From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Afflictions   
      
     Whenever we suffer some affliction, we should regard it both as   
   punishment and as a correction. Our holy Scriptures themselves do not   
   promise us peace, security and rest. On the contrary, the Gospel makes   
   no secret of the troubles and temptations that await us, but it also   
   says that he who perseveres to the end will be saved. So we must not   
   grumble, my brothers, and for as the Apostle Paul says: "...some of   
   them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. " (1 Col. 10:10) Is   
   there any affliction now endured by mankind that was not endured by   
   our fathers before us? What sufferings of ours even bear comparison   
   with what we know of their sufferings? How then can you think that   
   past ages were better than your own?   
      
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   December 9th - St. Juan Diego   
    (1474-1548)   
      
   Thousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe   
   July 31, 2002, for the canonziation of Juan Diego, to whom the Blessed   
   Mother appeared in the 16th century. Pope John Paul II celebrated the   
   ceremony at which the poor Indian peasant became the Church's first   
   indigenous saint.   
      
   The Holy Father called the new saint “a simple, humble Indian” who   
   accepted Christianity without giving up his identity as an Indian. “In   
   praising the Indian Juan Diego, I want to express to all of you the   
   closeness of the church and the pope, embracing you with love and   
   encouraging you to overcome with hope the difficult times you are   
   going through,” John Paul said. Among the thousands present for the   
   event were members of Mexico’s 64 indigenous groups.   
      
   First called Cuauhtlatohuac (“The eagle who speaks”), Juan Diego’s   
   name is forever linked with Our Lady of Guadalupe because it was to   
   him that she first appeared at Tepeyac hill on December 9, 1531. The   
   most famous part of his story is told in connection with the Feast of   
   Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12). After the roses gathered in his   
   tilma were transformed into the miraculous image of Our Lady of   
   Guadalupe, however, little more is said about Juan Diego.   
      
   In time he lived near the shrine constructed at Tepeyac, revered as a   
   holy, unselfish and compassionate catechist who taught by word and   
   especially by example.   
      
   During his 1990 pastoral visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II confirmed   
   the long-standing liturgical cult in honor of Juan Diego, beatifying   
   him. Twelve years later he was proclaimed a saint.   
      
   Comment:   
      
   God counted on Juan Diego to play a humble yet huge role in bringing   
   the Good News to the peoples of Mexico. Overcoming his own fear and   
   the doubts of Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, Juan Diego cooperated with   
   God’s grace in showing his people that the Good News of Jesus is for   
   everyone. Pope John Paul II used the occasion of this beatification to   
   urge Mexican lay men and women to assume their responsibilities for   
   passing on the Good News and witnessing to it.   
      
   Quote:   
   “Similar to ancient biblical personages who were collective   
   representations of all the people, we could say that Juan Diego   
   represents all the indigenous peoples who accepted the Gospel of   
   Jesus, thanks to the maternal aid of Mary, who is always inseparable   
   from the manifestation of her Son and the spread of the Church, as was   
   her presence among the Apostles on the day of Pentecost” (Pope John   
   Paul II, beatification homily).   
      
      
   Readings   
      
   Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any   
   other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you   
   not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily   
   within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed   
   by anything.   
   --Our Lady to Juan Diego, 9 December 1531   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.   
   4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is   
   evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and   
   blameless in thy judgment.   
   12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,   
   and uphold me with a willing spirit.   
   13 Then I will teach transgressors thy ways,   
   and sinners will return to thee.   
   14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God,   
   thou God of my salvation,   
   and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.   
   15 O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth   
   shall show forth thy praise.  [Psalm 51:3-4,12-15]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer to St. Juan Diego   
      
   You who were chosen by Our Lady of Guadalupe as an   
   instrument to show your people and the world that the way of   
   Christianity is one of love, compassion, understanding,   
   values, sacrifices, repentance of our sins, appreciation and   
   respect for God’s creation, and most of all one of humility and   
   obedience;   
      
   You whom we know is now in the Kingdom of the Lord and   
   close to our Mother;   
      
   Be our angel and protect us, stay with us as we struggle in   
   this modern life often not knowing where to set our priorities;   
      
   Help us to pray to our God to obtain the gifts of the Holy Spirit   
   and use them for the good of humanity and the good of our   
   Church, through the Heart of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the   
   Heart of Jesus. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)