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These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.

Saturday, 12 December 2020 00:00

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE—December 12

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! 
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
(Zech 2:14)

As we continue the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I remember the first time I entered the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the Cherokee Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina. The church is seven-sided similar to a Cherokee meeting hut, representing the seven tribes of the Cherokee Nation. But the remarkable stained glass window of Our Lady of Guadalupe commands attention. Underneath Our Lady is a banner that says, “Patroness of Captured Nations and Conquered Peoples.” The other notable is that Cuauhtlatoatzin (Saint Juan Diego) is pictured in the window not as a Chichimeca but as a Cherokee. The artist and the community of the Qualla Boundary know that Our Lady of Guadalupe is their mother too.

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