A Message from Bishop O'Connell on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe ∙ Action Alert

BISHOP DAVID M. O'CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THIS MESSAGE for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: “Am I not your Mother?”

In December 2018, I had the privilege of leading priests and lay faithful on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.  It was an awesome and deeply moving experience, along with my fellow pilgrims, to kneel and pray in that beautiful church dedicated to the patroness of all the Americas.  We watched as thousands of people, many who had traveled on foot from their homes throughout Mexico, bring their prayers and needs to our Lord through his Blessed Mother’s intercession.

Since 2016, anticipating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Trenton have carried torches throughout the four counties each year – symbols of the light that Our Lady of Guadalupe brings as she gives birth to her child, symbols also of the light of faith that burns deeply in our hearts and that we bring as we approach her son.

We know the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and how she called to Juan Diego, a 57-year-old Mexican convert on his way to Mass from the top of the Tepeyac hill on December 9, 1531, to come to her. She called him “Juanito,” her little boy.

“Our Lady always chooses those who are simple, on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico, as at Lourdes and Fatima: Speaking to them, she speaks to everyone, in a language suitable for all, comprehensible, like that of Jesus” (General Audience, Pope Francis, August 23, 2023).

Our Lady of Guadalupe announced to “Juanito” that she is the Mother of all of us! We remember her words from that miraculous appearance: “Truly I am honored to be your compassionate mother, yours and that of all the people that live together in this land, and also of all the other various lineages of men, those who love me, those who cry to me, those who seek me, those who trust in me.”

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Mother of God and the Mother of all of God’s children – your mother and my mother – and the patroness of all the Americas.
She appeared four times to Juan Diego near the hill of Tepeyac, identifying herself to Juan Diego during her first appearance:

“Know and understand well, you my most humble son, that I am the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth. I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, compassion, help, and protection, because I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me; listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows.”

Read entire message HERE.

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IN YET ANOTHER STEP TOWARD MORE OPEN ACCESS TO ABORTION
IN NEW JERSEY – including keeping parents in the dark about their minor children seeking an abortion – legislation was scheduled for a Dec. 14 hearing, prompting a plea to ask state senators to oppose the bill.

With the vote on the bill S2918/A4350 now scheduled for mid-December, the New Jersey Catholic Conference issued an action alert urging voters to reach out to their representatives. The alert may be accessed at https://www.njcatholic.org/faith-in-action.

Learn more HERE.