Thoughts from the Cathedra

Dear Friends in Christ, 
Earlier this week, joined by our Vocations Director, Fr. Luis Pablo Ochoa Escarrega, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to one of North America’s most visited Marian shrines- Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos in Jalisco, Mexico. Ostensibly, I was there to meet with a good friend of the Diocese of Tucson, Bishop José Leopoldo Gonzalez-Gonzalez (former bishop of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico), about the possibility of forging a partnership between our dioceses to provide priests for the Diocese of Tucson and a chance for priests and seminarians the chance of Tucson to broaden their formation in Spanish and Hispanic culture by visiting Jalisco. We had a great conversation, and I am hopeful that much fruit will be borne from our visit.
But, as is often the case with God’s providence, the experience was most rewarding for an unexpected reason. Upon our arrival in San Juan, we made our way directly to the shrine for the 1:30 p.m. Mass. We were joined by the Auxiliary Bishop of San Juan, Bishop Trinidad Antonio Márquez Guerrero, along with the Vicar General, Fr. Ledesma. In the sacristy, just a few minutes before processing out for the Mass, Bishop Trinidad asked me to preside and preach, which I accepted. As we arrived at the altar and I looked up, I saw the image of Our Lady of San Juan, a small statue of Our Lady which is known for a miraculous cure of a young woman in the early 1600s, and many others since. I then turned around to see an overflowing church with more than a thousand people in attendance, many of whom were walking up the main aisle on their knees in supplication to our Lord and in reverence for Our Lady. It was then that I realized I had been blessed with the chance to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice for pilgrims of all ages and demographics who had come there for, I can only imagine, so many different reasons to ask Our Lady for her assistance.
Since I had just learned that I was to preside and preach, my mind was racing to figure out what I might say. This is what came to my mind at that moment: a gift of the Holy Spirit. I began my homily with a question to the pilgrims-“¿a quién perteneces, al mundo o a Dios?” which translates, “To whom do you belong, the world or God?” This question, to whom do you belong, the world or God- is the question of all questions; the question that is the very basis for the answers to all questions of life, I explained in Spanish. Then I told them that their very presence in this holy place was the answer to the question. Their answer was their very presence. In life, words are often insufficient to carry the weight of the mystery of God. That question, which is so profound and yet so simple, was answered by their pilgrimage and faithful presence in that magnificent sanctuary.
This Mass was a very special and unexpected moment of grace for me because, as should always be the case, a priest’s homilies are as much for the people to whom he preaches as they are for the priest himself. It struck me in that shrine in central Mexico, with those thousand pilgrims from across Mexico and beyond, in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and by the watchful intercession of Our Lady of San Juan, that I too had answered the very same question by my presence. I asked myself, to whom do I belong, the world or God? And I was deeply moved by the answer in unity with their answers- I belong to God!
In the wonderful Mexican tradition, at the end of my homily I invited the pilgrims to answer out loud. So, I asked them once- “To whom do you belong?” and they answered, “A Dios.” Then I asked them a second time, “To whom do you belong?” and they answered more confidently, “A Dios.” Then I asked them a third time, “¿A quién perteneces?” to which they answered with full voices that echoed through the church- “a Dios!” This was my unexpected gift, and I am grateful to share it with you this week.
I’ll see you all in the Eucharist and may Our Lady of San Juan pray for us!