THE JUKEBOX HERO HYMNAL: Hymn 033: Angelica Garcia - Guadalupe

Has it really been over a year since we added a new song to the Jukebox Hero Hymnal? Well, let’s rectify that situation right now.

Asked about the song Guadalupe in an interview with Emperifollá, Angelica Garcia explained, “It’s kind of my perspective on the iconography. It’s meant to start a conversation. As a kid, I saw the Virgen everywhere. I still have the core sense of respect that was embedded in me ever since. But as I got older and became a young woman, I started to look at it in a different light. I thought it was crazy that I had some family members that were very macho. That made me think of how strange it is that men would disrespect women but then idolize her [the Virgen]. I think that part of what makes her powerful is that she was an unexpected source of power in a very male dominated society historically.”

Ms. Garcia is hardly the only one to find in Mary a sense of empowerment. As Haley Stewart notes at Catholic Exchange, “We don’t honor Our Lady because she overcame her unfortunate plight to be born a woman, but because she did what no man could ever do. Her humility, grace, maternal love, faithfulness, tenderness, strength, steadfastness, and sacrifice contribute to her glory. I’m reminded of Eowyn in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. She doesn’t save the day in spite of being a woman, she conquers because she is a woman: ‘But no living man am I! You look upon a woman.’ It is the Second Eve that has the power to crush the serpent under her heel, not in spite of her womanhood, but because of it.” That’s certainly the spirit of lyrics such as these…

To quiero this the
Avant-garde mouth piece
Only you can know these holy mysteries
Power isn't defined by your physique
Ave Maria

I wanna be like her
Yeah, I wanna be like her

Okay, sure, it’s not going to replace Schubert’s Ave Maria anytime soon. And, obviously, there’s a lot more to Mary than simple empowerment. As the Catechism puts it, “By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a ‘preeminent and… wholly unique member of the Church’; indeed, she is the ‘exemplary realization’ of the Church.” But, hey, being a symbol of empowerment is fine too. Besides, who can complain too much when a pop song from 2020 actually lifts the Virgin Mary up as a person to be emulated. We could use a few more of those.