The Witness of St. Juan Diego

In the year 1531, Our Lady of Guadalupe chose a peasant, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, to relay the following message to Bishop Juan de Zumárraga of Mexico: She wished a chapel to be built so the people who sought her help would have a place to gather and pray.

Why did she choose a man like Juan Diego, who was poor and without status or influence, to deliver this message? For that matter, why didn’t she just appear to the bishop herself?

Although Juan Diego may appear to be an unlikely candidate to be a divine messenger, he had characteristics that made him a wise choice. He and his wife, María Lucía, were among the first to be baptized after the arrival of twelve Franciscan missionaries in Mexico in 1524, which reveals that he was open to the word of God and courageous. Juan Diego walked regularly from his home to a Franciscan mission station for religious instruction, thus showing that he was persistent and faithful. He also tended to his sick uncle, revealing a caring and compassionate heart.

Juan Diego protested to the Virgin that he was a “man of no importance” and she would do better to recruit someone of greater standing to talk to the bishop, but she insisted that she wanted him to be her messenger. In so doing, she affirmed indigenous people as being worthy instruments of God’s grace and gave the bishop (and later the rest of the world) the opportunity to see this as well.

Juan Diego was a good and faithful servant in carrying out the Virgin’s wishes, and after the shrine was built, he lived in a nearby hermitage and dedicated the rest of his life to serving her. This “man of no importance” was canonized in 2002. On his feast day, December 9, may we emulate his example of faith, persistence, and trust that no matter what service we might be asked to perform, with God all things are possible.