July 16
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Feast of the Brown Scapular (1251)
Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30
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| Image created using Google AI Image Creator. |
Today’s Gospel
returns to one of Jesus’s gentlest invitations: “Come to me, all you who labor
and are burdened, and I will give you rest... for my yoke is easy and my burden
light.” On the very day the Church honors Our Lady under the title of Mount
Carmel, the Gospel itself is about resting in Him.
It’s fitting,
because the scapular tradition tied to Mount Carmel has always pointed toward
exactly this kind of rest, a tangible reminder, worn close to the body, that
you don’t carry your burdens completely alone. We tend to treat devotion like
one more obligation on an already full list, when it was always meant to
function the opposite way: as rest, not added weight.
Let today be
about that kind of rest rather than one more task to complete. If you wear or
carry something that reminds you of Mary’s protection, let it actually mean
something today, a physical pause, a small prayer, a moment of remembering
you’re not doing this alone. The yoke really is easy when it’s shared, and today is built to remember that.
The Church
gives this day fully to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Feast of the Brown
Scapular, instituted in 1251, Mary’s own promise of protection and closeness to
those who turn to her. She has always worn the title of refuge well. Something
to think about: What would it look like to actually rest in her protection
today instead of just carrying everything yourself?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
