What a shame, heh? This painted tile image of Our Lady of Guadalupe attacked with a hammer outside a parish church near Los Angeles, California. This is all the rage now (rage indeed!) toppling her image, beheading her image, throwing paint on her statue, smashing her face and hands, spray painting hater slogans on her. Who knows, maybe the offender is mentally ill. There's a lot of untreated mental illness in our country. A lot of angry people.
But when an image of the Guadalupe is attacked, I can't help but wonder if there's not something else going on. A pious Catholic man told me he resented the "Mexican invasion" of his parish, "They put up red bows on everything." I reported elsewhere the pastor who didn't want the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 'his' church because, "It might draw those people." Another parishioner resented that I held a Guadalupe Feast Dinner for the Hispanic community which celebrated Mass in our church, with a special invitation extended to the Mexican men who cut the parish lawn and tended the parish gardens. The word stupid doesn't sound nice, but it's still a real word giving voice to real thoughts.
But there's more, isn't there? The good Mexican people of the Los Angeles parish will make offerings and repair their lovingly painted Guadalupe. But as Christians, we believe that in the Incarnation, (Christmas), God now has a human face. This signals that every face matters. Not a few of those human faces are hated and even attacked — the people ignored, considered to be a problem, the faces of those who suffer terribly, which might elicit a "tysk" but not justice for them. This isn't high-brow theology.
There are...
The faces of the nearly extinct Down Syndrome children in the womb.
The faces of the children in every classroom, who for reasons unknown, are hiding.
The faces of the sex-trafficked teen or pre-teen.
The faces we see, dirtied and terrorized on television.
The faces sunken with hunger.
The faces of war — stunned, tear-streaked, dusty.
The faces of people of color, angry over injustice.
The faces of people battered; the child bullied.
The faces of the newly arrived.
The faces of the covid sick, covid dead, covid care providers, covid mourners.
The faces of the homeless on the new skid rows.
The faces at the border looking in.
Virgen Guadalupe,
you've already forgiven the crazed fellow
who smashed your tiled-image,
bless the gentle devotees who'll make the needed repairs.
But now, forgive us for missing the sorrowing faces,
the faces twisted up in pain,
faces all around us
and across the nation.
Help us to see each human person rightly —
as you and your Son see rightly.
Amen.
