December 12

I saw this painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe at a local retreat center. (Sorry it's so blurry.) I had a little mini-retreat of about two hours. I think I'll be going back for more before this busy season is over.

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. That, and the approach of Christmas, serves to remind me just how radical and countercultural the message of this season can be.

From an essay on "Liberation Spirituality":

Interestingly enough for Catholic spirituality (but with increasing ecumenical implications), the rediscovery of the historical Jesus is being accompanied by a rediscovery of Mary of Nazareth, the faithful woman of the gospel, the model of the "poor of Yahweh" of yesterday and today. She who is always found among the poor (like our Lady of Guadalupe, for example) becomes a model of a spirituality of liberation for the poor and for those who live in real solidarity with the poor. Her Magnificat becomes a song of historical liberation. In the Puebla documents she becomes a model "for those who do not accept passively the adverse circumstances of personal and social life . . . but who proclaim with her that God 'exalts the lowly' and, if it is the case, 'pulls down the princes from their thrones"'

We can agree to disagree about religious matters, but I think most of us here can relate to the desire to "pull princes from their thrones". :)

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