Page 59 - Catholic Extension Magazine Winter 2019

53. Guadalupe teaches us how we Genesis 28, 14). If after the Resur- and aspirations and our work for jus-
might go about repairing the sin rection, the Church continues Jesus’ tice in the drama of His Reign which
of racism. She shows us that our mission of restoring the ‘unity of the is unfolding all around us through the
deepest identity is not given to us by whole human race’, then to speak of power of His Resurrection.
empire, or politics or the economy the Church and the Reign of God is
or the colonist, but is a gift of God. to speak of inclusion and diversity. 56. That is the drama unfolding in the
Our identity is formed in the grace- This is the very opposite of the racist dance of the matachines each year.
filled relationships we freely pursue obsession with whiteness and purity That is why they dance.
with God, others and Creation. In and the false promises of resurgent
the words of Pope Francis, ‘human ethno-nationalisms. Understood in 57. With her knee raised in dance,
life is grounded in three fundamental this way, racism is a sign of the an- Guadalupe invites us to leave behind
and closely intertwined relationships: ti-reign and baptism and the Eucha- fear and join her in the work of
with God, with our neighbour and rist are the graced gateway to a fully advancing justice in America with joy.
with the earth itself’. On our border reconciled humanity. We are called to die to an attitude of
we have seen that racism radically fear and rise with a will to encounter
undermines those relationships. 55. Every race and color and tribe others in vulnerability, to appreciate
and people and language and the gifts of every culture and people,
54. The story of Guadalupe is the culture are threads in the vibrant and with a willingness to be changed for
story of Jesus, who divested himself diverse tapestry of the Reign of God. the better by right relationships with
of the privileges of divinity, ‘taking Our suffering and pain and dispos- God, others and the earth. In the
the form of a slave’, to become flesh session are transfigured in the Jesus Resurrection of Our Lord, now ‘there
like us. His was a Jewish body that who died on the Cross and who is no fear in love, but perfect love
embodied Israel’s universal vocation invites us to relocate our broken his- drives out fear’ (1 John 4, 18).
to be a blessing for all the nations (cf. tory, our imperfect lives, our desires

PART IV

They Threatened Us with Resurrection

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of nations will bow low before him.
Psalm 22, 28

Our Responsibility to Build the Tem- temple. Guadalupe validates our builders of a new Temple of Justice
ple of Justice desire to do good, our longing for in the Americas, a Temple of a
transformation and our agency to New Humanity.
58. The validation that comes from enact good in the world. And she
Our Lady of Guadalupe is not static entrusts us with a mission. To those 59. But as builders of the Temple of
acceptance. Our Lady affirmed Juan who know the pain of racism and Justice here in the Americas, it is not
Diego against dehumanization. And injustice and live in that place neither enough to not be racist. Our reaction
that affirmation came with a divine here nor there, ni de aquí ni de allá, cannot be non-engagement. We
charge to make persistent petition Our Lady of Guadalupe hands on a must also make a commitment to be
before the authorities and build a sacred petition from her Son, to be anti-racists in active solidarity with the