Welcoming Mary: Si se puede!

Advent is the season of Mary, the time of expecting the birth of the One who will be called the Beloved. Mary – the Blessed Virgin Mary – is much a part of Christian piety throughout the world, and this is her time.

I wrote here yesterday of making this Advent a time of radical welcome. This Advent, I’d like us to welcome Mary, and all the Marys and Josephs and their babies with no room at the inn. Here’s how:

First, tomorrow evening we will host a Thanksgiving dinner. Lori is cooking the turkeys. Come join us at 6 p.m. and bring a dish, and bring a guest. This is our gift to you and your friends.

And then I’d invite you to come to St. Paul’s on Dec. 12 to meet Mary in a way maybe you have not met her before.

On that day, millions of people will celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe – an apparition of Mary who appeared to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoastzin on a hillside in 1531 near Mexico City. It is quite a story to tell.

At 5:30 p.m. on Friday Dec. 12, on her feast day, we will have a simple Eucharist in our chapel. We will tell the story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Some of our prayers will be in Spanish. Bring a Guadalupe candle if you have one.

And then come to dinner in the parish hall. We will have simple Mexican fare. And we will ask for a donation of at least $15 to PACEM, which is our shelter ministry for the homeless in Charlottesville. Come enjoy the feast and help give shelter to the Marys and Josephs and their babies.

Si se puede!