Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 16, 2020
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I have heard a lot of quips recently about how 2020 is such a terrible year. Several news outlets picked up the story of the reopening of a Japanese amusement park where, in order to prevent the spread of viruses, visitors were asked to “refrain from vocalizing loudly” while riding roller coasters. The park instead requested: “please scream inside your heart.” The internet’s purveyors of snark suggested that “please scream inside your heart” could be the perfect tagline for 2020.
2020 really has been a challenging year. Even if a global pandemic was the only thing that we were facing, it would still be a challenging time. Of course, there is so much more than that. As today’s gospel tells us, we are carrying heavy burdens and we do not know how to lay them down.
In this time, there are so many unhealthy ways that we can try to cope with this stress such as engaging in divisive rhetoric (which only increases our anxiety and alienation). This gospel passage invites us to turn our burdens over to God instead. This does not mean that we lay aside our duty to care for and protect one other or our responsibility to seek justice and transform broken systems. But it does mean that we can stop thinking that we have to carry these burdens by ourselves. God walks with us and transforms our burdens into the gentle yoke of Christ.
Maybe, “please scream inside your heart,” isn’t such a bad suggestion after all. In a certain sense, it sounds like a way of calling out to God.
Prayer
Jesus, we hear the world around us saying your burden is heavy and your yoke is too difficult, but you have told us it’s not. Your burden is light and your yoke is freeing. Serving you is sweetness. Sustain us as we continue in your service. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is a title given to Mary as patron of the Carmelite religious community of contemplative monks, nuns, and priests.
The original Carmelites were hermits living on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land in the late 12th century. They chose Mt. Carmel because it is the place where the Old Testament prophet Elijah defended the purity of Israel’s faith. The monks built a chapel on the mount and dedicated it to “our lady of the place.”
The Carmelites celebrated a special feast on July 16 to mark the day that Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the scapular. By the 1700s, this July 16 feast was being celebrated everywhere in the Church.
St. Simon Stock was an early Carmelite who received a vision of Mary on this date in 1251 in which she gave him the brown scapular. The scapular comes from a two-sided apron that monks wear while they work—a skinny poncho of sorts. In the vision, Mary handed Simon a scapular and told him that she would protect whoever wore it. The garment became part of the Carmelite habit, and appears in many other religious habits as well.
Many people wear a small version of the scapular under their shirts, which looks like two brown, square pieces of cloth that hang on the breast and back, connected by strings around one’s neck. It is worn as a devotional practice—as a way to call to mind Mary’s motherly protection and to ask for her prayerful assistance.
Some of the Church’s greatest saints were Carmelites, including St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux, all of whom are doctors of the Church.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, you gave us the scapular, and you protect and care for us as a mother—pray for us!
Image Credit: Image by Notre Dame alumnus Matthew Alderman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of his art. Used here with permission.