THE CHURCH IN AMERICA

More than 470 YEARS AGO ~~ Our Lady of Guadalupe brought a "Message of Hope" to all mankind through her humble Indian servant, Juan Diego. The "work of love" THEN was her Image, permanently imprinted upon a cactus-fiber cloak. It was through this miraculous Image, the powerful testimony of Juan Diego, and the power of God's grace that millions of men, women and children were converted to the Catholic Faith. It is through this faith, that we are able to discover the true meaning of

Did she appear with only the intent to lead eight million people to her Son during the 1500's?

The "work of love" NOW is the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, "THE CHURCH IN AMERICA." ( This document will eventually be presented in its entirety, section by section, on this website. For the purpose of explanation, "Post-Synodal" means "after an official church council or meeting where people gather to discuss a particular subject." "Apostolic" refers to "bishops who are the successors to the original twelve Apostles." An "Exhortation" is "a strong urging or plea.")

Under the leadership of Pope John Paul II, the representative bishops from all of the Americas had gathered in Rome at the end of 1997 in order to discuss and to "compose" as one may say, "a strategy plan for the salvation of the American Continent", which would necessitate ~~ not a physical change, but a change of hearts and minds!

That through a personal encounter with the "living" Jesus Christ, hearts may be transformed ~~ CONVERSION

That there will be a mutual sharing of self, a sharing of knowledge, and a sharing of material blessings ~~ COMMUNION

Finally, as a result of "conversion" and "communion",
a complete unity of all the peoples on the great Continent of America will take place ~~ SOLIDARITY

The bishops, themselves, vowed to to be persistent in a renewed commitment to the "new" evangelization and not just a ''re"-evangelization. It was agreed that we all must be as zealous as the first Apostles and "go forth and teach the 'GOOD NEWS' of the Gospel,"¹ the true teachings of Jesus Christ, to all the world.

TODAY ~~ Our Lady of Guadalupe is bringing a renewed "Message of Hope" through her humble servant, Pope John Paul II and her own powerful intercession. It is "as if" Our Lady is saying, 'I am sending my servant. Listen to what he has written in "THE CHURCH IN AMERICA."

Read it! Meditate upon it! Learn it! Then live it!

It has the ability to "transform" the entire continent of America and then the World! This "document of love" has the ability to lead all hearts to my Son's Sacred Heart and it is His Heart that will heal all mankind!'

"THE CHURCH IN AMERICA" is for bishops, priests, deacons, men and women religious and all the lay faithful. It is an encounter, or personal meeting, with the "living" Jesus Christ! Before the Pope handed over this historic document to all of the bishops of America who were present on January 23, 1999, he placed it at the feet of our Lady's Image in the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was there that he declared her ~~

It is "as though" Our Father in Heaven is saying, 'Nearly 500 years ago I sent My daughter, Mary, to help rescue an historic land filled with uncertainty and death. Now, I am once again sending her to help rescue a modern-day continent that is filled with its own uncertainties and much self-love.'

True love is a sacrifice! A sacrifice is the taking of something from yourself in order to give it to someone else. True love expects nothing in return.

Was not Jesus' intense suffering and death on a cross THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE OF LOVE? It is His Sacred Heart that encompasses all of this Love. Under the powerful protection and intercession of Our Lady, the "truth-filled" document, "THE CHURCH IN AMERICA" has the ability to lead all mankind to her Son's Sacred Heart!

Let us pray ~~ Sweet Blessed Mother, as Juan Diego gathered flowers in his tilma as a "sign" to the Bishop,
please gather "our hearts" into your Immaculate Heart and present them to your Son as a "sign" of our love for Him.

¹Mark 16:15 "And He [Jesus] said to them: Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature."