Little Known Facts About Our Lady of Guadalupe

Last week at our parish we were blessed to have the opportunity to view the missionary image of Our Lady of of Guadalupe. I have for some time been aware of the story of our Lady's appearance to Juan Diego in 1531, and I have seen the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe many times in my life, however, I knew very little of this miraculous event until our pastor gave his homily this past Sunday. I would like to share what I learned with you!

In 1531, in Mexico City, Mexico, our Lady appeared to 57-year-old widower, Juan Diego as he was on his way to attend Mass. Juan Diego was an Aztec Indian and a convert to Christianity.

Our Blessed Mother revealed her identity to Juan Diego and told him she wanted him to inform the bishop of the diocese that she would like a chapel built in the place she was standing so she could have a place in which she could lead people to her Son. Juan agreed and met with the bishop, however was quickly dismissed.

Our Blessed Mother appeared to Juan a second time to see if he had made any progress with her request. Juan explained that he was quickly dismissed and suggested to our Lady that she find a more prominent member of the village, someone whom the bishop would be more likely to listen to. Our Blessed Mother insisted that Juan go back to the bishop once more, which he did. This time, the bishop told Juan he would take the request seriously if Our Lady would give a sign.

In an attempt to avoid Our Lady, Juan took a different route as he walked to attend Mass, however, Our Lady once again appeared to him to question him regarding her request. Juan explained about the bishop's request for a sign.

Our Blessed Mother than directed Juan to pick some roses on a hill nearby and bring them to her. The roses that Our Lady requested did not normally grow in the season in which she appeared to Juan Diego. Nonetheless, Juan brought a bunch of roses back to Our Lady. She then directed him to give her his tilma (cloak). Our Blessed gently laid the tilma on the ground, wrapped the roses in the tilma, and gave it back to Juan directing him to take it and give it to the bishop.

Juan promptly delivered his tilma to the bishop, and upon opening it in the bishop's presence, the roses fell out and the two gazed in amazement upon the most beautiful image of Our Lady which covered the entire tilma. The bishop was convinced of the miracle and built the chapel. Within approximately eight years of the building of the chapel, there were nearly 7 million converts to Christianity in what was then a pagan society.

Recently scientists have discovered some truly amazing facts about the tilma and its image that defy nature and all scientific explanation. Here are a few:

The plant fibers tilmas are made of wear out after fifty years, but the Tilma of Our Lady has endured 480 years. For 116 years it was left unprotected from smoke, dust, heat, humidity, and continual contact with hands and other objects. Not even the accident in 1791, when muriatic acid fell on the Tilma, nor the terrorist attack in 1921, when a bomb was placed in front of her in a flower vase, have been able to destroy the Tilma of Guadalupe.

NASA has stated that the image’s colors are not made from any material found on Earth. A laser that scanned the image even found that the colors float three tenths of a millimeter in front of the Tilma surface, without touching it.

Microscopic analysis of the pupils of Our Lady of Guadalupe reveals what she must have seen in the instant her image appeared. She is surrounded by thirteen people. One of these is clearly identified as Bishop Juan de Zumárraga. Zooming in even more, to the point of examining the Bishop’s pupils, reveals the spectacle he saw: Juan Diego opening his garment in front of him. The Virgin exhibits qualities of a living person, too. Her eyes contract and dilate in response to light and darkness. The temperature of the Tilma remains stable at 98.6 degrees. A stethoscope has even measured the heartbeats of a baby in her womb.

The aforementioned facts were obtained from the following source - http://www.catholic.net/index.php?option=dedestaca&id=6003.

Divine Treasure!

The earth is a mere pinpoint in this immense universe, the ends of which remain unknown to man! It never ceases to amaze me that its Creator longs for a close relationship with its human inhabitants, so much so that He humbles Himself and makes Himself available veiled under the appearance of bread and wine to those who will receive Him! Always be mindful of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist! Thank you Lord for the wonderful gift of your Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, the Nourishment that sustains us on this journey!

Power of the Eucharist

To be the men and women God intended us to be in our roles as priests, religious, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives and friends; children of God made in His image; to love with the love of Christ; to offer ourselves as holy and living sacrifices; to have faith and hope, and to increase in every other virtue; is possible only through the grace that comes through frequent reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

It is impossible to fulfill our purpose in this life without the Eucharist! Amen!

Go to confession and attend Mass often, daily if possible! It will change your life!

A Wealth of Information!

I recently attended a Catholic Men's Conference at which the Knights of Columbus were present and distributing some very informative, well written, and easy to read booklets from the Knights of Columbus Catholic Information Service. The booklets I have read are: The Gift of Woman, The Family in the Modern World, and Becoming a Man of God.

The great thing is that these booklets are available online as downloadable audio files or pdf files. You may also order hard copies of the booklets for only a $1.00 each, and at reduced rates for bulk orders.

The booklets cover a wide variety of topics on matters pertaining to Catholic faith and life. You can access this great resource at the following link - http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/publications/cis/podcasts/veritas/index.html

Soul of Christ, Sanctify Me!

The Anima Christi is a beautiful prayer! The following four prayers develop the richness of the prayer even further. I discovered these prayers in a publication entitled The Catholic Devotional published in 2006 by the Apostolic Publishing Company, 7010 6th Street North, Oakdale, MN 55128.

Soul of Christ, Sanctify Me!

Make a saint of me. Show me how to rid myself
Of traits of character that annoy others;
that make the lives of those about me miserable.
Help me to break the hardened shell within which selfishness hides, and which renders me insensible to the needs of others.
May I become great enough to be the servant of both rich and poor.
May I grow strong in virtue, so as to sustain the weak and encourage the weary.
May my heart increase its power to love, so as to be able to minister kindness to the timid and mercy to the wayward.
May I have the honor to bring cheer to all my fellow men on the long and sometimes rugged road of life.

Body of Christ, Save Me!

Save me from my great archenemy, my weak and faltering self.
Save me from all greed of money, of power, and of praise.
Save me from the thirst for pleasure, worldly show, and midnight revelry.
Save me from betraying You, Dear Lord, in thought, or in word, or in deed.

Blood of Christ, Strengthen Me!

Inebriate me with Your Love, that I may be absorbed in Your Will. Absorbed so as to be unmindful of my ills and petty cares.
Unmindful of weariness and pain, heartache, and disappointment.
Heedless of the lash of cruel words, and patient under wrongs.

Passion of Christ, Strengthen Me!

Strengthen me under the pressure of temptation.
Strengthen me when principle is at stake.
Strengthen me to do Your Will, My God.
Strengthen me in moments of suffering, in times of loneliness, in periods of depression.
Strengthen me that I may never swerve from You, Dear Christ, nor weaken through a desire to be popular, through hope of social distinction.
Strengthen me to accept my cross and carry it generously to the end.
On the battlefield of life, stand by me that I may never prove a traitor in the ranks.
Stand by me that I may not be dazzled by the glitter and glow of the enemy camp.

Unfathomable Love! - Awesome Privilege!

It has been discovered that an ordinary, 8oz. drinking glass can hold approximately 2 million grains of sand.

The photographs and data scientists have gathered through the use of the Hubble telescope indicate the majesty and incomprehensible size of the universe that exists beyond our planet. It is estimated that there are more stars in the heavens than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world.

Consider the world unseen by the naked eye and all of its wonder. The complex structure and life-sustaining automated functions of just the trillions of cells in the human body alone.

Contemplate the fact that all of creation is maintained in a perfect, life-sustaining balance, i.e., the perfect mixture of gases in the air we breath, precise distances of the sun and the moon from our earth, which are necessary to sustain life on earth.

Think of the marvelous, awesome complexity of the vast variety of insects and birds, and the variety of life existing beneath the ocean waves!

I don’t about you, but whenever I’m in our Lord’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament, or at Mass during transubstantiation as the priest says the words, “This is My Body”, my mind is immediately aware of the fact that the awesome Creator of our vast universe is not only present, but desires to be with us!

It is truly a humbling experience, and an inexpressible privilege, not only to be in the presence of the Creator, but to be able to receive His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity as spiritual and physical nourishment for our journey.

Armed with the knowledge that God, the Creator of the universe, longs to give Himself to us fully, and makes Himself available to us daily under the appearance of bread and wine, ONE SHOULD NEVER AGAIN HAVE A REASON TO FEEL UNLOVED! For this is the perfect love! Out of love, God gives Himself to us, and accepting His Gift assists us in passing the love of God on to others. This is how love remains eternal. St. Paul illustrates the permanence of love in his first letter to the Corinthians when he says, “love never fails”. St. Paul emphasizes the fact that love remains long after prophesy, knowledge, and tongues pass away.

The next time you receive Christ in the Eucharist, or are privileged to spend time with Him at adoration, ponder the magnificence of the love our awesome Creator has for us!

The Catholic Church Is Perfect! Why?

Do you know someone who no longer practices their Catholic Faith, and claims that it was the sexually deviant behavior of some members of the clergy, and the failure of the Church to address the issue that finally caused them to leave the Church?

As repulsive as pedophilia is, especially when committed by a man whom we know has been ordained to represent Christ on earth in the administration of the sacraments, we must remember that the MAN has not been made perfect through the sacrament of Holy Orders. The priest is still a man and thus remains subject to the tendency toward sin along with the rest of humankind.

It is not man that makes the Catholic Church PERFECT, it is Jesus Christ who founded the Church and instituted the sacraments. As Catholics we must remain focused on Christ, truly present in the Eucharist, the very center of our Faith! If we are looking for perfection in a man, we will fail to find it in any church on earth!

John L. Barger, founder of Sophia Institute Press, in a debate with his daughter over the perfection of the Catholic Church, presents a powerful yet brief argument which I encourage all to read here.