Abbey-Roads2

Cimabue: Crucifix

“If a good man strikes or reproves me it is kindness.
Set, O Lord, a guard over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.” Psalm 141 (out of sequence.)

An unedited homily from Don Marco for the Mass of the day, June 20, 2006: (A day late!)

³I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those whopersecute you² (Mt 5:44). ³Bless those who curse you, pray for those whoabuse you² (Lk 6:28). These are not suggestions, dear brothers and sisters;they are not pious recommendations. They are clear precepts of Christ:commandments conceived in His merciful Heart and addressed to each of uswithout exception. It is no coincidence that this Gospel passage should be given usat this particular liturgical moment: halfway between the Solemnity of theMost Holy Body and Blood of Christ and that of the Most Sacred Heart ofJesus. One cannot receive the Forgiving Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist andpersist in refusing anyone forgiveness. One cannot approach the PiercedHeart of Jesus and not be drawn into His prayer to the Father from theCross: ³Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do² (Lk 23:34). The prevalent culture of options and of personal choices has allbut rendered us impermeable to the commandments of Our Lord. We prefer tothink of them as suggestions or as ³talking points.² Contemporarysensibilities in the world and, alas, even in the Church, resent theobjective precept, the non-negotiable commandment, the mandate coming fromabove. A combination of the effects of original sin and actual sins ofpride has conditioned us to want to discuss everything, to debateeverything, to argue the value of any law coming from above us or outside ofus. Today in the Gospel Our Lord presents us with just such a commandment.It is not a suggestion. It is not open to discussion. It is not thesubject of debate. It is a divine commandment. In obeying it, we obey God.In neglecting to obey it, we neglect to obey God. Insofar as we consider ourselves disciples of Christ, we arebound to bless those who curse us, to pray for those who speak evil againstus. We are commanded to do good to those who hate us. This good that weare commanded to do is, first of all and above all, prayer. There is no greater force for good than prayer. There is nobetter way to do good to those who hate us than by asking the light of theFace of Christ to envelop them and penetrate them. There is nothing morebeneficial to those who afflict us than confident recourse to the piercedHeart of Jesus. There is no more powerful blessing of those who curse usthan the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered on their behalf. For thosespeak evil against us there is no prayer more powerful than the prayer ofChrist the High Priest who, in every Mass, stands before His Father,pleading and interceding for those who approach God through Him. Mother Church, with her ancient experience of human nature,provides us with the means of obeying this commandment of our Lord. TheRoman Missal contains a Mass specifically for this purpose. It is entitledPro Affligentibus Nos, ³For Those Who Afflict Us.² The title of the Massspeaks volumes. Opening my Latin dictionary to the entry for affligo, I seethat it means to throw down, to afflict, damage, crush, break, ruin; humble,weaken, or vex. If you have ever felt thrown down, if you have ever feltafflicted, damaged, crushed, broken, ruined, humbled, weakened, or vexed,you need to enter wholeheartedly into today¹s Mass Pro Affligentibus Nos. There is a mysterious power in praying for those who have hurtus, in interceding wholeheartedly

Icon: The Assumption of the prophet Elijah.

Todays first reading at Mass continues the cycle of the life and mission of Elijah culminating in what is referred to as the ‘assumption’ of the prophet and handing over to the prophet Elisha the prophetic charism. The icon pictured illustrates this well.

In the scripture Elisha prays “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.” in response to Elijah’s command to ask whatever legacy Elisha may have desired. Elijah replied, “If you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted, otherwise not.” The scripture states that a fiery chariot came between the prophet and his disciple and took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, while the prophetic mantle fell at the feet of Elisha. Elisha tore his garments in mourning over the loss of his spiritual father and took up the mantle, rolling it up and striking the water of the river Jordan, causing it to divide, thus allowing him dry passage across the river bed. How many layers of spiritual significance to this story! Nevertheless, I have only one simple reflection, and that is regarding the Order of Carmel.

Pictured: St. Simon Stock receiving the scapular of Mt. Carmel.

First of all, the Order of Carmel has always seen the prophets Elijah and Elisha as the ‘proto-founders’ of the order. In the passage from Kings wherein Elijah sees the “little cloud rising from the sea” from his perch atop the summit of Mt. Carmel many have written that this little cloud prefigures the Virgin who would bear the Savior. Archeological evidence tells us hermit followers of Elijah inhabited Mt. Carmel even in Old Testament times, and of course Christian hermits lived there later, in the spirit of Elijah, hence the origins of the Order of Mt. Carmel.

Perhaps it is a stretch on my part but I have always seen the Scapular of Mt. Carmel somehow prefigured as it were, in this episode in the Book of Kings when Elijah passes on the mantel to Elisha. It seems to me when Our Lady gave the scapular to St. Simon there was a similar significance. To be sure it is a sign of her favor and protection, first to Carmel and then to the lay person who wears her ‘livery’ as the medieval word refers to it. Ponder the idea and consider it’s meaning.

Without doubt there is a prophetic charism imbedded in the Order of Carmel, signified by Our Lady herself. The scapular of Mt. Carmel provides numerous benefits and graces for those who wear it, and it is a garment that the Church has highly praised and given many indulgences to. One may either wear the cloth scapular, which one must be enrolled in to enjoy all of the indulgences, or one may simply have it blessed by a priest and still enjoy the protection of the Mother God. A Scapular medal may also be worn in place of the cloth one, but the wearer must have been enrolled in the cloth scapular first in order to gain the same privledges. It all sounds so complicated, but it is not. Some people like to nit pick about how big it should be, or if the medal may substitute, but that makes it more of a fetish or talisman than a revered sacramental of the Church. (The Carmelite order has come out with revised conditions regarding the Scapular devotion.)

There are many other scapulars of various orders in the Church, as well as those that have cropped up from private revelations. If one’s devotion moves one to wear these, that is fine, but sometimes I see the occasional person wearing all of them at once, as well as numerous medals and crucifixes - that’s a bit off. Sometimes people use sacramentals to make themselves feel holy or appear holy, sometimes they use them superstitiously, all of that should be discouraged. In today’s Gospel Our Lord cautions against “performing our religious deeds in order that people may see them.”

For the laity however, the scapular is normally worn beneath one’s outer garments, the devotion is a matter of the heart, it signifies our consecration to God, and the entrustment of ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as well as a guarantee of Our Lady’s protection and guidance.

The affiliation to the Order of Carmel (indeed simply being a baptized and confirmed Roman Catholic) gives our lives a prophetic character, that of witnessing to our faith, albeit sometimes silently and hidden, much as the Scapular we discreetly yet devoutly wear next to our heart.