{"id":14755,"date":"2016-12-09T01:00:31","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=14755"},"modified":"2016-12-08T16:45:17","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T00:45:17","slug":"thinking-of-our-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2016\/12\/thinking-of-our-mother.html","title":{"rendered":"thinking of our mother…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Virgen_de_guadalupe1\"<\/a>
\nI am currently re-reading Willa Cather\u2019s Death Comes for the Archbishop. Early on the young bishop encounters a native priest who tells him the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe.<\/p>\n

And, well, it happens that in the legend, it was today, the 9th of December, one day after the traditional celebration of the Buddha\u2019s great awakening, that the peasant Juan Diego had the first of four encounters with Our Lady.<\/p>\n

She told him to go to the bishop and tell him she wanted a church built at this site. The bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, naturally, was not immediately convinced. He wanted a bit more than this message.<\/p>\n

So, in another vision she instructed Juan to gather up roses in his cloak, and to take them to the bishop. When Juan unrolled the cloak in front of Bishop Zumarraga, the flowers spread across the floor and left on the cloak was that image we all know of Our Lady of Guadalupe.<\/p>\n

Those who care can dig into this and see there\u2019s little likelihood this is an historical event. But, like other such things, I believe in it with all my heart. It is a true story, among the great true stories.<\/p>\n

Our mother is never far from us. As she said to the peasant, \u201cAm I not here, I who am your mother?\u201d<\/p>\n

May we care for our mother, whose body is our body, whose blood is our blood.<\/p>\n

And may she bless us on this day.<\/p>\n