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Alegria y La Virgen Guadalupana

Rev. Noah Carter • Dec 12, 2021

Hace algunos años, dos amigos míos se casaron y luego se mudaron fuera del estado por el trabajo del esposo. Seguimos hablando con regularidad y finalmente me invitaron a pasar un tiempo con ellos en su nueva ciudad natal. Entonces, hice el plan para ir en coche hasta ellos y visitarlos durante una semana. Fueron once horas en coche. Planeé bien con bebidas y bocadillos, y configuré mi navegación para su dirección. Me gusta conducir. Lo encuentro relajante y puedo despejar mi mente y disfrutar del paisaje.

Conducía para visitar a mis amigos. Pasó una hora, luego dos y luego tres. Fue un viaje agradable a través de las montañas y luego a las llanuras de Tennessee. A la hora siete, hubo un problema. Pasaba salida tras salida. Empecé a cabecear. Luego entré a una zona de construcción. Estaba siguiendo el tráfico y tuve la repetición de pasar conos de construcción. Uno tras otro, la monotonía me hizo sentir aún más somnoliento. Empecé a quedarme dormido de nuevo. Me desvié hacia la izquierda y, ¡BOOM! Me encontré con un cono de construcción. ¡Eso me despertó! Fue entonces cuando decidí buscar un lugar para descansar y tomar una pequeña siesta.

Cuando llegué a una parada de descanso, había recordado la razón por la que estaba en la carretera. Recordé la alegría que experimentaría al ver a mis amigos después de tres largos años. Recordé los planes que hicimos para ir de excursión y visitar sus lugares favoritos en su nueva ciudad. Me acordé de la anticipación de reunirme con sus amigos y preparar una gran comida más tarde esa noche después de mi llegada. Me detuve en la parada de descanso para tomar una pequeña siesta. ¡Pero no pude dormir! Ahora que había recordado el objetivo de mi viaje, estaba emocionado nuevamente. Eso me permitió simplemente continuar el camino, y lo terminé sin que más conos de construcción encontraran su prematura desaparición.

Y este es el significado del domingo gaudete. Nos da la oportunidad a lo largo de nuestro viaje de Adviento de recordar por qué estamos practicando este tiempo de preparación. Puede ser feliz que nos adormezcamos o nos agobiemos por nuestras penitencias, preparativos y mortificación. Los días son más cortos y oscurece antes. Podemos tender a querer quedarnos dormidos. Pero luego la Iglesia el domingo de Gaudete dice: "¡Recuerda la meta! ¡Recuerda por qué estamos haciendo esto! El Señor está cerca. No tengas sueño. Mantente alerta y vigila". Hay alegría en saber que este camino hacia la Navidad casi ha terminado y debemos continuar con valentía hacia las fiestas navideñas.

Nuestro Evangelio es una parada de descanso, en ciertos términos, antes de la venida de Cristo. Los discípulos de Juan creen haber encontrado al Mesías. Escuchan atentamente y piensan que el viaje está hecho. Creen que finalmente pueden descansar. Pero John les dice que no. Señala más allá de sí mismo a Cristo. Dice: "Después de mí viene uno que es mayor". Les dice que no pierdan la esperanza ni abandonen su búsqueda de la verdad. Con todo, todo el tema del domingo de Gaudete es "No te rindas". Y así continuamos adelante con gran coraje y celo, sabiendo que nuestros preparativos y prácticas de Adviento darán frutos si simplemente perseveramos.

Cada año, durante la temporada de Adviento, celebramos una fiesta especial, la de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. Cada año cae el doce de diciembre. Este año, sin embargo, cae el domingo de Gaudete. Es otro recordatorio de que debemos continuar buscando al Señor Jesús y crecer en su servicio. Si bien la liturgia del tercer domingo de Adviento nos impide celebrar su Misa, aún podemos darle el debido honor. También le ha dado la oportunidad de predicar acerca de sus maravillosas obras. Normalmente, hay una misa especial para su fiesta y los que le son devotos vienen a venerarla. Pero este fin de semana, debido a que su fiesta cae en domingo, le ha dado al P. Mlakar y yo la oportunidad de predicar sus alabanzas a toda la parroquia. Es importante reconocer que la Virgen de Guadalupe no es una "cosa hispana" o una "cosa mexicana", sino una cosa católica, una cosa estadounidense. Y digo "estadounidense" en el pleno sentido de la palabra, porque Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en la providencia de Dios es la patrona de todas las Américas. Y sus apariciones fueron parte del maravilloso plan de Dios para edificar su Iglesia.

Dado que la mayoría aquí conoce la historia de Juan Diego, la Virgen y el obispo local, veamos el contexto de sus apariciones. La venida de Nuestra Señora a México en realidad fue profetizada por el primer viaje de Cristóbal Colón cuarenta años antes de sus revelaciones a Juan Diego. Partió de España como misionero. Bueno, los historiadores seculares modernos y las escuelas gubernamentales nos dirían que se propuso como explorador y conquistador. Pero ese simplemente no es el caso cuando leemos sus propios diarios de sus viajes. El era un misionero. Y es por eso que el rey Fernando y la reina Isabel financiaron sus viajes. Partió de España en La Niña, Pinta y Santa María. Dondequiera que fundara asentamientos, estaba seguro de que haría tres cosas. Primero, siempre tenía un sacerdote con el Santísimo Sacramento que era el primero en bajarse del barco y entrar en tierra. En segundo lugar, siempre estaba seguro de dejar una comunidad de sacerdotes para cuidar el bienestar sacramental y espiritual del asentamiento. Y en tercer lugar, siempre erigió una cruz en el centro del asentamiento. Quería ante todo difundir la fe y llevar el Evangelio a los pueblos originarios. Es justo decir que muchas veces se fue y los pobladores empezaron a aprovecharse de los lugareños, pero ese no era el deseo de Colón. Sus esfuerzos fueron socavados por hombres débiles que cedieron a la codicia y el egoísmo. Esto era típico de la obra misional española en ese momento. Si bien hubo un gran celo por convertir al Nuevo Mundo, los esfuerzos del hombre no tuvieron éxito.

La Iglesia en Europa también estaba en crisis. A principios del siglo XV, la Reforma Protestante comenzó en Alemania y se extendió por toda Europa continental. En una década llegó a las costas de Inglaterra y se apoderó de la Iglesia inglesa. La Iglesia intentó responder. Fue la fundación de los jesuitas para difundir la enseñanza y la práctica correctas. El Santo Padre llamó al Concilio de Trento para responder dogmáticamente a la crisis. Pero en total, al final, más de dieciséis millones de almas negaron la verdadera fe y abandonaron el abrazo de la Santa Madre Iglesia. Las búsquedas del hombre fracasaron. Al mismo tiempo, sin embargo, Dios envió a la Santísima Virgen no al Viejo Mundo, sino al Nuevo Mundo.

La Virgen de Guadalupe se apareció a Juan Diego durante la crisis europea de la Reforma Protestante. Todo lo que deseaba era que se construyera un santuario en su honor. Y como prueba, incrustó su propia imagen en la tilma de Diego. Era una imagen simple repleta de signos y símbolos culturales. A los cinco años de sus apariciones ante Juan Diego, más de veinticinco millones de aztecas y mexicanos nativos se convirtieron y se bautizaron. Con todo, mientras la Iglesia estaba siendo diezmada en Europa, la Iglesia universal estaba creciendo a pasos agigantados. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe verdaderamente salvó a la Iglesia. Y todo fue profetizado por Cristóbal Colón, quien no deseaba más que difundir la fe. Pues partió hacia la Niña, la Pinta y la Santa María. Y poco después sus esfuerzos fracasaron, llegó la Virgen, una niña, pintada por así decirlo en la tilma, que se hacía llamar Santa María.

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A particularly good novel that I finished earlier in the year is A Man Called Ove , by Swedish author Fredrik Backman. First released in 2012 in Swedish, it hit the market in English just a year later and was on the NYT Best Seller list for over 10 months. Ove is a 59-year-old man who is wrestling with sadness and loneliness after having lost his wife Sonja. His neighbors and the townsfolk see him as a crotchety old man with a disdain for others. He has difficulty dealing with others as he is all caught up in his fond memories of his wife and recollections of their life together. Throughout the tale, I enjoyed the author’s keen insights into the human psyche, especially how sadness and loss can cripple one’s ability to form new relationships and darken one’s view on life around them. As the story unfolds, Ove is confronted with new situations, neighbors, and experiences that allow him to come out of his isolation and find meaning in community as a sort-of new family. It is truly a heartwarming read. If I read it again, it would be during winter by a fire with a cup of tea; that now seems the best setting. Warning: the book contains material revolving around depression and suicidal ideation. I came across an interesting read in May — interesting because I found the book per chance at a book giveaway, did not have much hope for it, and ended up content upon finishing it. I am usually disappointed in modern retellings of the lives of the saints, especially when so many modern non-Catholic authors try to debunk the supernatural or discredit the Catholic Church in the way they re-tell the story. I was quite happy with Kathryn Harrison’s Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured . Born in the 15 th Century, Joan of Arc led her fellow Frenchmen into battle against England. She claims that angelic voices led her to do so. Captured during the siege of Compiègne, she was put on trial by the English ecclesiastical authorities. After a trial verdict of guilty that was posthumously overturned, she was burned at the stake at age 19 for blasphemy, heresy, and following demonic visions. Much legend surrounds her life, especially fantastical accounts of her prowess in battle. Harrison attempts (successfully, in my opinion) to entertainingly tell Joan’s story devoid of unhistorical details that lack evidence. Her sources include Scripture, historical accounts, and the trial records kept during Joan’s prosecution. While I do not agree with all of Harrison’s portrayals and conclusions, the book as a whole is a very unique look at the life of the Maiden of Orléans.
By Rev. Noah Carter 27 Aug, 2023
In preparation for a faculty in-service at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School, I reread this summer C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce . The title pays homage to William Blake’s poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. In Lewis’ short story (less than 150 pages), we follow the narrator on a bus ride to a fantastical place along with many grumpy passengers. When they disembark, they are revealed to be ghosts. There are a number of descriptions that seek to pin down the precise meaning of Lewis’ allegory. I have always described it as souls from hell are given one day at the doors of paradise, but must confront someone they knew in life who is now in heaven. The dialogue is fast-paced and makes the reader reflect about their own actions, responses, and priority of loves in their own life, but weighed against the love they have for heaven. In terms of southern, Catholic authors, Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy are two of my favorites. Walker Percy (1916-1990) lived most of his life in Louisiana and was an Oblate of St. Benedict. He was trained as a physician but, after contracting tuberculosis, dedicated his life to philosophy and writing. This summer, I read Percy’s last novel The Thanatos Syndrome , published in 1987. It is a sequel to Love in the Ruins . It is set in the not-too-distant future in a town where residents are experiencing “off” behaviors. It follows a psychiatrist and lapsed Catholic who returns to his hometown and begins observing strange behaviors in the residents, including his wife with whom he is no longer in love. He feels compelled with the assistance of his cousin to figure out what the root cause is. One element that I enjoy in Percy’s novels is that there is always a fallen priest character that is secondary to the main plot. In The Thanatos Syndrome , the local parish priest has been replaced because he has given up the ministry and run off to live in a wildfire watch tower in a nearby National Forest. The interchanges between the psychiatrist and priest are comical, enlightening, and quite on the nose about fallen human nature. Altogether, the novel moves briskly in its plot as it introduces a number of poignant themes: the fallen hero; a world gone crazy; science’s role in the devaluing of human dignity; and the inability of society to function without a shared language and shared moral values. As a caveat, let me be clear, this is not a novel for young ones as there are some adult themes present.
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After a hiatus from my Sunday articles in the bulletin, I wanted to switch gears from catechetical topics. For the next handful of weeks, I wanted to offer some recommendations from my own reading. Each week, I’ll offer two books that I’ve enjoyed reading or rereading in the past few months. I hope you may consider taking up a book or two that might enrich your day-to-day life. In terms of something that I read to enrich my faith, I have been rereading this summer The Imitation of Christ by Thomas á Kempis. For such a small book, it seems to smack me in the face every time I read it. Thomas is no wuss. He wants his readers to take seriously the commands and example of Our Lord with such alacrity that we are ready at once to enter into heaven. With books like this, I do not recommend them for the scrupulous. We must take what is useful from them to advance in small steps in the ways of holiness, but not take the ideal they present to us as if holiness is so very far from us or impossible to reach. The Imitation of Christ is divided into four “books.” The individual meditations for each day can be read in all of three minutes, give or take. The first book seeks to stoke the flame of our interior sentiments so that we might see what prevents us from zealously pursuing holiness and begin to desire a life that is ordered to what is above. Then, he moves to true interior conversion by highlighting the obstacles to God’s love and follows with a great treatise on how to bend and conform our interior faculties to despise the world and seek heaven. Lastly, he offers a beautiful set of reflections that can be prayed and mediated upon before the Blessed Sacrament, using the Eucharist as the Christ-now-and-here-present to motivate our imitation of the Savior. This time around, I gleaned the most benefit from his last few chapters in the second book, wherein he admonishes those who do not wish to take up the Cross of Our Lord. It seemed especially fitting since we encounter in ourselves in the present day so much lukewarmness and unwillingness to boldly live our Faith. In terms of a book not directly related to theology or the Faith, I finally got around to reading John Steinbeck’s 1952 crowning novel East of Eden. Finally? Yes, because a friend from high school who teaches English literature has been begging me to read it for about 12 years. Oh my, it’s a long investment; but I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with it. The entire novel has so many allusions to Biblical stories, especially from Genesis, but that’s not what I took away from it. First of all, I love good writing. Too many popular books, especially modern popular books, have great literary elements, characters, and plots, but lack in good writing. Steinbeck’s ability to paint a scene as a backdrop to a character’s decision or response to some interaction is prophetic. Most ingenious is Steinbeck’s ability to describe human nature. Throughout the whole epic, I failed to really identify one character as immaculately good. And that is the predicament with modern authorship. Many times, modern authors want to paint the characters as good, evil, or somewhere in between. Steinbeck has an uncanny ability to elucidate the “good” characters as deeply flawed and the “bad” characters as redeemable. It reminded me that human nature never changes. Even when we are good, we need to illuminate the parts of us that need to be better. And when we find ourselves to commit sin, there is always a good part of us that can be redeemed to overcome the bad.
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To summarize, the five precepts of the Church are: (1) “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor;” the faithful are required to attend the celebration of the Eucharist every Lord's Day (Saturday vigil or Sunday Mass) and the holy days of obligation as established in the liturgical calendar, unless excused for a serious reason [i.e. illness or the care of infants] (CCC 1388-9, 2042, 2043, 2177, 2180, 2185; 2187-8; 2192-3); (2) “You shall confess your sins at least once a year” (CCC 1457; 2042); (3) “You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least once during the Easter season” (CCC 1389, 2042); (4) “You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church” (CCC 2043, 2177); and (5) “You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church, each according to his own ability” (CCC 1351, 1387, 1438, 2043). Taken altogether, the precepts of the Church give us a roadmap by which we conform ourselves to the life of the Church. They allow a wide diversity to the faithful to adapt them to their own circumstances. When properly implemented in one’s life, they prioritize the centrality of the Gospel and God’s presence in our families. It is important to note that the precepts require us to make plans judiciously. When we look at our budgets, our vacation plans, our Fridays during Lent, and our Sunday plans, we should always have a conversation about how these precepts fit in and, therefore, where God fits in to each aspect of our life. When we go on vacation, for example, we plan our travel, the place where we stay, who we will visit, and where we will eat. We can also plan out where we will attend Holy Mass. “But, Father! There wasn’t a Catholic Church where we were vacationing.” If that is true, it is a godless place that Christians shouldn’t visit. “But Father! We had family visiting during the holidays.” If that was the plan, bring them to Mass and allow them to enjoy your parish community gathered together in joyful worship of God. “But, Father! Money is tight right now with rising prices and inflation.” If money is tight for you, money is tight for the parish, too, and prices are going up as well for the resources that the church needs to operate. When we look at our weekly calendars and monthly household budgets, we can clearly delineate where our priorities lie. The precepts help us fairly balance our temporal needs with our spiritual needs, lest we get swept away by earthly goods (money, success, power, leisure, friendships). An important man once said, “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” We can, however, serve God and use mammon (generally intended to signify temporal goods) wisely in our pursuit of God’s glory and heavenly life.
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