The statue is usually in the dining room looking very small beneath a great framed photographic reproduction of the Tilma. And Juan Diego wouldn't want it any other way.
Here is a "saint" who is so humble that his identity is almost entirely transparent to the Mother of God. It is true, he is a patron of indigenous peoples of America as well as all lay persons. He is a wonderful example for us all of what it means to live the gospel with faith and love, simplicity and perseverance.
But he was just a poor man who encountered the beauty of Jesus living in Mary, and followed. He gave himself over to a humble place in a great and mysterious story. And he remains standing behind the Merciful Mother, giving her a place where she can give Jesus to us. The image of the Virgin remains on his cloak today after nearly 500 years, in a great Basilica in one of the most widely visited religious shrines on earth.
I pray to him every day. I am convinced that he is one of the greatest saints of the Church. He stands forever in a humble relationship to Mary, her "dearest and smallest son" and in this way so much like Jesus.
