This week we celebrate two Marian feasts. Today we recall how before her birth Mary was readied to become the Mother of God. Friday we will celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. Mary’s 1531 apparition to the Indian convert Juan Diego has particular relevance for today since at the time Mexico — New Spain– was experiencing ethnic, racial and class tensions. On his third trip to a skeptical bishop, Juan Diego brought with him a sign Mary provided — a cloak filled with out of season roses. To the astonishment of both men, the opened cloak revealed not roses but Mary’s image as she had appeared, resembling an Aztec princess, standing on a half moon. Still vivid on Juan Diego’s tilma, the image has been object of devotion and scientific studies which have revealed the imprint of at least thirteen people in Mary’s eyes. The microscopic images include the bishop, Juan Diego, a slave, a family– a microcosm .of God’s graced multi-cultured people. Let us look through our mother’s eyes and see that our God Emmanuel is still with us, calling us to unity and love.