Scott Cooper, Vice President for Mission at Catholic Charities of
Eastern Washington, reflects on the readings for the Feast of Our Lady
of Guadalupe.
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****Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe****
Today's Lectionary Readings
**Nuestra Senora de Gaudalupe** today celebrates this most blessed
Patroness of the Americas and of Americans (South, Central
**and** North).  To consider this for a moment, what an unusual
Patroness we have:  a mestiza woman expecting a child.  In the
cosmology of our Church, and across global faith traditions, this is not
a common sign of the Divine among us.  What a gift, what a challenge
this is for us.
As if Jesus' incarnation among a subjugated people on the margins of
Empire did not make the point strongly enough, now the Divine breaks
through again among a colonized community suffering genocide.  I
don't think I'm overstepping here to suggest that God seems to have
a theme in mind.  Can we pay attention?
The Lectionary gives us a choice today, with Luke's Gospel telling the
stories of either the Annunciation - Gabriel giving Mary cause to
ponder how God's plan shall come to pass amidst troubling news - or
the Visitation - Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth, herself a
recipient of God's blessing in the form of new, unexpected
life.  How do we bring these foundational stories into our current
moment?  How can we see God's work among us today?Â
Certainly at Catholic Charities agencies, we come face to face with the
marginalized every day.  Certainly God is breaking through by way of
unexpected actors all around us.  Recently, I've been working with a
single dad - Jake - and his three school-age boys.  They've been
working through programs of ours to exit homelessness and gain tenancy
in permanent supportive housing that we operate.  But we're
struggling to keep them sheltered while we wait for the approval
process.  This family will likely spend more nights homeless while we
wait.  And winter has arrived in earnest: snow falls as I
write.  Our efforts are great but may still fall short of our
goals.  Jake is resilient and speaks openly of his faith.  I wish he
didn't have to be so resilient.Â
Help us, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to see your children among our brothers
and sisters, to recognize the in-breaking of the Divine in unexpected
forms.  Help us to pay attention.Â
**Scott Cooper serves as Vice President of Mission for Catholic
Charities Eastern Washington (Diocese of Spokane).  He sings in the
choir at Sacred Heart Parish.  **
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