Los Angeles, Calif., Dec 13, 2021 / 16:00 pm
When Our Lady of Guadalupe told St. Juan Diego that she desired a church to be built in the Americas, he set in motion the construction of what is now the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. But there is still work to be done, wrote Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles in a message for the Marian feast day.
“The temple that Our Lady wants is a spiritual temple that is built out of the ‘living stones’ of our lives. Your life and my life,” Gomez wrote in a Dec. 12 message. “Each of us living with the joy of Jesus Christ in our hearts, following his way for our lives, living for the glory of God and for the love of our brothers and sisters.”
“Brothers and sisters, we are the temple that Our Lady wants to build in the Americas!”
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in 1531 to St. Juan Diego on a hill northwest of Mexico City. The Church traditionally observes her feast day on Dec. 12, though some celebrations transferred to Dec. 13 this year because of its accidental occurrence with the Third Sunday of Advent.