Bishop Cepeda celebrates Mass in honor of Mary's Immaculate Conception, message to St. Juan Diego as Our Lady of Guadalupe
DETROIT — Mary’s Immaculate Conception, her fiat in accepting the Lord’s presence in her womb, and even her appearance to St. Juan Diego on the Hill of Tepeyac, Mexico in 1531, are signs of God’s plan for human salvation throughout all history.
Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda preached how this history began with the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and continued when Mary, conceived without sin, consented to be the bearer of God incarnate, Jesus Christ.
Bishop Cepeda celebrated the external Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 9 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is normally celebrated Dec. 8, which this year was the second Sunday of Advent, thus superseding the solemnity, which was transferred to Dec. 9.
Providentially, Dec. 9 is usually the feast of St. Juan Diego on the liturgical calendar, prompting a celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception under the title Our Lady of Guadalupe (whose feast is celebrated later this week on Dec. 12).
“That is what we are celebrating in the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, as we honor Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Bishop Cepeda said during his homily, given in both English and Spanish. “Our mother, she is the one who tells us how to respond to God.”
Mass was preceded by singing songs to Mary and dancers in traditional Aztec dress performing down the cathedral's main aisle.
The blending of Catholicism and ancient Aztec culture shows how the message Mary gave to St. Juan Diego is a message of hope and love that sanctifies a culture, elevating it toward the mission of proclaiming the good news to the world, Bishop Cepeda said.
“The message we hear clearly from our mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is that she really came from God, the One who gives us life, so you can know Him,” Bishop Cepeda said. “That message continues to bring hearts and minds and souls into the sphere of our Church.
“It was a message our mother delivered to St. Juan Diego in 1531, and we still proclaiming this good news with joy today, because we know the living God. Our God breaks into our history,” he added.
It is a history of the proclamation that continues to this day, Bishop Cepeda said, beginning with an encounter with Jesus Christ through the Scriptures and, ultimately, the sacraments.
“We hear the Scriptures, as well as from Guadalupe, that this is what God wants you to know,” Bishop Cepeda said. “In other words, we are the ones to take the first step. We are listening because we know in our hearts, minds and spirit what God wants from each and every one of us. We must do it. We must take the first step. And we fall sometimes, yes, we do. Are there times we don’t do what God asks for us? Yes, there are. But do we know what we need to do? Yes, we do.”
What’s needed is to continue the mission of spreading the message about God’s grace and plan for humanity, Bishop Cepeda continued. It’s a plan set in motion when Mary was immaculately conceived, when Mary heard the angel Gabriel’s annunciation, when Christ was born, and when Our Lord was crucified, buried and rose again.
A message that was repeated centuries later to St. Juan Diego in Mexico.
That message needs to preached time and again today, that God dwells among His creation, and He wants His creation to know and love Him, Bishop Cepeda said.
“That is the mission, to proclaim the good news in the Church, in Detroit,” Bishop Cepeda said. “Within our Family of Parishes, within our own parishes, our own families, to proclaim this good news.”
Bishop Cepeda ended his homily by reminding the predominantly Hispanic congregation that the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe isn’t confined to just one nationality or ethnicity, but is a treasure to be shared with the entire Church, and the entire world.
“Mary is an example for us to be able to say, ‘I have a message, and the message isn’t mine, it belongs to God,'” Bishop Cepeda said. “He is the one Who sent me to proclaim this good news, to unleash the Gospel. This is for all of us. It’s a message for all the people in the Archdiocese of Detroit.”
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