Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

 


OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL


July 16th represents a Feast-Day on our Church calendar: the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Because this stands as the Patronal Feast of the Gaylord Diocese, Bishop Walsh has decreed that it takes precedence over the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Therefore, within this diocese, you will hear homilies based on the Feast Day rather than the Sunday of Ordinary Time. Outside this diocese, the homilies will refer to the regular Sunday readings. 


Who is the Lady of Mt. Carmel? This can be understood as another title for the Blessed Virgin Mary. When Marian apparitions take place, this typically leads to the establishment of a new Feast-Day. Think of Lourdes (Feb. 11th), Fatima (May 13th), and Guadalupe (Dec. 12th). The apparition recorded at Mt. Carmel dates back to the year 1251. St. Simon Stock, the Prior-General of the monastic community at Mt. Carmel, experienced a vision through which the Blessed Virgin revealed the blessings attached to the wearing of the Scapular. This would lead to the declaration of a new Feast-Day—a Feast pertaining initially to the Carmelites, but eventually extended to the universal Church calendar. 


Later on this summer we will celebrate the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven (Aug. 15th). It could be said that she has already made her contribution to salvation history. If she did nothing beyond what’s related in the New Testament, we would have reason to be eternally grateful. In honoring her Assumption, we might well imagine her resting from all of her labors, enjoying the richness of her Heavenly reward. And yet, her contributions have continued down through the centuries. In John 19:26-27 she takes on a new role: originally she is Mother of Christ; now she becomes Mother of those who belong to Christ. 


Her titles vary, depending upon the date or the region that is being specified. Still, her most fundamental title is that of MOTHER. She mothers us from Heaven by serving as our Patroness, the most prestigious of all prayer-partners. But she doesn’t limit herself to that particular vantage point. Sometimes the Virgin Mary mothers us by coming to wherever it is that  we are—leading us to where it is that we need to be. This would seem to explain the pattern of her apparitions, along with the accompanying messages. 


Reflect back on your childhood. You’re outside playing. Your mother calls to you, informing you that it’s time to come in. Perhaps she’s calling you to supper. Or perhaps it’s getting dark and you have to prepare for your bedtime. What do you do? In so many cases, you pretend that you didn’t hear her. You go on playing. She may call out again, a second or a third time. At a certain point, however, she comes to where you are. Using this more direct approach, she leads you to where it is that you need to be. She could save herself some bother by letting you miss out on your supper. She could leave you to fend for yourself in the cold dark night. But then she wouldn’t be functioning as a MOTHER. Mothers allow themselves to be bothered. They do what needs to be done, and when they do it, they do it purely out of love. 

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