Thousands gather to honor the Blessed Mother

Phoenix Diocese marks 40th anniversary with Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration

By J.D. Long-García | Dec. 21, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Thousands of Catholics converged on downtown Phoenix Dec. 6 to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The annual Honor Your Mother event began with a half-mile procession and culminated with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and other priests of the diocese. The event also marked the end of the diocese’s yearlong 40th anniversary remembrance.

“We can shout ‘honor your mother’ because God gave us our mother,” said Msgr. Antonio Sotelo in his bilingual homily before more than 2,000 participants. “We honor our mother, Mary, who appeared to St. Juan Diego, who was one of us.”

The Blessed Mother, the priest said, helps Catholics recognize the dignity of the human person from conception to natural death. In particular, he highlighted the dignity of the unborn and the undocumented.

“We pray that one day Roe v. Wade will be abolished. Respect life means respect life,” Msgr. Sotelo said.

He also chastised Catholics with Hispanic roots who don’t welcome immigrants.

“They’ll eat tostadas and tamales, but they don’t accept their people,” he said. “It’s a crime.”

Now in its fourth year, the outdoor faith celebration is meant to celebrate the dignity of every person. Past homilies have focused on abortion and immigration.

“Jesus had in His heart those who were oppressed, who were marginalized,” Msgr. Sotelo said. “We make man’s law more important than God’s law. But we need to live our faith as Catholics.”

More than 40 parishes participated in the procession, which began at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and ended between the Diocesan Pastoral Center and St. Mary’s Basilica.

The procession — which burgeoned to more than 5,000 according to Phoenix police — was longer than a half-mile, with the first group arriving well before the last group departed.

“People always come out and celebrate Our Lady,” said Reyes Ruiz with Mary’s Ministries, which organized the event. He noted that the procession in many ways reflected the make up of the diocese’s Catholics.

While the majority of participants were Hispanic Catholics, faithful from multiple ethnic backgrounds — Chinese, Filipino, Japanese and African, to name a few — also participated.

“As my father used to say, she’s the same lady, just wearing different clothes,” Ruiz said.

Michael Nowakowski, a parishioner at St. Matthew and former director of Hispanic Ministries for the Phoenix Diocese, called the event an expression of “the real Church.”

“It’s alive,” he said. “You can feel the love of Our Lady of Guadalupe who brings us together.”

Nowakowski also noted that the location of the event, on Monroe Street between Third and Fourth Streets, was the same place where Pope John Paul II addressed Phoenix Catholics from the balcony of St. Mary’s Basilica in 1987.

“It’s a holy place,” he said. “Being devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe isn’t just dancing or even a spirituality. It’s a way of life.”