Whenever two different civilizations clash, history has shown time and time again the result is never pretty. Brutal war often follows. When Europeans landed in the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries, the same bloodshed seemed to be playing out across the continent. However, something unexpected happened that no one could ever imagine. In what is now called Mexico, a miraculous image would appear on a tilma (a cloth made out of cactus fiber) on December 12th, 1531. This image, known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, would unite two warring worlds into one family.  

After Hernán Cortéz conquered the Aztec Empire a decade before, the native people and the colonial Spanish were at odds. However, Our Lady of Gaudalupe appeared as a woman of mixed race. She was neither Aztec nor Spanish. She was both. The colors and symbols that are explained on the bulletin cover, spoke directly to the hearts of the native people who stared at the image. Her eyes cast down and arms clasped in prayer shows she's a woman of humility. A belt tide high above her waist shows she is a woman pregnant with a child. She stands in front of the rays of the sun, telling the Aztec observer that the one in her womb is greater than Huitzilopochtli, the pagan god of the sun and war, whom they had offered human sacrifices for centuries. 

Our Lady of Gaudalupe created a new people, united in Jesus Christ. Within a few years of this apparition, nearly ten million Aztecs would become Catholic. The Catholic priests wrote at that time that so many people came to be baptized, their arms become sore after pouring water over their heads thousands of times a day. What happened in Mexico should not surprise us, especially in light of today’s Scripture readings. The First Reading from the Prophet Isaiah proclaims, “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God…. Here comes with Power, the LORD God.” The God of ours is coming, as St. John the Baptist tells in the Gospel passage, “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus comes to bring scattered, warring humanity, into the peace of His new Kingdom. Jesus comes to bring us home to Heaven.