Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. What this is about and what it has to do with our lives is the theme of our meditation today. The Holy Spirit has a maternal mission to form Christ in you. The Holy Spirit carries out this maternal mission through Mary. When you turn to Mary, you are turning to the Holy Spirit that Christ may be formed in you. On July 28, 1935 Kolbe wrote: And what about the Holy Spirit? He is in the Immaculata…as the Son of God is in Jesus, but of course, with this distinction – in Jesus Christ, one divine person, two natures, the divine and the human, are united. In the Immaculata, her nature and person are distinguished from the nature and person of the Holy Spirit. However, the union between the Holy Spirit and the Immaculata is so inexpressibly perfect that He conducts His activity through her only. Therefore, she is the mediatrix of all graces flowing from the Holy Spirit…In honoring the Immaculata, we honor in a special way the Holy Spirit. (p. 473-474 Foster) In this feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel, we must be reminded that the Holy Spirit works through Mary, our Spiritual Mother to bring to completion our union with God.    Sometime between the year 1247 and 1265, St. Simon Stock, the head of the Carmelites, prayed to Mary, asking for a special privilege from her for the Carmelites. Mary appeared to him with a multitude of angels, holding in her hands the Scapular of the Order. She said, “This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire.” Mary promised that the grace of final perseverance will be granted through her intercession to all those who, by means of the Scapular, dedicate themselves to her and wear it until death out of devotion to her and to the teachings of Christ.   The scapular (from Latin scapulae, "shoulders") is a garment worn by men and women of religious orders to serve as a reminder their commitment to live a Christian life. Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the promise that all those who wear the scapular and live true devotion her will be saved. The Carmelites then invited lay people to wear a much smaller version of the scapular and benefit from the same promise.   There is nothing magical about wearing a brown scapular or some Marian Medal. Wearing it should signify and serve to remind us to live true devotion to Mary. The saving power comes from the Holy Spirit and our response to the grace of the Spirit – not the wearing of this or that thing. What matters is living Devotion to Mary which is to live in Imitation of Jesus relationship with Mary, so that the Holy Spirit and Mary may form Jesus within us. Devotion to Mary has three essential elements: To consecrate oneself entirely to Mary as Jesus did in the Incarnation; To live a personal relationship with Mary, moment to moment, day after day, in imitation of Jesus’ relationship with her as he grew up under the direction and care of Mary in Nazareth; finally, to Sit in the School of Mary each day in the Rosary. These three practices keep us close to Mary, through whom the Holy Spirit will form Jesus in us. Those who do this will be saved. It is not about wearing this or that scapular or medal. It is about a deep personal and lived relationship with Mary and Jesus. Am I living a personal relationship with Mary, my Spiritual Mother in such a way that it causes me to be more virtuous, more pure, more courageous and more charitable? In a word – more like Jesus Christ. If not, why not? I wear the Miraculous Medal rather than the Brown Scapular. We will learn about the Miraculous Medal on Thursday. Every time I take the medal off and put it back on it is a reminder of my identity: I am the son of Mary, She is my Spiritual Mother, I belong entirely to her. I can rely on her for everything just as Jesus did when he was a small boy growing up under her care and influence. It is a reminder to me that I am not alone and I don’t have to go it alone