The story of St. Juan Diego is that of a simple man. Born in the 15th Century in what is now Mexico, he saw a vision of a woman who identified herself as the Virgin Mary. She told him she wanted a church built on the site in her honor. Juan Diego went to the local bishop to make the request, but the bishop asked for evidence that the woman was actually the Virgin Mary. Juan went back to the location of the first vision and Mary appeared to him again. She asked him to go to the top of the hills and pick the flowers he would find there and take them to the bishop. It was winter and the roses Juan Diego found on that hill were Castilian roses (not then grown in Mexico). He gathered the roses and put them in his tilma, a traditional cloak.
When Juan Diego found the bishop he opened his tilma to show the bishop the roses as proof the vision was that of the Virgin Mary. But the bishop didn't notice the roses which fell to the floor. He was transfixed by the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that was on Juan Diego's tilma. Needless to say, the bishop believed and a basilica was built on the site. The tilma with the iconic figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe is framed on the wall in the basilica where you can see it today.
St. Juan Diego reminds me that God doesn't speak through the rich and powerful. He (and His Blessed Mother) come to the humble, to the people who will listen to the message. Isn't that consistent with the birth of a baby in an obscure location who turned out to be God?
He comes quietly in humble conditions.
CC
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