Homily of Abbot Gary Neville, O. Praem., Abbot of St. Norbert Abbey on the Occasion of the independence of Santa Maria de la Vid

Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, December 12, 2011

St. Bernadette of Lourdes once said: “How great will be the crown of those who, humble within and humiliated without, have imitated the humility of our Savior in all its fullness.”  When asked about her life in the convent following the apparitions of Our Lady, Bernadette said she was just a broom placed behind the door that was no longer needed.  She did what she was called to do.

Centuries before Bernadette was born, Juan Diego received the first apparitions of Our Lady and was practicing the humility of spiritual childhood.  He said: “I am a nobody; I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf.”  What can you do with such a short piece of rope?  What good is a tiny ladder of two or three rungs? What value does a leaf have?

We are here to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe as well as the birth of a new independent community of Norbertines. Most of us know the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego.  Guadalupe is a "vision" story and like all such stories tells us something about God and about ourselves. More precisely, it tells us how God wants to be among us.

First, consider Mexico City, stronghold of the Conquistadors, hub of the Spanish empire in the New World, center of the arts and culture, site of the Cathedral and therefore the religious center of the new world. It was there in the Cathedral that God’s presence was most dramatically memorialized. In contrast, we have Tepeyac. A poor village of conquered Indians on the farthest outskirts of Mexico City. No power, no wealth, not even a church; of no significance to anyone — certainly not to the Spaniards or their God. In fact, according to the story, Juan Diego was trudging off to attend Mass in Mexico City when he had his vision.

Significantly, Mary appeared to not as a white-skinned, blued-eyed, blond-haired European Madonna but as dark-skinned, brown-eyed, black-haired Indian Mother, and she spoke to Juan Diego not in cultured Castillian but in his own language. She came as a defeated Indian and spoke in the language of the powerless, disenfranchised and despised Indians. She was then and is today, "la morenita" — the brown one. Her message to the Bishop was that God’s church should be built out on the fringes of society, amidst the poor and the down trodden.

The vision also tells us something about ourselves: that we generally listen to people who look and act important. That the people who sweep the hallways or fry the burgers or paint the numbers on our curbs do not really have anything to say to us. The vision challenges us to listen to the people who do not look or act like us.

Juan Diego’s vision of where God wants to be or whom we should listen to should come as no surprise to us. Throughout history, God has consistently chosen to be with poor people. We know that our God "hears the cries of the poor." While it is true that God loves each and every one of us, there is a special place in God’s heart for the poor and the powerless. In that respect, Juan Diego’s message is a restatement of Jesus’ vision of God. Jesus talks about his work as bringing good news to the poor, release to captives and sight to those who do not see. In other words, the Guadalupe vision translates Jesus’ first century, Palestinian vision of God into one that addressed the situation in 16th century Mesoamerica and our 21st century.

Today we know God favors and challenges us as a religious community, as a local church.  We have gathered to celebrate the humble beginnings of a seed planted here 26 years ago.  In this month in which we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior, we celebrate the birth of a new independent Norbertine Canonry.  I community gives of itself so as to respond to the Gospels by sharing its men and resources and to invite others to collaborate with us. It has been the way of the Order for almost 900 years. May God continue to favor this community of Santa Maria de la Vid with blessings upon their members, their ministries, upon the people they serve.  

The challenge for all of us is not to lose our bearings in a world that constantly distracts us. Rather let us hear the message of Guadalupe, the message of Gospel, the challenge of St. Norbert and do all that we are able to do to see that God is brought out to the poor and the broken hearted in our communities. Let us rethink who "counts" and who speaks to us of God. Let us go to the table of the Lord where the poor, the meek, the suffering and the persecuted are particularly welcome, knowing that this is what God wants us to make of our world.