The Church remembers St. Juan Diego today on his feastday. He was a catalyst in bringing the Catholic faith to the western hemisphere. When the first Catholic Missionaries arrived in Mexico from Spain, he was one of the few natives to convert. The Catholic faith wasn’t taking root in Mexico. Many were hesitant about this “new religion” and what they viewed as a foreign threat. Still, it was during this time of tension that St. Juan Diego fell deeply in love with Catholicism. And it was in the midst of this growing relationship with Jesus that the Lord chose to change the world forever through him.
Over the course of several days, during his daily routines, the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego on a hillside at Tepeyac, Mexico. Mary’s mission for him was one of boldness: she sent him to petition the bishop to build a new cathedral for all the people at the site where she had appeared. With boldness of heart and trust in the Lord, St. Juan Diego went and petitioned the Bishop, who was skeptical of a man who, out of nowhere, claimed to have spoken with Mary, the Mother of God.
Yet, day after day, Mary continued to send him to the bishop to petition for this new church. There was one day, though, when he tried to avoid Our Lady by walking another way; but she just appeared to him on his alternate path instead, to remind him of the mission she had for him. And so Juan Diego continued trusting in Mary’s direction. From his persistence, we can learn the value of being bold about what we know is true, we can fall more and more in love with the Catholic faith, and we can be messengers of God’s Good News. St. Juan Diego, pray for us.
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To read about the apparitions at Tepeyac: https://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=22971&cid=44392&ecid=44392
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To read a reflection from Busted Halo: https://bustedhalo.com/blogs/a-reflection-on-juan-diego
