Rose of the Desert
Rose of the Desert. Guadalupe.
Solid and firm resistance to oppression. Hope in hopeless situations. Fidelity. Signs. Redemption. Promised land. Delivery from exile.
These are all the same to me.
The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is a powerful mythology of truth about God’s preferential option for the poor. In the Elizondo’s story of the Apparition of our Lady Guadalupe abbreviated version (1980B:75-79) Juan Diego hears her say:
“That which is scares you and causes you anguish is nothing: do not let your heart be troubled, do not be afraid of that sickness. Am I not she who is your Mother?
“Then the Virgin told him to go to the top of the hill where he would find various flowers. She told him to cut and gather the flowers and bring them to her. He obeyed immediately and when he arrived at the top, he was astounded to discover numerous exquisite roses of Castille, especially since it was long before their normal time.
They had a beautiful aroma and were covered with the morning dew. he immediately cut them and returned to the Lady with the roses. She took them into her hands and rearranged them in his tilma. She then said, ” My son, the smallest of my children, this diversity of roses is proof and sign that you will take to the bishop. You will tell him in my name that he is to see my will in this and he must fulfill it. You are my ambassador and most worthy of trust. I rigorously command you to unfold your mantle only in the presence of the bishop and to show him what you have with you. You are to tell everything. You will say that I told you to tell everything you saw, so that you may convince the prelate to give his help in building the temple I asked for.
When Juan Diego arrived at the palace of the bishop, the servants of the bishop came out to see him. He begged them to tell the bishop that he had to see him, but none of them wanted to listen to him.
They acted as if he were not there. But seeing that he would not go away, that he simply stayed patiently in his place, the servants decided they better inform the bishop. Soon the strong aroma of the roses began to spread and servants were also able to get a few glimpses of what he had with him. The were surprised to see roses of various kinds and of great beauty, and at first tried to take them from him, but he held on all the more. They finally went to tell the bishop what they had seen and that it would be good to see the Indian.
Juan Diego said, “Sir, I did what you ordered me to do, to go and tell my Lady, the Lady of Heaven, Holy Mary, Precious Mother of God, that you asked for a sign in order to believe me. She sent me to the top of the hill where I had seen her before, to cut the roses of Castille.
Even though I was well aware that the top of the hill was no place for flowers, because there are only cactus, mesquites and other kinds of wild brush, I did not doubt. When I went to the top of the hill, I saw that I was in paradise with all the varieties of roses of Castille, shining with Morning Dew. She told me was to give them to you. That is what I am doing now so that in them you may see the sign which you have asked for and thus will will fullfill her will. Here they are, accept them.
“And he unfolded his tilma, all the roses dropped to the floor and as they did the precious image of the always Virgin Mary, Mother of God, appeared on the tilma in the presence of the bishop and his household. They were amazed and fell to their knees. The greatly admired the image and showed by their actions that they truly saw her in their minds and in their hearts. “
This is a story of deliverance from exile, of the power of the stories of the poor to transform the hearts of the rich and powerful. Juan Diego is poor but faithful. He listens to the Mother of God and is given roses in the desert as a sign of her promise of deliverance from exile. He tells his story to the bishop, and when the bishop listens, he is transformed.
The Tucson sector is a desolate place for those crossing the US Mexico border. They, like Juan Diego, are seeking healing. They come with desperate hope for a sustainable life. These people are not coming to get rich – they will work in low paying jobs long hours and often make far less than what Americans consider a living wage. They risk their lives to get here in ways we can’t begin to imagine.
The reason Catholic teaching tells us that people have the right to migrate to survive is because unjust economic systems cause people to leave loved ones and home, and travel to hostile foreign lands. “Consider that the take-home pay for the average worker in Nogales, Sonora, …is about ten pesos per hour. When the worker goes to the store to buy a gallon of milk, it costs 30 pesos, the equivalent of three hours work. That’s equivalent to a U.S. Laborer working three hours – at say, $6 an hour – to buy a gallon milk for $18.” In Mexico, about 70% of a two-wage earner household income will go to provide a basic diet for a family of 5. Native farmlands have been exploited by US conglomerates, groceries are often sold by US companies at a higher price than US citizens are charged, while workers in Latin America make 1/8 to 1/20th of a US wage for comparable work. We – as US citizens – enjoy the benefits of this economic exploitation, and native Mexican and other Latin American people are forced to leave their homelands to feed their families and to continue to provide profit to US companies who pay them little in Mexico and charge them too much for food.
Deaths along the US/Mexico border have increased 7% over last year even though border crossings are down 25%. Why is the death toll at the highest level ever recorded? In 1994, the Clinton administration began the process of militarizing the border. Recently, sonic towers have been erected to detect crossers. In 2005, a significant number of bodies were found where people were not known to cross previously. An analysis of the increased death sites revealed that migrants were trying to avoid the new sonic detection towers by moving away from them into riskier territory, around mountains and through flash flood areas.
Groups like No More Deaths, Samaritans, Frontera de Christo, Humane Borders and many others are working to keep good people from dying because they have no other choices than to leave home and cross the desert. Guadalupe watches over the desert and leaves fields of roses.
[1] Rick Ufford-Chase, “Dying to Get In: Crisis on the Mexican Border,” Christian Century 121, no. 16 (2004): 23.
