am eager to share with the folks here) this remarkable, contemporary depiction of the Virgin Mary Guadalupe. She's not a Euro-Guadalupe. Nor should she be. The Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec Native whose people had been conquered by Europeans. Maybe this parishioner I've referenced would say, "Oh she's too dark. She's too Mexican. She looks Aztec and they were pagans." I love this Guadalupe because she looks like the people to whom she appeared.
I also love her for her bemused look. Bemused means: puzzled, perplexed, bewildered, confused. A bemused smile can show confusion or the inability to think clearly. A bemused person can be shaken at what she/he is experiencing.
Is this Guadalupe looking to the side where she sees more than 650 of her Mexican children still separated from their parents at our border? Some are toddlers whose parents cannot be found.
Is this Guadalupe bemused at all the persistent, angry fuss over DREAMers:
"In the last few years, "DREAMer" has been used to describe young undocumented immigrants who were brought here to the United States as children, who have lived and gone to school here, and who in many cases identify as American. The term DREAMer originally took its name from the bill in Congress, but it has a double meaning about the undocumented youth who have big hopes and dreams for a better future."
Is this Guadalupe bemused at the hateful words used to describe her Mexican children? Even though these are the people who are the aching backbone of our fruit and vegetable food supply. Every berry, every head of lettuce, every bunch of grapes...
Is this Guadalupe bemused at the distracting obsession to build a border wall, accompanied by threats, instead of building relationships with the people to whom she appeared? The whole Guadalupe story is about building relationships — as is every page of the Gospel.
Is this Guadalupe bemused by our racism, nasty name-calling, color-obsession, suspicion and resentment? Is she bemused at the world's treatment of women and girls whose work holds the world together?
Some years ago I was part of an after-Mass conversation about Mexico and its troubles. Someone chimed in, "As long as they're legal." I suppose that's as legitimate a question as any other, but it's not a Gospel question. Jesus never asks anyone about their legality. The only question Jesus would ask is, "Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Do you need a place to stay? Do your kids need clothes? Do you need a friend? Are you sick? What can I do for you?"
How does someone live Catholic-Christianity 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years, and still not get this?
Bemused Guadalupe, pray for us.!
