(Optional) Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
(Isaiah 7:1-9; Matthew 11:20-24)
Today’s first reading presents King Ahaz of Judah as a
fearful man. Two enemies, Israel and
Aram, are threatening to attack his country.
Rather than trust in the Lord as the prophet Isaiah advises, the king sacrifices
his son in a holocaust offering of appeasement.
He also seeks an alliance with mighty Assyria. In the end Assyria crushes
Israel and Aram, and Judah becomes a vassal state.
This bit of history contains an enormous lesson. Faith in God and appeal to His mercy is
paramount for us. When we swerve from
God’s law and when we ignore the advice of prophets, not only we will suffer
but also those around us.
The celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel today serves as
a counterexample. This visualization of our Blessed Mother presents to
devotees a brown scapular as a protection against physical and spiritual
troubles. It is not believed that the
scapular has any healing power. But it
does express the faith of the bearer that God through Mary’s intercession will
provide the grace to overcome life’s challenges.
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