Guadalupe Mass draws from across archdiocese
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published December 15, 2006
Detroit – Growing up in southwest Detroit, Dolores Alcala-Herrera learned about Our Lady of Guadalupe from her mother, an immigrant from Mexico.
"My mother, who died last year at 110, very diligently and very piously taught us our faith from the time we could speak. And without my faith, I couldn't have made it all these years," she said.
"On Dec. 11, I watch (the vigil Mass) broadcast from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (in Mexico). Even on TV, I jump up and cry, because you just feel it in your heart," said Alcala-Herrera, a member of Ste. Anne de Detroit Parish.
She was among the several hundred people at the first archdiocesan-sponsored observance of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament last Sunday.
Long a major event in parishes with significant numbers of Latino parishioners, the cathedral's observance was transferred to the Sunday before its actual Tuesday, Dec. 12.
All Christians are called to respond to the Word of God, just as St. Juan Diego responded to Our Lady of Guadalupe in 16th-century Mexico, Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Flores said in his homily last Sunday.
The recently ordained bishop was principal celebrant at the Mass.
That historic intervention by God – the sending of the Blessed Virgin to Juan Diego – imparted a mission, as is always the case with such interventions, he said.
And Juan Diego's acceptance of that mission led to the conversion of the Mexican people.
"Every time the Word of God comes to His people, it is a word that moves us to do something. We find mission in the word that comes from God," the bishop said.
"We see everywhere around us great sorrow, great suffering and great injustice. We see around us pain and a world that seems to be going in the wrong direction," he continued.
While in the work of salvation it is God who acts first, and people who respond, that does not mean we ought to sit back and wait for God's next intervention, "because if we discover the Word of God, in that Word which was flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, we find our mission," Bishop Flores said.
"God shows us His grace so we can work in His grace," he added.
Sr. Consuelo Garcia, SMR, who is from Mexico, said that she has always been inspired by Our Lady of Guadalupe's message of justice and hope.
"According to the story, she appears to the people when people need her the most," Sr. Garcia, who now lives with the Sisters of Mary Reparatrix community in Riverview, said through an interpreter.
Musicians and choir members from several parishes – Ste. Anne de Detroit, Holy Family in Novi, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Temperence and St. Michael in Pontiac – came together to provide the music for the Mass, led by Santiago Fernandez, music director at St. Michael Parish.
A reception was held in the cathedral parish's gym after the Mass.
Members of Detroit's Hispanic community are still exclaiming their joy over the addition of Bishop Flores, who was ordained Nov. 29 to serve the Archdiocese of Detroit.
"We're thankful to God, because we have been praying for this," said Jose Garcia, a member of All Saints Parish in southwest Detroit.
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