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Honoring "The Mother of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe/Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe"
Marge Lincoln and her father, John Willow, admire the new
statue of "Our Lady of Guadalupe." The statue will be a part of the Mission's prayer garden being developed on the site
of the old convent.
A Pageant during the Mass on the 12th of December
I, Father Gannon, came to love "Our Lady
of Guadalupe" in 1984 when a group of people and I attended a four month immersion
experience walking in the shoes of the Mexican-Americans in San Antonio, Texas. One of our instructors was Father Virgilio
Elizondo, a dynamic teacher, who gave us classes on Our Lady of Guadalupe. He described for us the story and its theological
and scriptual basis'. The story parallels Jesus' pattern of choosing the marginalized (Peter, James, John,etc.) as His
followers while seemingly bypassing the temple elite-scribes and priests. Likewise, Our Lady went to a conquered indigenous,
Juan Diego, and asked him to be Her messenger rather than appearing to the Spanish Bishop, John Zurraga.
Early last November two families came forward and asked
me if they could put on the pageant of Our Lady of Guadalupe during the Mass on the 12th of December, Her feast day. I
welcomed them! One family, the Palmas, originally came from Mexico, the other family, the Villas, are Arapaho tribal
members. Marilu Duncan translated the script into English. The costumes were done by Senora Josefina Palma
and her daughter, Denise. The set was designed by all of us during the four practices. Susie Villa was our stage
manager and Denise Palma was the Narrator. The "voices" for the actors were Daniela Palma, Melvin Villa, Don Villa and
Father Dan Gannon, SJ, respectively.
These pictures show the results of the pageant.
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